# @sportsgrad on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DbjdNW-kv8R
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70249421-sportsgrad-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4926b7f7cd.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-02T22:10:59.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** SportsGrad (@sportsgrad) — https://gondola.cc/sportsgrad

## Caption

Meet Andrew Hawkins, Senior Researcher for the Seven Network's coverage of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, and newest member of the SportsGrad "Circle of Grad" club - from follower to member and now podcast guest.

Andrew's love of sport was sealed at nearly 10, watching the Sydney 2000 Olympics from ten minutes down the road. 

At 19, he mailed a handwritten letter to his broadcasting hero, Bruce McAvaney, asking how to break into the industry, and Bruce wrote back. Years later, the two would finally get on a call, and today they work side by side on Seven's Commonwealth Games broadcast: Andrew building the research, Bruce using it to call the Games. 

His first paid gig in sport was parking cars at Rosehill Racecourse, but it was writing that took him furthest. Andrew has since built an award-winning career in international horse racing - one of the most data-heavy sports on earth, spending five years in Hong Kong reporting for the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Jockey Club, with work syndicated around the world.

Then came the hard part - being told, again and again, that all that experience only counted for racing. When he joined The SportsGrad Method, he'd applied for 50-odd jobs and landed just five interviews. What changed everything was a single post that caught the eye of people at Channel Seven, and he hasn't looked back since.

In this episode, Andrew shares the mindset that got him unstuck after 50 applications, the networking habit he's leaned on since he was 19, and the hard-won lessons every career changer needs to hear.

🎙Episode #364 of the SportsGrad Podcast out now wherever you get your pods

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 103
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 1

## Tags

364

---
Copyright (c) Gondola