With a club motto of ‘Challenge Accepted’, it should come as no surprise that the Gold Coast SUNS are about to embark as sports innovation leaders in fan engagement and brand building on the Gold Coast/Northern Rivers, North Queensland and the Northern Territory.
In partnership with Gold Coast-based sports innovations company Playbk, the SUNS will be providing learning to their community through an interactive digital platform, bringing players, staff and club knowledge into homes and classrooms across the Gold Coast and beyond. Playbk’s sports innovations approach allows a perfect collision of technology, education and organisation intellectual property to create virtual learning courses, immersing learners directly into the professional sports environment.
CEO of the SUNS, Mark Evans said the partnership with Playbk is a significant innovation for the club. “Community connection and school engagement remain key pillars for our Club. Harnessing technology further empowers our AFL & AFLW players to inspire primary and secondary school students via an interactive digital platform,” Evans said.
“Our SUNS broad footprint across Queensland, NSW and the Northern Territory presents geographical challenges. LoE’s proven EdTech approach is an exciting delivery mechanism to overcome these challenges.”
We have set out to mean more to our community than just being a football club, and this program will allow us to have a meaningful impact on the next generation
MARK EVANS, GOLD COAST SUNS CEO
The learning portal will allow the Gold Coast SUNS to directly connect with people across all of their key talent and fan zones whilst bringing tangible learning opportunities to many members of the community. With a focus on delivering education into primary schools initially, the longer-term vision will be to connect with a wider cross-section of the sporting, education and business communities.
This unique approach to building brand awareness is seen as a long-term strategy to embed the Gold Coast SUNS as a pillar of the local communities, whilst ensuring the club can positively impact the lives of adults and young people alike.
Gold Coast-based Playbk Co-founder, Jon Shepherd said “all of us in the education sector have a responsibility to equip young people with the life and career skills to be successful, and the Gold Coast SUNS have identified they too can help people prepare for an ever-evolving future.
Global research indicates Millennials and Gen Z will make up 58% of the global workforce by 2028. We’re enthusiastic to partner with a club committed to future-proofing the development of young people harnessing our customised EdTech approach.”
The first program released on the sports innovation portal will provide authentic learning opportunities for Grade 5 and 6 students to develop their self-awareness and character-building skills, with insights and advice from AFL and AFLW players. Further details on the course will be released in the coming months, with a small group of schools currently piloting the course.
Along with the Gold Coast SUNS, Playbk currently works with Essendon Football Club, South East Melbourne Phoenix, Snow Australia and Special Olympics Australia.
To learn more about Playbk’s innovative SportsTech approach visit www.playbksports.com
