I went on a football coaching/playing course in Brisbane with sport lived. At least that's what I thought was happening. I got there and there was nowhere for me to play, my co-ordinator said he would 'try and find me somewhere to play' after a week of me already being there. Also they decided not to let us know that there was a $500 joining fee to play for any club. There were also lots of false promises on their website about the kind of trips and activities you get to do, we were also sent an itinerary of these activities, hardly any of which we actually got to do. When we asked why we didn't get to do some of the activities, they then changed the online itinerary to take off some activities. I was also told there would be a FREE travel card for me to use around Brisbane. What They didn't say, however, is that it wasn't free and I would have to top it up every 2/3 days. There were a few other problems with the people organising the trip and aspects of the trip we were either not told about, or any issues that came. None of the people we were able to speak to were helpful. DON'T GET ME WRONG THOUGH I had an amazing time, my coaching was brilliant, my flatmates I was out with were great and we've stayed friends. Beautiful country and amazing people. If I were you I'd go to Australia and set everything up yourself, it would be much easier (and cheaper). And you'll have a much easier time.

The course looks great from the outside but if you are really looking for a sporting gap year abroad, specifically Melbourne, then you are better off doing it yourself. The organisation between the owners of the company in england and the sports co-ordinator in melbourne is dreadful and they do not work. It felt at times as though you were back at school when thats exactly what you wanted to leave behind. For popular sports like rugby, cricket or netball then contact a club directly yourself rather than using sport lived. You also then wont be stuck in a god awful accomodation that is completely mis-sold. The only upside to sport lived is the socials that is organised out there by the co-ordinator (different person to the sport co-ordinator) and she endeavoured to make our trip as good as possible. Without her input the whole thing would have been a waste of time going through the company. All in all sportlived will charge you through the roof for something you can do yourself for about half the price and no hassle.

To put this straight. I spent the last 3 months undertaking what was supposed to be a tennis/hockey/netball programme in Melbourne. Here is the email I felt I had to send at the end of the programme after calls were ignored from my parents and every other parent who's child was on the programme wrote some form of complaint. "Firstly I would like to say that I have made some of the greatest friendships on this programme and secondly that Melbourne was the ideal city in which to hold it. However I am writing this email as a participant because I feel that the company would benefit from direct feedback about the real programme that was taken place there. Primarily, I think that what needs to be addressed in order for this great gap year concept to be fulfilled is the people in Melbourne that are in charge of coordination. Mainly **, who I was told was In charge of looking after us whilst we were here. The first day I arrived I turned up expecting to be met by say a 30-40 year old man, who participated in sport and was a bubbly fun personality. How can you provide a sports programme when the main man in charge is not the image of what the company should be trying to represent? Not only this but every single time I asked for help on either getting work or playing for a club in hockey he did not help me out. My emails were ignored and he told me that what I wanted was not possible. So I took it on myself to email clubs and managed to find coaching in a day of me emailing. The so called 24/7 support turned into me seeing ** once on my first day and then once before I left for home. My associate on the course also was told that her rowing club was a "stones throw away" but In fact took her 1 hour to walk there and back with no public transport. ** claims he had "contacts" in all areas and yet this was not seen at all in any of the programmes put on for girls. It is simply unacceptable to come to Melbourne thinking that we would be playing sport once a day and realising that in fact I played tennis once a week with no matches and then ** did nothing to change this. When asking what I should do to fill my day he simply replied "go and explore Melbourne" of which I could of done for free and without paying a huge amount for the course. When parents phoned him up and complained about the course he replied that they were the only parents to complain. When in actual fact that is a complete lie as I know for a fact most of the female parents made a complaint at some point of the course. This is a huge issue, i feel that if you had a proper mentor out in Melbourne that was able to assist with sports and organisation and was fun and bubbly and actually was there for 24-7 support then the overall feedback would of been greatly improved. ** was the only immensely impressive social mentor whilst I was out here. Without here I would not of had any help. She went above and beyond her job title and drove boys to their training when she had free time, came to matches and made sure we all had a good time. This cannot be said for **. The one time he went to watch a cricket match one of the boys on the team tore his knee and instead of offering to drive him back to the city. Made him walk back and get the tram. I feel that this seems to only be a problem in Melbourne as my sister partook in the hockey programme in Argentina a couple of years ago and the mentor was superb. I also know of some past Brisbane consumers who also had a great season. Secondly, my other main area of feedback would be that of accommodation. The hostel is not up to par at all with the expectations of standard accommodation. The cookers do not work. The rooms have no windows and the building is dirty and dark. If this truth was advertised on your website then I would highly doubt many people would opt for your programme. The amount of money that I spent on the course rose to 2,500 for one month. Therefore without the 50 dollars spent on a tennis membership and some on socials (which I was told would be every weekend but in fact were once every three) I guarantee that enough profit would of been made to put us each in nicer accommodation. Whether it be apartments in the city or a nicer hostel of which I have found for cheap online. It got to the stage where the price of sport lived was so high that on my last month I decided to not pay for the programme and still stay in the hostel and pay for a membership and it cost me 637 pounds exactly. Which as you can see is a lot less than the 2,500 pounds exactly purchased by your company and I did the exact same amount as when I was part of sport lived. If the rooms and living had been nicer and in a more social environment then you would not of had people leaving the programme earlier than they were meant to once the cricket had finished. Overall, I have written this email as a participant of the programme who has experienced the real sport lived. The fact that the webpage is so vague is a very clever way for your company to hide these things I have mentioned under the surface. I truly believe that this is a great gap year concept but the situation such as the mentor and the lack of help, as well as the price of it for what it In fact was does not live up to expectations and it is only once you get to Melbourne that you realise all this when it is too late. Again this is no way acceptable to the consumer." I did gain a response. However it was nonsensical and went on to talk about matters of the exchange rate five years ago... instead of focusing on the issues and the company did apologise however offered no refund. Not only this the company claims to be going out to Melbourne in May to sort things out. However I feel this an escape goat, and excuse to look like things are getting sorted when in fact nothing will change, as the mentor can appear to be doing his Job when clearly he is not. Its a great shame as Melbourne is such a good city and the cricket programme seemed to be a good one because of the clubs there. It IS JUST NOT WORTH THE MONEY IN MELBOURNE FOR THE TENNIS PROGRAMME.