To Whom It May Concern
My name is Richard Bednall and I am the former Head of Sport at Trinity College. I am a Level 4
coach specializing in sprints and hurdles, a member of the Australian Track and Field Coaches
Association and have been a coach on five national teams.
I am writing to you about Cale Hocking who completed his secondary education at Trinity College
in 2015. An outstanding academic student Cale, prior to 2015, had been an elite BMX rider and had
com-peted at the National level. Needing a break from BMX, Cale approached me in May of 2015
with the view of becoming a high performing track and field athlete. Cale was not new to track and
field having represented his school at various championships but had never trained hard for this
sport.
With a rigorous training schedule in place, Cale’s development through the winter months was
rapid. Looking to compete in one of the hardest events, the 400m hurdles, Cale worked as hard as
any ath-lete I have coached in my 40 years of coaching.
In December Cale competed in his first major championship, the Australian All Schools Track and
Field Championships, held in Melbourne. Cale performed well setting a personal best in the 400m
hurdles. A day later Cale set another PB, this time in the 400m, in the Australian National Schools
Knockout Championships.
Cale’s time in the 400m hurdles qualified him to compete at the Junior Nationals which have
recently been held in Perth. In early March Cale competed in the AthleticsSA State titles and
finished second in the u/20 age group, running another qualifier for Perth. In typical fashion Cale
trained very hard in the lead up to the Perth Nationals and just missed a spot in the 400m hurdles
final. Cale will still be eligible for this age group in 2017.
For a person in their first competitive season of track and field athletics Cale has made enormous
pro-gress. His dedication to training has made many seasoned athletes stand up and take notice. I
am of the view that Cale will make further ground as he trains toward his next Championships.
Combining university study with sport will only aid his progress as he will have more regular
access to training facil-ities.
I fully support and endorse Cale’s application for scholarship support.
Richard Bednall
Level 4 Coach