Second year engineering student Lachlan Lewis has received national recognition for juggling life as a student along with a busy schedule as a rising star with the Canberra Raiders Under 20’s rugby league side.
The five-eighth has been named in the National Youth Competition Under 20’s Academic Team of the Year.
The latest recognition is the third award for Lewis in 2015.
Originally from Brisbane, 19-year-old Lewis was recently awarded the National Youth Competition’s Education Player of the Year Award. He also won the Geoff Caldwell Memorial Award for Education and Welfare at the Raiders 2015 Meninga Medal awards.
“It’s good to get the recognition,” said Lewis, who is majoring in Mechanical and Materials at ANU.
“This is my first year in the limelight of the Under 20’s. It’s good to know that my work outside out football is being recognised because it’s not easy. It’s nice, it’s a pat on the back that shows that this is hard and not everyone is doing it and it’s good to see I can keep going with it.”
Lewis, nephew of league legend Wally Lewis, said balancing university and football commitments could be difficult at times, but he has support from the ANU Access and Inclusion program.
“They have a good system. They provide a connection with the College (of Engineering and Computer Science) to ensure there’s an allowable limit to the flexibility that can be used,” he said.
Despite the awards, Lewis said there was no guarantee of a career in the National Rugby League (NRL).
“And that’s probably the hardest part with the Under 20’s. You have such a big workload… and then you are also studying and trying build something else in case football doesn’t happen,” he said.
“I’d love to play NRL but I’ve got to work really hard and it comes down to a bit of luck in the end.”
The Elite Athlete Program under the ANU Access and Inclusion program currently has 30 students registered.
For more information on the program, contact access.inclusion@anu.edu.au
Originally published at the ANU Newsroom