The Adelaide Football Club opened its doors to 22 high school students on Thursday, for an exclusive behind-the-scenes experience as part of an extension of the Adelaide Crows Foundation’s STEMfooty program.
The new program for Year 11 and 12 students, created in partnership with Education Futures at UniSA, VX Sport, comes off the back of the success of the popular STEMfooty program for Year Seven students.
STEMfooty aims to translate Australian kids’ love of AFL into an appreciation, understanding and passion for science, technology, engineering and maths.
More than 3000 Year Seven students reaped the benefits of the program in 2023, with a 41 per cent increase in academic results across the cohort.
In the first session of the expanded program, Year 12 students from Le Fevre High School spent the day gaining direct experience with Sports Science and GPS athlete tracking, learning the history of GPS tracking in AFL, the STEM behind a GPS tracker and how it works in high-performance settings.
The students were fitted with personal GPS devices for a practical session on the Crows oval, followed by an analysis session of their GPS results.
AFLW player Taylah Levy, who also works in the Club’s community team, gave the students a tour of the Club facilities, giving students a first-hand account of what it takes to be an AFLW or AFL player.
The students’ experience at the Club also included a presentation from the Crows High Performance team where students were given an insight into the STEM principles behind their role.
“It was great to welcome the students into the club and show them how STEM is used in an AFL environment,” Levy said.
“The new GPS component to the program is really exciting and was received really well, so we are really looking forward to seeing what can be achieved with the expanded program.”
Delivered by the Adelaide Crows Foundation, STEMfooty is designed to enhance student motivation in STEM subjects and pathways to careers.
Interested schools can register their interest in the Year 11/12 program here.
