Life-changing Moment for a Life-changing Sports Program?

By Jackielou Perez

 

Aussie X aims to become an internationally recognizable organization that is renowned for using the power of sport to change lives. Last week, the Aussie X team gained nation-wide exposure as they pitched their program on Dragons’ Den and secured a $150,000 deal with Jim Treliving.

Since 2008, Aussie X has utilized the unique Australian sports culture to level the playing field, promoting healthy lifestyles, laughter and confidence to over 112,000 participants throughout Ontario and British Columbia.

Emile Studham, an expat of Australia and founding director of the program, took the time to chat about Aussie X as well as the team’s appearance on tonight’s episode of Dragons’ Den.

1. What is Aussie X?

Aussie X is a sports program for schools, camps, birthday parties and corporate events that teaches Canadians the life-changing power of sport and community through Australian rules football ("footy"), netball and cricket. The programs get participants active and engaged from start to finish and are designed to motivate them to enjoy the benefits of physical activity and team sport.

2. Why was it started?

I have always loved teaching and I love Aussie Rules Football. I launched the first program of its kind in Canada in 2003 when I started a program called Auskick Canada. I literally had a hockey bag of footies and caught the subway and buses to Toronto schools to teach footy clinics because I was too young to rent a car!

In 2008 I took on a game development role for the Ontario Australian Football League. After four months in this role, I partnered with Kaela Bree and Aussie X was formed. We quickly saw the positive impact we were able to have on children and the important role model position we were privileged to take on.

3. Can you name an experience that has stood out for you through Aussie X?

We were running a tournament in Toronto where the children from two participating schools were quite aggressive with each other. We gathered together to reiterate the importance of sportsmanship and respect toward your opponents and teammates, using one of our key phrases at Aussie X: "GOODONYA MATE". It means “well done buddy/friend” and it makes a lot of kids smile. The kids in the tournament loved saying it, and by the end of the day the mood had completely changed. We saw children helping their opponents up after a fall! We realized we could do some profound work that day and it has motivated us everyday since.

4. Why is this a cause close to you?

I love teaching, but I especially love teaching people something new and providing them with a unique experience that they will always remember. I like challenging people to step out of their comfort zones - they start with apprehension and finish with a feeling of total success and accomplishment.

5. How has it impacted the community?

I feel we have done some great work with the Ontario Trillium Foundation and our Youth at Risk program, which allows us to run Aussie X in schools where the kids wouldn’t be able to participate in extracurricular sports leagues otherwise.

We have also had a great impact on some local communities by holding action-packed parent/teacher/student games of indoor cricket. For many families it is the first time they have enjoyed a game of cricket since migrating to Canada, and it has an immensely positive effect on their sense of community.

We also recently travelled to Kenya with our International Outreach Program and ran our sports and life skills programs for 3,200 kids in need.

6. Tell me about programs that happen each year including the most recent.

We run hundreds of programs at schools and summer camps every year, but our latest program is corporate team building, which allows adults to benefit from the program too.

My partner, Kaela Bree, and I will travel to India and again back to Kenya again in 2012 to execute our programs internationally.

7. How can people get involved?

As a charitable organization we rely on grants, sponsorship and generous donations to help us reach people in need and to assist them in developing the tools necessary to create better futures. We would love for you to partner with us or make a donation!

8. Can you tell us more about your involvement with Dragon's Den and the experience?

After applying to Dragons’ Den, we found out that the program was full for this season. Luckily, we got a call on a Sunday night and filmed that following Wednesday morning.

We truly believe in what we do and the programs we provide to kids, parents, teachers and professionals and it was fantastic to have a forum to demonstrate that passion. The experience was amazing! We loved every minute and seeing the Dragons participating in Aussie X was a fantastic highlight.