Sport
27 November, 2023
Grose on top in athletic scene
A MALANDA teenager is making it big in the athletic world, going away for eight representative regional, state and national titles and getting involved in the 2032 Olympics Youfor2032 program.
Bronte Grose has always been an athlete, competing in athletics, netball and beach volleyball.
In 2023, Grose was selected for the Peninsula 15-17 years Netball Team, 13-19 years Cross Country Team and the 13-19 years Athletics Team.
She also represented Cairns in the 14 years Pythons Netball team, where she was selected to play in Newcastle, New South Wales, for the Marlin Coast Netball State Championships team.
“I was also the youngest player selected for the Marlin Coast Netball team that travelled to Newcastle to compete in the NSW Senior State Age competition,” Grose said.
“On top of all these sports, I have been involved in the Queensland Academy of Sport Talent Search Training program in readiness for the 2032 Olympics for beach volleyball.”
The Youfor2032 program will allow Grose to train alongside experts in the beach volleyball field and create the pathway to the Olympics in 2032.
The standards are high, with coaches and trainers only picking the best of the applications to compete, including Grose.
Juggling her athletic endeavours with day-to-day school life has been tricky, travelling from Malanda to Cairns six times a week and sometimes making the trip to Brisbane to train with her coaches.
Inspired by her parents and sister, she hopes she can make it big in the sporting world as they did and hopes to make them proud every step of the way.
“My parents have always been active, and I guess we were always encouraged to get out and try new things,” she said.
“I started playing netball when we lived in Brisbane but didn’t really get into it until we moved to FNQ. I started doing longer runs as my mum and sister did them, but then I realised I loved sprinting, so I changed more to short distances.
“As for volleyball, my dad has always suggested I play as I am tall, but I never really got into it until I went to the Youfor32 training program and was selected for beach volleyball. Now, we train regularly, and I really love it.
“In terms of my inspiration, I have watched my parents compete at various things throughout my life, and they have always encouraged me to try my best and support me 100% if I want to do something.
“My inspiration comes from many great sportspeople, but I seem to have this personal drive that makes me want to try better and give everything my all every time.”
Despite being confident in her abilities, Grose, like many others, feels nervous before every competition.
But thanks to her support team and her countless hours of training, Grose is able to perform to her full potential.
“I get pretty nervous when it comes to running as it is an individual performance, so I feel a lot of people expect me to do well,” she said.
“But I remind myself that I have trained hard and done the best that I can leading into the competition, so try remaining calm with this thought.
“As for netball, I am so lucky to have such amazing friends who are my teammates that as captain, I make sure I am leading by example and keeping our minds on the games and what we can control.
“A lot of people think running and sport comes easy, but they don’t see the time I spend each day working on little things to improve my technique.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but I know that each session gets me closer to my goals.”
