From flying the Australian flag at the the World Curling Championships to corralling students in the classroom, it’s fair to say Cobram’s Kim Forge has a fair bit on her plate.
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However, she’ll have to work up more of an appetite for her next challenge.
Last week, the Cobram Secondary College teacher received big news.
Barring another world disaster, Mrs Forge will next year jump headfirst into a master’s degree in executive sport organisation management in Switzerland and Kosovo.
The catch?
Well, there isn’t one.
Endorsed by the Australian Olympic Committee, Mrs Forge will embark on her studious journey in 2021, funded by a scholarship from the Olympic Solidarity program of the International Olympic Committee.
Flipping the script on her own profession, the Canadian born Cobram resident was ecstatic to head back to school in order to upskill personally and professionally.
“The Australian Olympic Committee selects one executive from numerous national sporting organisations each year to do this program,” Mrs Forge said.
“I had applied last year and wasn’t successful, so it is something that I knew I really wanted to do.
“It is exciting for me because it is the first time a winter sport has been chosen in Australia. I am super keen.
“It is a huge professional development opportunity for me; it is an investment in myself that the Australian Olympic Committee see as valuable as well as an investment in winter sport in Australia.”
Best of all, Mrs Forge won’t have to compromise her teaching role one bit.
Her studies will consist of four 10-day stints in Europe a year, which align with the Cobram Secondary College syllabus perfectly.
“Fortunately, it coincides with many of our school holidays so I wouldn’t be missing much school,” she said.
“Cobram Secondary College is fully supportive; they think it is fantastic for someone like me to engage in this kind of personal and professional development.
“I don’t think I could do this at many other schools, but Cobram Secondary College has always been supportive in this way.”
It won’t be the first time the school has had to let Mrs Forge jet off overseas.
Since touching down in Australia nearly 20 years ago, she has represented Australia 19 times internationally, scaling the global rankings to reach fifth in the world at one stage.
A number of times since joining Cobram Secondary College in 2008, Mrs Forge has put her teaching duties on ice to compete at many high profile events, including the New Zealand Winter Games, Pacific-Asia Championships and no less than eight World Championships.
As if juggling mammoth sporting commitments with educational responsibilities isn’t enough, she also takes on administrative roles within her chosen code.
“I am the president of the Australian Curling Federation and am a member of the Athletes Commission for the World Curling Federation,” she said.
“Four years ago, I was nominated and elected by competitors and peers to represent them at world events.”
Spinning so many plates would overwhelm most, especially with COVID-19 thrown into the mix.
As it happens, the pandemic has allowed Mrs Forge to cool off and spend more time in Cobram teaching.
And it is her work within the walls of the Warkil St campus which has helped her gain the skillset she’ll call on while overseas studying.
“I had to choose a research project to go along with my thesis, which is how to engage multiculturally diverse people in sport in Australia. People in the community would not be surprised that this is my topic of research,” she said.
“I have done this kind of work at Cobram Secondary College about 10 years ago – we had many different cultural diversity days that our school was bestowed with state awards from.
“That was a part of the reason why I was selected, because the AOC wants to know how to better involve multiculturally diverse citizens in sport.”
Her research project is one which resonates with Mrs Forge.
As a foreigner, sport was her proven mode to acclimatise to new surroundings – a belief she stands behind fiercely since departing her birthplace for Australian shores.
“I’m an immigrant as well, so I think it is very important that we use sport to connect people,” she said.
“It was a benefit growing up in Canada where curling is watched by millions on television.
“Right now, the World Curling Federation has 62 countries that play competitively, and Australia is moving up the ranks.”
There’s no doubt Mrs Forge has played a major part in that shift.
And soon, she’ll have another outstanding achievement to hang beneath a belt already studded with curling and teaching gongs.
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