Sabbatical Whiplash

July and August 2026 (written October '26)

A photograph of Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia — Back to the mighty Gold Coast to reconnect with old colleagues and do some serious planning.

Having been a teaching-focussed academic for nearly 13 years, it feels utterly mad to be given so much time to work on a research project. As of July 2026 I have a whole 12 months to get cracking on a multi-year plan to resuscitate the Sports Research I've been struggling to prioritise during my time in the school.

I feel slightly overwhelmed, under-planned and intensely conscious of not wanting to waste the opportunity.

The short-term solution was obvious. Sprint to the sunshine and surround myself with more senior academics. A plan that was slightly thwarted by my poor old canine companion reaching the end of his days. A sad time, but I felt immensely grateful to be with him at the end.

So, back in the freezing valley, and into an intense phase of ethics amendments, travel planning, invite-to-interviews and copious amounts of reading.

The record-scratch of the change from an intense over-taught semester (covering a colleague's course as well as my own) to the silence of mid-winter WFH was whiplash-inducing.

It felt good to be planning something beyond a solo research life in a leaky old shed.