The Price You Pay
Host Natalie Cook, Olympic gold medalist and five-time Olympian, shares the inspiring and untold stories of athletes who face financial obstacles in their pursuit of becoming Olympian's and Paralympian’s.
Discover the sacrifices, challenges, and unwavering determination behind their pursuit of greatness.
Be inspired by their resilience and determination to turn their dreams into reality.
The Price You Pay
20: Breaking Barriers: Josh Bell's Skeet Shooting Journey
What does it truly cost to chase Olympic glory? For Josh Bell, Australia's #1 men's skeet shooter, the price tag includes unpaid leave from work, constant financial uncertainty, and precious time away from his young family – all while maintaining the intense focus needed to hit clay targets moving at blistering speeds.
When Josh boarded his flight to Paris for his Olympic debut, he carried an additional burden most athletes couldn't imagine: he didn't know if he'd have a job to return to. Despite this crushing pressure, he performed admirably on the world's biggest stage. Such is the reality for many Australian athletes who receive minimal funding without Olympic or World Championship medals already in hand.
Josh's journey began at age 12 (the minimum legal age for a gun license) under his father's watchful eye, shooting on weekends as a reward for good behavior and academic achievement. What started as father-son bonding gradually evolved into serious competition around age 15-16 after stepping away from soccer. The transition from team sport to individual competition suited him perfectly, allowing complete control over his preparation and performance.
Beyond the technical demands of skeet shooting – which requires split-second precision and the mental discipline to engage and disengage between stations – Josh navigates a unique challenge. As a firearm license holder, he must maintain impeccable behavior in all aspects of life. One altercation could trigger immediate license suspension and end his athletic career instantly. This awareness has shaped him into someone hypervigilant about potential conflicts, always planning escape routes from volatile situations.
The Aussie Athlete Fund has transformed Josh's approach to funding his Olympic journey. Rather than seeking handouts, he's learned to recognize his value and create mutually beneficial partnerships with sponsors. This mindset shift, coupled with his natural determination, has positioned him to pursue his dreams for LA 2028 – where he hopes to stand on the podium with his wife and daughters cheering from the stands.
Want to support athletes like Josh? Visit AussieAthleteFund.com and discover how you can help change the narrative for Australia's Olympic hopefuls.
Become a part of our athletes' success stories: Whether its a personal donation, a corporate partnership, a round of golf, or simply by spreading the word, your support has the power to uplift our athletes and inspire countless others!
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My name is Luke Morrison and I'm from the Gurangy Gurangy mob and I wish to acknowledge the lands on which the Price you Pay podcast is being recorded, on the Meeinjin country. I feel the spirits of my Indigenous ancestors having my back as I step into the boxing ring. This podcast pays homage to the tradition of storytelling when it shares athlete journeys and wishes to extend its respect to all Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Nat Cook:Welcome to Season 3 of the Price you Pay podcast hosted by myself, nat Cook, five-time Olympian and gold medalist, alongside our superstar interviewer, sarah Sarah from Chatterbox Media. Through conversations with Aussie Athlete Fund recipients, the truth emerges of what it truly takes to reach the highest echelons of sport in this country. By introducing family and key members of the athlete's journey to the discussion, we uncover the hidden costs and barriers they face, while getting a sense of the impact it has on their communities. Indulge me as I take you on a journey of my legacy project that spurred the creation of this podcast and the need to share these amazing athlete stories. I created the Aussie Athlete Fund to provide our next generation aspiring to or wearing the green and gold with the financial skills, tools, networks and opportunities to take care of their financial well-being. I personally retired after 20 years, $300,000 in debt, two medals, no superannuation, and I don't want that for the next generation. I don't want them to continue to pay a price for the honour to represent our country. I'm most proud of the athletes in the Aussie Athlete Fund designing their own initiatives to fundraise. We show them a tool for their fundraising roadmap and then they go about finding the networks, finding the businesses asking people for support along their journey. They get to deal with rejection, they get to deal with success. They have a community, a connected community, so they know they're not alone in this process and I really love how they take ownership for their own journey and that is what I'm most proud of.
Nat Cook:My vision for the Aussie Athlete Fund in the short term is to grow the awareness of the fund, but also of these athletes journeys, to inspire businesses and individuals who have the means to connect with these athlete journeys. They work so hard on the track, in the pool, on the court, to represent this great country and we need people to back their journeys. We need people to get emotionally connected. So that's it in the short term. I need to raise funds, I need to grow awareness and I need to teach the athletes how to be responsible for their own fundraising journeys. In the next seven years, towards 32, I want people to know how important the green and gold athlete is for our country and how it not only inspires our next generation of athletes but our businesses and the whole country to lift, to be the best they can be.
Nat Cook:It's so important to share this podcast not only with our athletes, so they have a tool for their fundraising, to share their stories with people that might like to back them on the journey, but also so that people know the depth of effort that these athletes go to Not only the athletes, their family and friends and their supporting community to help them rise to represent all of us on a world stage. And I want people to be able to be inspired and motivated, like I am when I hear all these athlete stories, to want to help them fundraise and help them look after their financial well-being. So enjoy listening to the stories, pick one or two that you want to back in and make sure they know that you're supporting them. And now, with complete trust and confidence, I hand over the microphone, and I know that might be hard for you to believe, but I have to go out and fundraise for our athletes. As she continues the conversation, our star interviewer, sarah.
Sarah Maxwell:Today I sit down with Australia's number one men's skeet shooter, josh Bell. The road to the latest Olympic Games in Paris has been long for Josh. Introduced to shooting by his father, he is passionately trained since he could legally hold a gun license at age 12. Now here he is at age 30, with his sight even more clearly fixated on the world champs in Greece this year and the next Olympics in LA in 2028. But now his why has grown, as he and his wife Susanna's two young girls so Isla's three Millie's, one and a half years old, they're soaking it all up. So the fire has never burned brighter than to show his girls what's possible. So the fire has never burned brighter than to show his girls what's possible.
Sarah Maxwell:Recently winning bronze in the team competition at a World Cup a feat no Australian team had ever done, by the way has left a hunger in Josh for more. But here's the thing he and Zuzana work full time. They have a growing family to support and as family commitments rise, support for his sport dwindles. These are not easy realities to weigh up Big goals, big financial demands and a heart that just cannot not want this dream. It's so important that we hear real accounts like Josh's, so we can begin to understand the support they truly need to step into the biggest moments in their sport. So welcome Josh, to the Price you Pay podcast. I'm so glad you're here for this.
Josh Bell:Thanks, Sarah.
Sarah Maxwell:Because one of your daughters is not well, and so your wife was meant to be on the call with us, and didn't we have to quickly amend all that? So your life is truly, as the intro said, there is a lot going on. Is that true, Josh?
Josh Bell:Yes, very much so. We had our school induction interviews today, so they still had to go ahead and we've had to change plans and Isla gets to stay home for a day, so there's every chance she might walk in and introduce herself at some point.
Sarah Maxwell:Which we welcome because, again, that shows all the different facets of your life. And for those, we're doing this audio so you can't see, but there's all these medals behind Josh as we're doing the call, and so you really get the sense that there's a lot to this guy. So, before we delve into your shooting background, I'd love a picture of skeet shooting from the point of view that goes beyond what we see in the movies, when American presidents are somehow skeet shooting at Camp David I don't know why, but they always are. So what is skeet shooting like from your perspective?
Josh Bell:So I guess the best way to explain it would be picture yourself on a field shaped in the form of a, d, a capital, d and you basically start from the left hand side.
Josh Bell:There's eight stations, so you work your way from station one all the way across the front of the D to the opposite side and then you eventually finish in the middle of the D section with your final two targets coming kind of over the top of your head. There is a set sequence between singles and doubles and as you work your way around, the sequence slightly changes. Basically, for my discipline of SCEAP, you start with the gun off of your shoulder. Doubles and as you work your way around, the sequence slightly changes. Okay, basically, um, for my discipline of escape, you start with the gun off of your shoulder. There's a set mark. Not to go into too much detail, but there's a set mark.
Josh Bell:If you were to put your arm up against your shoulder, it's at the bottom of your elbow is where the gun has to start from okay then you call pull, basically when you're ready for the target to come out, and it can come out instantly or it can come out up to three seconds delay that's an option of the it randomly selects.
Josh Bell:there's no sequence to it, there's no nothing. So the whole point sorry, the whole point is that when you call pull, you've got a window that you need to be focused for and the whole point is that it's random, so sometimes you get caught out. Sometimes three seconds feels like six seconds, so you can really really be waiting and, depending on the moment, yeah, it can really feel like a long time.
Sarah Maxwell:So when you first started, like I want to hear about growing up shooting with your dad Is this the kind of shooting that he showed you straight away? Is this a common way to start?
Josh Bell:No, not at all. So there's several sort of disciplines to shooting that you can come from, and there's no real set path as to what that might be. But it's generally just like you know, getting amongst the sport. Obviously everyone comes in at different like sort of body builds, and so if you're a bit timid, there's other ways to go about it. You can use softer shells, um, for less recoil on your shoulder, because that's a big part of it as well.
Josh Bell:Um, it basically just grows from like the enjoyment, and it doesn't really matter what path you follow to start with, but eventually you get exposed through sort of different experiences and, uh, I was lucky enough to have like training camps at certain ages where they were like not necessarily you know high performance or anything like that, but they gave you that step into, um, kind of like if I was to go and, you know, do a junior training camp and say, guys, would you like to have a dabble at what I do? It's by no means going to be a very successful thing, but yeah, it might. Some people really love it and other people are just like no, it's not for me.
Sarah Maxwell:Um and they generally go back and stick to the other disciplines so when you start to do a discipline, were you skeet shooting straight away when you started to, like you say, do these um clinics or competitions? Like was skeet shooting first or were there other things you tried?
Josh Bell:but for me, for my past, skeet shooting was first, but the one that I'm doing now is um, referred to as iwsf skeet or olympic skeet. The one that I started on is actually called american skeet, so it's a american president's.
Sarah Maxwell:I tell you it's a thing, yeah far more softer um sequence.
Josh Bell:There's a lot more time. I would say, like that, you don't have to start with a gun off your shoulder to start with. Okay, you go, pull, it comes out instantly.
Sarah Maxwell:And they're also not doing anywhere near the speeds of what mine are doing yeah, right and when would you say it would be cool if we could have asked your dad this, but when would did the obsession kick in? When did you see that, oh, this wasn't just some hobby that you're doing with dad?
Josh Bell:um, so I got into it when I was 12 and that was like the legal age, basically so it was. It would start out basically I'd go to school, uh, and if I was good and I achieved all my grades and did what I needed to do, well, my reward was going to the gun club with dad on a friday night. Uh, dad kind of loved that as I got older as well, because it kind of kept me out of the, the clubbing scene and you know, going out and looking for mischief, um. But then at the time when I was 12, I was also like pretty heavily involved in other sports, whether it was athletics or soccer. So that was kind of where my focus was and shooting was, just, like you said, a bit of a hobby with dad.
Josh Bell:Um, I progressed through soccer to like a reasonable sort of level and then had a few bad experiences with it as well, just like political side, um, and training and just you know the requirements there. So ultimately it led to me leaving soccer and then I took up more focus on shooting and probably from the age of 15 to 16, I would say it became more of a focus and a hobby. And then, because I wasn't playing soccer every weekend. Well, my dad was like okay, the doors are open now Would you like to go travel and do a few competitions? Yeah, shooting is very vast. It's got a lot of sort of avenues you can go to really rural based as well, like there's a lot of country clubs that you can travel to. So with the sport I was doing and the discipline of American skate, you can probably find an event once a weekend, kind of thing.
Sarah Maxwell:Would you say the transition to shooting versus soccer was were you more suited to an individual sport?
Josh Bell:Yeah, uh, I actually really love the idea of a team sport and I think it's like such a critical part as a kid growing up to learn to win or lose together and just forming like friendships and stuff.
Josh Bell:To be honest, yeah I do find it a lot easier to be an individual competitor, because I only have to worry about myself and, yeah, like I can be critical of myself and you know, I don't have to worry about lifting other people or what other people are doing behind the scenes, which I find, you know, probably good in a way, because, yeah, with everything that we've got going on, I couldn't imagine trying to manage a team environment with myself.
Sarah Maxwell:Yeah, that's what I was just thinking as you described that, thinking, wow, you have so many moving parts already. Adding a team to it might put you over the edge. But something unique about what you do you know clearly you shoot a gun. You know that's your equipment. So you mentioned 12 years old is when you could legally get a license. Talk us through the laws around owning a gun and the seriousness of altercations you know in terms of the way you lead your life, even now as a 30 year old yeah.
Josh Bell:So basically, like it's pretty straightforward to get into as a junior obviously you need an adult um to assist you and basically, like you know, sign off on that process, uh, and then from the time when you're 12 to 18, you can't legally travel or carry the gun by yourself. You have to have an adult licensed supervisor. So you know, my whole family ended up getting their license because there was select times where dad couldn't take me to an event or training. So then my sister would, or my mother would, for example, and they're not really all that focused on on shooting. They like between my mom and my sister they haven't really done any focus on shooting um. So it's kind of funny from that aspect that, yeah, everyone's got a license to be able to take me around that is.
Sarah Maxwell:That is a thing I didn't really consider. Yeah, in terms of family members and who can come with you. So was your sister really pleased about having to get a gun license?
Josh Bell:uh, not particularly yeah, I just felt that yeah she definitely had other other stuff that she'd want to do, um, but luckily I only sort of used that so many times.
Josh Bell:It was either normally it was my dad was pretty available to take me on, my mom, yeah, uh.
Josh Bell:And then, in terms of you know, as you get older same as when I touched on with with my dad, and you know that was like the reward to be able to travel and shoot. It was also the reward for, you know, keeping yourself out of trouble, um, and it really like set in at quite a young age that you know to be able to have a firearm, for example, and it means you have to carry yourself with a bit of like a level of maturity, um, you can't go off the cuff at reactions or you know, I was at a couple of parties when I was younger and you know things would go wrong, or police are there, or altercations. You're looking for any possible way to get out of there without having anything to do with yourself, because you don't want to put your sport in jeopardy and the long-term goal of trying to get to the Olympics. It's the same now, every single time that there's something that could go wrong, you're trying to be preventative and get out of anywhere that's going to put your sport in jeopardy.
Sarah Maxwell:And is that something that's front of mind, has always been front of mind for you? It reminds me a little bit of like water, you know, doping rules and how, all of a sudden you take an aspirin and you have to think twice, or all those rules, um, you know, clearly, unless you're you know deeply down the doping um avenue, most athletes are just worried about the basic stuff, like the protein patterns and all that stuff. So for you there's another layer around altercation. So is this something that you think about often?
Josh Bell:yeah, all the time I find that really interesting yeah, it's like, yeah, it'll be an exaggerated example, but like I could be driving somewhere for argument's sake, um, and let's say someone cut me off or I had a bad day at work and I had a really shitty reaction to it and I didn't enjoy it that could escalate so bad to a point where, like, if someone reports me for that and it goes down as aggression or not necessarily assault, but you know, like verbal assault or something like that, I'm going to have police on my doorstep within a day. And you know they don't half-ass any kind of punishment when it comes to firearms holders. So unfortunately, the majority of us aren't criminals, but because criminals do get access to firearms, we basically cop the same punishments, and so I could easily lose my license for 10 years just from having one obligation.
Sarah Maxwell:Did your dad drill this in or did you? You see something happen. I'm just so surprised that you hold it so close um.
Josh Bell:I think, because it's you make one mistake and it's all gone. You know, and for every like of a big cycle that's gone past, it's the same thing. You work away for four years at a time, uh, and in in the space of 30 seconds, you can make one bad decision or get involved in something that is out of your control and, yeah, it could be all be up in smoke wow, well, like see how, in that we can hear how responsible you are.
Sarah Maxwell:I can just imagine, um, you know we don't get to talk to susanna to hear this, but I can just imagine the kind of conscientious dad you are as well when I'm hearing yeah, she gets a bit tired of me because I'm always like people watching when we're out to dinner.
Josh Bell:I'm aware of like everything that goes on. So, um, probably a bit too much, but it comes from that because, yeah, I never want to be caught out in a situation where I don't foresee it coming.
Sarah Maxwell:You know you would be a funny dad, you would be like wait till they start dating.
Josh Bell:Oh my god oh this is funny.
Sarah Maxwell:Okay, we're gonna have to, like you know, get back when you, you know, in 10 years time we're gonna have to come back and talk to you. Listen, talk to me a little bit again. We just I just mentioned your age and I think that's kind of an interesting part of your career, so in some ways you've had a long career already, so clearly there's going to be disappointments in there. Um, even Roger Federer had disappointments. Um, what was the impact of not qualifying for Tokyo during COVID and how do you think that experience actually helped you um make the Paris 2024 team?
Josh Bell:I think short term like it. There's no way to sugarcoat it, it sucks, it really does. Like you go through such a lull, um, and at the time of tokyo, like I was fortunate enough that you know, I was obviously with zuzana, but I didn't have my kids at the time or any of that, so it was still kind of in the works um, so you do, you go through it and because you don't have you, you've got work and things like that, but you don't have anything pulling you in the other direction. So you literally like absorb that situation and I probably walked around pretty shitty for a while and didn't train for a little bit, but then after a while that disappointment turns to well, for me anyway, it turns to like a bit more of a driver and then, same thing as what I said before, like hold yourself accountable, and I'm not one to turn around and, you know, throw in the towel.
Josh Bell:So I do like a full strip down of where it went wrong, um where it went right, and then just really fixate on what is going to drive me to be better, um, whether it came down to, yeah, like Tokyo, ultimately I lost. That's what it came down to. I lost my selection. It came down to the wire and I just didn't perform how I needed to. In the last one there's a whole other bunch of external factors that played into it as well and they drove me to be a much bigger competitor and person. Um, but this time around I had, I safely say, like even if I didn't make the para selections, I had every basis covered.
Sarah Maxwell:uh, and nothing was gonna throw me off with like selection processes or any external noise, anything like it's a good point, because sometimes we never want this, but you have to like it's very hard to know an Olympic Games until you've done it, even a selection process like that, and so you're trying as best you can to mitigate things that you've just never experienced. And so I love how you took that on, like you say, with a fine-tooth comb, and really figured out how you were going to do it different and make sure that there was no stone unturned. I'm just noticing something about you that I love. You love the word fixated, which is so hilarious for your sport. So I was going to ask Zuzanna this, but now she's not on the call, so this could be more awkward for you. So I was going to ask Zuzana this, but now she's not on the call, so this could be more awkward for you.
Josh Bell:But tell me about how you being fixated makes you really good at your sport. Probably not like limited to sport, to be honest. It's probably like across life in general.
Sarah Maxwell:I figured Josh, but okay.
Josh Bell:But I think and I probably hate to admit it, I think any time that I am met with some kind of resistance, it just makes me go 10 times harder, and that's like falling short in a selection. That's someone telling me that you know, I'm not qualified to be categorised for funding. Any possible way to drive me is okay's, fine, I'll accept it. But now I'm gonna go away and I'm gonna put a list together as to how I'm gonna do it. I'm not in spite, but even without your help, like yeah. And then that's what gisanna would turn around and say is probably the biggest uh thing that she, I would say she loves about me.
Sarah Maxwell:I hope she loves about me but naira this is so good, by the way, I love hearing that and I it really describes how far you've come and why you, you have had successes that no other australian team has had. You know in this sport, so tell me. But the word fixated I am getting fixated on that word because I just keep thinking about your sport and the focus that is required, like I worked with archery athletes and so I can just imagine the minute need to be that focus. Like you said, that three. Second variable how do you train that?
Josh Bell:There's another, another element to it as well, because you shoot in a squad of six and so for my discipline, all six people shoot, uh, that first station and then we move on to the second.
Josh Bell:So I'll probably have like a period of 30 seconds to be on that station and shoot the sequence of targets that I need to then. Then I walk off and I've got to disengage, basically, and like kind of go you know bit blank, put the blinkers on and worry about myself. Then the other five shooters have to do their bit and then we move on to station two. So there's a lot of like time to switch on focus for that 30 second period and then time to switch off, because the whole round generally takes about probably no more than 30 minutes to go through as a group of six and you can't stay at that level of like in tunement, um, for 30 minutes. You would. You'll burn out because you've got to do it five times, uh, over the sequence of two days can you train that outside of the sport in tunement, and what do you call the sec?
Sarah Maxwell:what do you call that release or something? What can you train that outside of the sport intunement, and what do you call the sec? What do you call that release or something? What would you call that when you have to move to the next station?
Josh Bell:so what's the opposite of intunement I actually don't know, but I would probably just say like engage and disengage engage disengage flick, flick a switch, basically to go, okay, it's time to focus and then it's time to not focus, but then also you kind of this is. One thing that I really struggle with is, um, when I disengage, I can sometimes go that far off into the, you know the forbidden area something as stupid as like what am I having for dinner? Or got it, yeah, um something, something like that, basically.
Sarah Maxwell:So yeah, it's you do you meditate or anything, training like your mind in that way, or is that?
Josh Bell:I don't, but it's probably one area that I actually want to look at. I know there's a few other people that definitely do it, so that's it's something that I haven't worked on just yet, but I'd like to probably give it a go josh secret weapon the eastern cultures.
Sarah Maxwell:They know about this stuff. Um well, we'll get to that later. Um, okay, so clearly in your sport there's a lot going on like engage, disengage, and with that you work and you train full-time. So how do you do that with all the energy and focus required for your training? Like, how do you balance those two things?
Josh Bell:um, um, probably relates a fair bit to the working background. Um, time management is like a big skill to have as a project manager uh background and can't help but sort of do a bit of micro managing along the way. So Susanna loves that, um, yeah, I think it just comes down to like it's a team effort in that background, so juggling the kids and, you know, even just life events and things like that. Susanna is the calendar planner, so we basically look at like three-month intervals as to what's coming up and we block out periods, whether it's events, training days, and I find for me it's probably not the best sequence for everyone, but I tend to do a certain amount of training and then, depending on what's coming up, I ramp up my training. Okay, um, and it's just the way that I've found it to work with everything we juggle. So, between you know, having quality time with family, um, and just, yeah, doing a bit of other stuff in life as well, and having that balance, I think it works really good.
Sarah Maxwell:So do you have a coach? By the way, when you were just talking about that planning, do you have a coach?
Josh Bell:a limited amount. So there's a lady down in melbourne called laura mark who has thankfully helped me a lot in the last probably three years. Um, but not a, not a dedicated coach. No, we don't really have the depth. We've got a very big depth of coaching and uh athlete performance in another discipline of shooting called uh trap or trench.
Josh Bell:So that's the discipline that, like michael diamond russell, mark katherine skinner won a gold medal in it in rio as well, and penny smith most recently won a bronze medal in paris. So all those people that I just mentioned, as I said, all come from the same discipline and a lot of the coaching has been able to be sort of maintained internally and we've got a lot of other really good quality shooters in that discipline as well. At the moment we haven't managed to break through on the skeet side in terms of the athletes for Olympic medals or the coaching side. So we do the best we can. That's probably one of the areas I want to focus on in the next four years is trying to go and possibly look for that overseas as well and try and bring that knowledge back a bit right, love it.
Sarah Maxwell:Yeah, that's super interesting. And so now that you have the girls so we're talking about you know training full-time and how you and and Susanna do those blockouts of schedule how has that shifted your focus in terms of your training and this dream that you're chasing Like? Is that part of it? I mean, I said that in the intro, but did I make that up? That you're there, you're why and why you keep going?
Josh Bell:No, not at all.
Josh Bell:It's like same thing as what I mentioned with Tokyo there was nothing to really absorb, like those losses, just you carry it with you, whereas now, like even through any of the success that I've had, like the second that I get back home, they're really, really excited for me, but I'm just dead and like I lean into that so much because it's just like so grounding at the same time. Yeah, um, yeah, I, I like I thoroughly enjoy that and then just like making the paris team. Obviously now things are kind of changed with goals and stuff, because it was just a goal to make paris to be fair and like I would love to go there and win a medal, but now stepping onto that stage and seeing that it's just there for the taking, for whoever kind of seizes the day, has given me a different perspective as well. So the goals will probably be a bit different.
Josh Bell:Assuming I can be lucky enough to get to LA, but I want my daughters there and you know anything that I do now any team I make. It's an example that, like I've been working at it for close to 12 years and a bit more. So it might not be a sport related goal that they have when they get a bit older, but it just shows the longevity of like sticking to something and seeing it through. You know whether it's a business establishment or sport or whatever it might be like they're just you know, really good examples.
Josh Bell:I want to say very cool, love that.
Sarah Maxwell:And look, we're talking about you working full-time. But I suppose we haven't addressed the fact that what is the financial strain of this sport in particular, like, what do you face in terms of some of the challenges?
Josh Bell:uh. So, like I've touched on before, you know, unfortunately I can't speak for all sports, but for shooting it's a bit of um, a double-edged sword. You pretty much have to have either an olympic medal or a world championship medal to your name before you get a decent amount of funding. Uh, come your way. So everyone and I like I'm speaking for you know all the up-and-coming shooters that we have as well, and probably that's where aussie athlete fund comes in. I'm really passionate about it and I like to think that it's going to have a really big impact on everyone else outside of me as well. But I just, yeah, it's, it's a lot. It really is like trying to juggle the full-time work, the work commitment alone, like it was a big thing from my work to just back me to be able to go, because last year, if you factor it all together, between January to August, I had about four and a half months off that's a good point.
Sarah Maxwell:So you have time off work, so meaning they're like kind of a sponsor in some ways for letting you take the time off. And then so all of those, let's say, those are trips, so you have to pay out of pocket for this travel. Is that what you're saying?
Josh Bell:some some of the travel, so a little bit of is out of pocket, depending on which tier you fall onto with the categorization um. So there's a balance there. Sometimes you have to pay a percentage of the trip, for example, even for other up-and-coming people. But my biggest expense was like trying to probably fulfill this dream keep the lights on at home and then take time. But work met an agreement where I still had a job to come home to, um, but they weren't paying you while you were away.
Sarah Maxwell:Is that what I'm getting?
Josh Bell:yeah they're not. They're not going to pay you if you're not going to work. You know that's the scenario. So you basically got to allow that amount of time and pretty much supplement your income.
Sarah Maxwell:We need them to pay you while you're away, Josh.
Josh Bell:We do. That's the winner right there, full-time athlete goals.
Sarah Maxwell:I've lived with my partner, nat Cook, too long, clearly, and thank you for saying how passionate you are about the Aussie Athlete Fund and and that shows, you know it really shows in the your engagement and you know I heard about you well before this conversation ever happened because, yeah, you are a standout in in terms of your contribution and your commitment and that takes you far, which I love. Um, just can you describe a little bit of how the Aussie Athlete Fund came into your journey, like what has been the impact, what's going on, what are some of the results for you?
Josh Bell:Okay, I'll go one step back further. To be honest, I was lucky to even just get into it because, for whatever reasons, my channels didn't like extend to it. So I was lucky enough to have Ashlyn's dad, dave, give me a call.
Sarah Maxwell:Okay.
Josh Bell:And he said look, no promises, but I think if you're quick enough you might actually be able to submit and get in an application for this program. And so I like jumped on it quickly. I had to record a couple of videos, which obviously put me out of my comfort zone, and next thing, you know, I was accepted and it's just snowballed from there Like it was really, really good. I couldn't have had it happen at a better time, because the other part to my working scenario I won't really go into too much detail on it, but it was really really rocky as I got on the plane to go to paris, like I didn't even know if I was going to have a company to possibly come back to or a job, for example. So that was a bit of a juggling act while I was away, which not many people know about.
Sarah Maxwell:um, pause that for a sec. I I want people to understand the impact of that, because not only was there an uncertainty, you're going into the biggest competition, like your Olympic first time Olympian, trying to focus and not knowing, as a new dad, if you're going to have a job when you get back. Okay, let me perform at my best. Okay, go. I mean sorry, just keep going. I just needed to highlight that.
Josh Bell:Yeah, and that's one of the things that's in my notes for for the next cycle got a student, love it um, but you know that's the thing, like you can't change it, so you just got to work with it, and that's same thing as what I said before, like, okay, stop focusing on the negatives and just put a list of, you know, a hit list, basically, of items that I need to do and there's not. Can I do it? It's I need to do it to be able to look after my family while I'm away and keep the lights on and tick this box, and then when I get back, you know like it's being confident in what you do, I guess, and knowing that you can pick up the phone and find a job.
Sarah Maxwell:um, so in that like talk to me. You see you use the word snowball. So you know aussie athlete fund has financial. You know some literally like money, keep the the lights on. But there's also this kind of learning component, education. So talk to me about the impact of that. How has the education helped you create more financial stability for your sport?
Josh Bell:uh, I guess in some ways it just made me think bigger. I think was probably the biggest lesson with like, dealing with nat as well and probably pivoting from like the, the thought of, uh, donations and family support. Um, and you know, taking money, for example, from your neighbor who you've known for three years, that gives you 50 dollars towards your dream. As opposed to recognizing what you're good at and accepting the fact that you know it's not. You don't want to hand handout as such, like I did Paris, by whatever means necessary, and that's just the honest truth about it.
Sarah Maxwell:As you should.
Josh Bell:Yeah, and moving forward, I want to look at how I can improve businesses, how they can buy into my brand, how I can hopefully improve their brand and really establish, like a relationship that I'll be able to keep for, say, four years, so that I don't have to go through those things of like, oh, that I'll be able to keep for, say, four years, um, so that I don't have to go through those things of like, oh, I wonder, if you know, work falls over tomorrow. Will I be able to do it or do I need to stop?
Sarah Maxwell:um, yeah, that's, that's huge that's actually a really cool reflection, because what I hear there is, in some ways, when we start up, we we're a little bit in beggar mode. You know like almost like a bit charity, we think we're a charity case, and then the edge it sounds to me like you've understood your worth, you know that that you have something to offer someone else, so it's not a begging situation. It's like how can we both win?
Josh Bell:yeah, exactly, and I don't. I don't want that one-sided relationship. Um, I I want something that can be mutual, beneficial, brilliant, and it doesn't necessarily have to be sports-sided. You know, that's the other thing that Matt's kind of opened the doors for as well is like I always kind of had a focus on my brand, but that has definitely grown like 10 times over from just being exposed to different conversations with Matt. There's another sort of linked thing that we're involved with now with um company called player power, and they're just like opening up avenues on how you communicate with people, uh, how do you communicate your personal brand, different ways of delivering it, uh, all that kind of stuff. So I think, yeah, in terms of that, and then also like I really enjoy the atmosphere of what the Aussie Athlete Fund gives. I look at the people that are involved with it and I think I'm one of the older people and that's not exactly a refreshing feeling, but you know, that's older.
Josh Bell:Yeah, that doesn't count, that's a different kettle of fish. But, like you know, we've got 16-year-old kids in there. They've got 16 year old kids in there. That, yeah, they've got really bright futures and if they can nail the stuff that I'm learning now at 30, at that age like sky's the limit.
Sarah Maxwell:But you know, that reminds me of I don't know in school, like when I was at uni mature age students. They kill it because they're focused, they've got there's a maturity there and they just take the information and they would run with it. And I remember being the young one watching that and sometimes you get a bit frustrated. But yet that's you, josh. You know you're soaking it all up. You're just like give me more, give me more. That's what Nat says. Oh, he's so voracious, we just can't feed this guy enough, and I think that's a real compliment. I would say Nat has that in her as well. And so, just to finish this off, because it's been a really cool conversation, um, if we could wave a magic wand across your career, what do you wish for your journey toward LA 2028? You know when you think about the goals and dreams that you want to realize, so magic won this thing for us um, I think the obvious one is, you know, like I'd like to.
Josh Bell:The big picture is competition day comes around and I've done my job and I can be there with a medal, and this time I'll have my family in the stands. Uh, so that that's like you know. It gives me a bit of a goosebumps feeling, but the four-year journey to that looks very different and it's kicking goals in my sport. But trying to elevate my sport to the next level of going out and getting these sort of companies involved, getting that mainstream media interest and same thing like it's all self-motivated. Obviously I want to do it for myself and I want to benefit from it. Um, yeah, I don't think there's any shame in admitting that, but something about doing firsts and like um, really just like pushing the ceiling, I think, is what like really makes me want to come home after I've done a day of work and sit on the computer and email companies or reach out to people on LinkedIn or something like that. Like that's the driving force. Um, just doing stuff that hasn't been done before and LA in particular, for your sport.
Sarah Maxwell:You know you talk about mainstream media. What's special about your sport and Los Angeles?
Josh Bell:The big ticket here is America's, you know, definitely not shy in admitting that they love their firearms and their guns. The other thing that would come into it is the depth of shooters that they have across every discipline is incredible. You know they've got vincent hancock. He's a a four-time gold medalist, five-time olympic, and he'll be going for his fifth games and I think he's announced already that it's going to be his last games. So like I don't think they'll make a grandstand big enough, personally, to fit everyone so that's really interesting.
Sarah Maxwell:So he's obviously well known and well regarded. How old is he right now? 36, I think you're not so old, hey, josh that's right.
Josh Bell:Yeah, shooting's a blessing. We've got, you know, people all the way from from 16 to 60 and they're still very, very much competitive on their day, so it's anyone's game got it.
Sarah Maxwell:So you are heading into this incredible environment where all american eyes will be looking at your sport and that is great for australia as well. To see reminds me a little bit of beach volleyball, you know, in terms of when nat was new into it, and it's like what is this sport? Americans loved it, you know, and so you start in.
Sarah Maxwell:You know she started in Atlanta, in in the US, and then next thing you know it's in Australia and people are all of a sudden they want to know more about it. So you're in a really nice trajectory. I think you're the right steward for it. And, um, yeah, just what an incredible dad we can hear that you are and we're sorry we missed out on Susanna, but maybe you got. You know you got to say more because of that, so it all worked out possibly she might have got me into trouble yeah, which I do love seeing.
Sarah Maxwell:I'm not gonna lie, but I think we did our best. So thank you so much for this conversation, and I think it's a really important one to have. So thank you.
Josh Bell:Thank you, sarah, I really appreciate it.
Nat Cook:Thank you for joining us on another episode of the Price you Pay podcast.
Nat Cook:We hope we've inspired you with the insider's look of the challenges faced by our aspiring athletes, the highs and lows of playing sports at such an elite level and what's possible when you're so devoted to your craft. It's our mission at the Aussie Athlete Fund to create a sustainable funding model to support our athletes for both their financial well-being and education for their own athlete economy. To be part of the journey, please visit our website at wwwAussieAthleteFundcom and choose how you would like to be involved, Whether that's as a corporate partner, teaming up with an athlete in the Million Dollar Challenge or hosting your very own event to help raise funds. Choose your own adventure. Sharing the Aussie Athlete Fund mission, or even an episode, is how we grow and expand the reach we have in supporting these young athletes. Be a part of changing the narrative. And one last thing press the follow button and rate us for season 3 so these stories can travel further and wider. Be sure to join us next time for more captivating stories of triumph and resilience on the next episode of the Price you Pay.
