Once the gruelling commitment of VCE studying begins, many teenage athletes find themselves making the tough choice between school or sport. It is no surprise there’s a drop off in participation levels once students hit the VCE and university age. In all honestly, it is a tremendous effort to compete at a high level of sport or study VCE, let alone do both.

As students all across the state get back in the classroom, we took a moment to chat with Table Tennis Victoria’s Ellen Walker. She finished 2020 ranked 3^rd in the annual Victorian Under 18 rankings, and 6^th in the Under 21 category. Walker also finished the year with an ATAR score above 90. In fact, the Greater Dandenong star found a lot of upside in combining sport and school and has some great advice for anyone who might be trying to make the tough choice between playing sport while completing VCE or just focusing on studying.

“Training and playing table tennis in year 12 was not as difficult as I thought it would be,” said Walker.

“I trained a bit less when I had important assessments coming up, but it was really beneficial to keep playing when I had a bit more time so that I could release some of the stress from VCE.

“The only time I played significantly less was during the lead-up to my final exams. I played all the tournaments I could for the year, which had no negative impact on my studies.

“During year 12, I was also keeping up with coaching, volunteering/working another job and maintaining a healthy social life but made sure to balance everything accordingly."

Even though she attended a demanding selective school, Walker always made sure to make time for sport. In the end, she received an ATAR above 90 and was accepted into her first choice course - a double degree in business and media communication, as well as possibly completing a Diploma of Languages alongside it.

Ellen believes it is all about finding the right balance between sport and school, and that once you get into a rhythm everything gets a bit easier. Sport can provide you with some much needed stress relief from VCE.

“I would really encourage people not to give up table tennis for school,” She said.

“If you find the right balance, you can definitely make it work and not have to choose one over the other. Since I took public transport to most of my training, I did a lot of homework/study while travelling to the stadium.

“I also studied a bit during breaks in pennant or training. It’s essential to maintain your mental and physical health during VCE, otherwise you are more likely to experience burnout, so table tennis is a great way to do that.

“I know a lot of people who have stopped playing their sport or pursuing their passions because of school, and they all regret their decision. If you start to feel overwhelmed by your studies, it’s totally understandable to reduce your hours, or take a small break, but still try your best to find a bit of time for table tennis when you can.”

Making things even more impressive was the amount of studying and training Ellen had to do from home due to the COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns.

“It was pretty difficult to train and practice during lockdown. I have a table and a table tennis robot at home, but there is about 30cm between the table and the wall, so it’s not really optimal for training,” she said. 

“We also have a carpeted floor, with my cat running around, so it was really bad. I went to my club to train as often as I could (when the restrictions permitted), but when I couldn’t, I would sometimes go to a friend’s house to train (again, when the restrictions permitted).

“When I couldn’t go out to play table tennis, I had to preoccupy myself with something else to balance out my studies, so I got a volunteering position for a few months making videos for an organisation. When we finally returned to table tennis, I was really rusty and a bit more uncoordinated than usual, but soon got my rhythm back and felt great to be able to play again.”

Everyone at Table Tennis Victoria is extremely proud of Ellen and all of our amazing student athletes that do a great job in the classroom and on the tables. Good luck to everyone who goes back to school today and over the coming weeks.