College Patrons

Each of our specialist programs are supported by a dedicated patron who is committed to the continuing success of our sporting history.

Netball

Jessica Anstiss is one of Australia's leading young midcourt players.

Jessica played state league for the Rangers and was named Player of the Year in 2015.  Renowned for her consistent form Jessica represented Western Australia in the 17U, 19U and 21U sides and Australia in the 17U, 19U and 21U teams.  Since 2014 Jessica formed an integral part of the Western Sting in the Australian Netball League and was named Most Valuable Player.

Joining West Coast Fever as a replacement player in 2016, Jessica has again been selected to represent Australia in the 2018 Netball World Youth Cup in Botswana.  She has won the 2018 Rebel Young Star Award and named in the 2018 Team of the Year.

Cricket

Bruce Reid is among John Forrest Secondary College's most well-known graduates. He is one of many former John Forrest students to have progressed to play WACA grade cricket, but one of only a few to have represented Australia.

Bruce progressed through the junior ranks at Bayswater-Morley District Cricket Club. He then went on to represent Western Australia in Sheffield Shield and became one of Australia's leading fast bowlers. At 203cm, he is one of the tallest players to have ever played international cricket. Bruce was famous for his left arm, frightening pace, natural swing and awkward angle of delivery. His height also allowed him to achieve steep bounce and consistent accuracy.

At 22, Bruce made his international debut in 1985 at the Adelaide Oval against a very strong Indian team, where he took 4/113 in 53 overs. He was consistently the best performing Australian bowler throughout the 85/86 summer.

He made his One Day International debut that same summer against New Zealand. His most famous achievement was during the Ashes series of 1990-91 where he tore through the England team at the MCG, taking 13 wickets for the match.

Bruce is one of four Australians to take a hat-trick in ODI's. His test career spanned 27 matches, taking 113 wickets at an average of 24.63, and his ODI career expanded over 61 matches and claimed 63 wickets at an average of 34.96. His international career was cut short in 1992 by persistent injury.

Bruce retired from the game altogether in 1996 when he hung the boots up from Sheffield Shield cricket. He remained within the international cricket world, becoming a mentor to bowlers all around the world. He has worked with the Indian and Zimbabwean national cricket teams, as well as Hampshire County Cricket Club in England. He has mentored Australian left arm quicks and now owns the Ballajura Indoor Centre, where he mentors cricketers in the surrounding area.

Music

Dr Ashley Smith is one of John Forrest Secondary College's most accomplished musicians. Since graduating from John Forrest, Ashley has become Assistant Professor, Head of Winds and Contemporary Performance at UWA Conservatorium of Music and is an excellent role model who has achieved international acclaim as a bass clarinetist and clarinet player. He has formidable ability and noteworthy achievements to his name and remains generous with his time.

He has been described by The Age as 'Incandescent... a masterly display of skill and insight... as an apologist for contemporary music-making, you would search hard to find this young clarinettist's equal'. Ashley has emerged as one of Australia's most internationally demanded young musicians. The current Churchill Fellow, Ashley is a laureate of two of Australia's most prestigious prizes for classical musicians, the 2012 Music Council of Australia Freedman Fellowship and the ABC Symphony International Young Performer Award (other instrument category). Identified as a 'rising star' by the world's leading clarinet manufacturer, Buffet-Crampon, Ashley is Buffet-Crampon Artist.

Internationally, Ashley has performed throughout the USA and Asia including performances with Bang on a Can, the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and the Beijing Modern Music Festival. In 2014 Ashley's international engagements include performances in the USA with Chamber Music Northwest as well as appearing in recital throughout Europe.

Domestically, Ashley has performed as a soloist with several of Australia's major orchestras. His Melbourne premiere of the Magnus Lindberg Concerto was ranked amongst The Age's Top 5 Classical Performances 2010. In 2014 he shall appear as a soloist with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in a new concerto by Lachlan Skipworth. As a chamber musician, Ashley performs regularly with several of Australia's major ensembles including the Australian String Quartet, the Syzygy Ensemble and the Argonaut Ensemble. In 2013 he and his principal duo partner, Australian pianist Aura Go, were commended again by The Age for their Melbourne Recital Centre Spotlight recital which marked the launch recital of their duo, Australia Felix. For this recital, the duo also received the Melbourne Recital Centres prestigious Contemporary Masters Award for the most outstanding performance of a post-1945 work during the 2013 season.

In 2014 Ashley is Artist in Residence at the University of Western Australia where he was also recently appointed an Assistant Professor position as the Head of Winds and Contemporary Performance.

Ashley is a Fellow of the Australian National Academy of Music and a graduate of the University of Western Australia where he was awarded the Sir Harold Bailey as the most outstanding graduate of the Faculty Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and was nominated for the J.A. Wood Prize, the institution's most presitgous honour. He most recently graduated from Master of Music at Yale University under the tutelage of David Shifrin, where he was additionally awarded the Thomas Nyfenger Prize.

For more information about Ashley, visit https://www.uwa.edu.au/profile/ashley-smith