Scholarships open doors beyond the field

“JUST do it! The worst thing that can happen is you don’t get a scholarship, but the best thing that could happen could ultimately change the trajectory of your life forever.”

That’s the advice Torquay’s Clay Page has for young people considering applying for a Geelong Grammar School (GGS) scholarship.

It’s advice born from experience. Seven years ago, Clay’s mum suggested he apply for a sports scholarship at the prestigious school. At the time, he was playing football with the Geelong Falcons and had never even visited Geelong Grammar’s vast Corio campus.

“I wasn’t really expecting much to be honest,” Clay said.

A few months later, the trajectory of Clay’s life changed forever with the offer of a scholarship. He spent the next two years at GGS, completing Year 12 in 2019 and achieving an ATAR score of 93.75.

The scholarship and academic support provided by the school enabled Clay’s dream of a career in medicine, following in the footsteps of his late grandfather, beloved Warrnambool doctor, Mike Page.

Having completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne, Clay is now in his second year studying a Doctor of Medicine at Deakin University.

For Clay, who joined GGS as a day boarder in Year 11, the unique environment at Corio was a perfect fit – where senior school students are immersed in a longer day (8.30am to 8.30pm), with lunch and dinner provided, sport and co-curricular activities, and supervised evening study.

“I tend to be a person of structure, so I think it worked really well for me,” he said. “Having literally everything catered for, you knew what time you were studying, what time you did sports.”

The academic support was equally valuable.

“I found this with every single teacher at the school, whenever you had a question, they were more than willing to take an hour out of their day to sit with you and walk you through concepts,” Clay said.

“There’s a team of people fighting for you on and off the field.”

On the field, that included fellow sports scholarship student Caleb Serong, who also graduated from GGS with full academic colours in 2019.

While Clay chose medicine, Caleb was selected by Fremantle in the AFL draft, won the AFL Rising Star award, is a three-time best and fairest winner, and three-time All-Australian.

It is a pathway that present GGS sports scholarship student and Torquay local, Jack Pickett, hopes to emulate.

The Geelong Falcons forward kicked seven goals in Round 15 of the Coates Talent League and was recently selected in the 2026 AFL National Academy squad.

GGS scholarships are available across academic, music, sports and general excellence.

To learn more, head to ggs.vic.edu.au/scholarships

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