Cohen Stickland (left) welcomes a new group of ECU students to the headquarters of the West Coast Eagles Football Club.
Cohen took some time after high school to figure out what he wanted to do with his life.
Knowing his son as well as anyone, his dad came to the rescue.
Given Cohen’s love of sports – especially basketball and Australian Rules football – his father showed him an application for a sports course at Central TAFE in Perth.
It was a Certificate 4 Diploma in Sport Development.
The course came with endorsements from friends who had completed it, so Cohen thought he’d give it a try.
It was time to get back into study.
Studying Sports Science
After completing his Diploma, Cohen qualified for entry into a Sports Science degree at Edith Cowan University.
The university has a long-standing partnership with the West Coast Eagles, a successful club in the AFL competition.
It was this partnership that led to Cohen getting an opportunity to be an intern at the club, working in their Performance Analysis team.
This was quite an eye-opener for him.
"Being exposed to such a high-performance environment and a new department I didn't know existed in football was inspiring."
"I was like a sponge and soaked it all in and asked as many questions as possible to learn everything I could," says Cohen.
Cohen completed one season at the club as an intern but wasn't offered a further role at the club as he had by then graduated from university.
ECU Exercise and Sports Science students working with the extensive testing facilities at the Joondalup Campus.
Hard work, initiative and persistence
Out in the big wide world, Cohen decided to use his initiative and find something to continue what he'd learned at university.
He landed a part-time analysis/admin role in the talent space at the West Perth Falcons, a team in the Western Australian Football League.
Cohen says this gave him the chance to showcase his skills and develop his understanding of the role.
A few years later he was promoted to work with both the Men’s League and Reserves teams as Football Operations Coordinator/Performance Analyst.
We should also point out that in the middle of all of this he also managed to work with the Perth Wildcats, a national league basketball team as a Video Coordinator.
Always watching, always learning.
Cohen Stickland at work at West Coast's practice oval in Perth.
Completing the full circle
In his final semester at university, Cohen was studying 5 full-time units, had 2 prac placements, played competition basketball and was working in a retail job.
Looking back, he admits it really tested him.
But it also prepared him for a career in sport that requires hard work, dedication and sacrifices to succeed.
After spending 5 years at the West Perth club, that preparation paid off.
The West Coast Eagles club contacted him about a job opportunity as a Performance Analyst.
Cohen jumped at the chance and is now working in his dream job.
And completing the circle, one of his responsibilities is to mentor the new crop of Sports Science prac students from ECU.
