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Enhancing education and career outcomes for young people through the power of sport ABOUT THE HUDDLE Since 2010, The Huddle has engaged over 180,000 young people from over 160 cultures to learn, grow, and belong EDUCATOR RESOURCES Our FREE resources are designed by teachers for teachers to engage Levels 3+ through the power of sport VOLUNTEERS Our volunteers have an impact on young people by playing a key role in fostering a safe and inclusive environment for all Latest Stories Welcome to AFL hops into Arden Street A cracking day for footy and an immersive introduction to Aussie Rules. Next Meet Selina from Study Squad! A safe space for young people engaged in education to learn, grow and belong. Next Nabiha's experience through Game Changers! Building confidence and essentials skills through Game Changers. Next Spring Huddle Holidays 2024 Recap! Spring has sprung with an action-packed holiday program! Huddle Holidays did not disappoint! Next

Thank you to our partners Founding Partners North Melbourne Football Club Scanlon Foundation Australian Multicultural Foundation Corporate Partners Spirit of Tasmania Scalzo Dulux Rodine Harvey Norman Mazda Electrical Trades Union Bendigo Bank Citywide Service Solutions AIA Insurance Government Partners Victoria State Government City of Melbourne Wyndham City Council Trusts & Foundations PMF Foundation The Baker Foundation Sports Partners Australian Football League Melbourne City Football Club AFL Victoria Australian Institute of Sport AFL Tasmania National Basketball League Education Partners The Mathematical Association of Victoria Learn Fresh SEDA College Community Partners YMCA Victoria Cricket Victoria Westgate Basketball Our Community Tennis Australia Wyndham City Youth Services Victoria Police Hockey Victoria Ultimate Victoria Werribee Football Club Ubuntu Project

< Back The Huddle Iftar 2024 Previous Next

< Back Inspiring the Next Generation The Next Generation in Schools Program Xavier Smith Previous Next

< Back Welcome to AFL, Round 6 v Hawthorn Our biggest Welcome To AFL ever! Previous Next

< Back True North ‘Grit’ with Al-Taqwa College Joshua Raymer 16 May 2023 The Huddle's employees share their stories with Truganina students The True North framework focuses on connections, values, identity, grit, mindset, mental health, emotional intelligence, understanding others, teamwork, leadership, and self-awareness. All workshops support young people to develop resilience, build upon their protective factors by identifying and developing their strengths, and increase their understanding of social cohesion through exploring perspectives and stories of others. For a second year running, The Huddle delivered two True North sessions at Al-Taqwa College’s Year 12 Camps. These camps are aimed to provide 100 students with motivation, inspiration, and strategies to succeed in their final year of secondary schooling. To suit the theme of the camps, The Huddle delivered our ‘Grit’ workshops at both the Boys and Girls camps. The ‘Grit’ workshop explores the importance of students showing resilience and determination - highlighting that to achieve success, an individual must display grit when faced with challenging situations. Importantly, The Huddle had former Al-Taqwa students and community leaders co-facilitate each ‘Grit’ workshop. Saeed Ali (Coordinator, Social Cohesion for Children and Young People, pictured above), Khadija Abdullah (Program Support Officer) and Asli Abdullahi (Coordinator, Social Cohesion for Parents, Women and Families) presented relatable stories demonstrating how they showed grit and determination during their secondary schooling and university studies. The shared experiences of facilitators and students enhanced a sense of connection and understanding between all parties throughout the sessions. The stories told by facilitators resonated strongly with students, and Huddle staff were able to promote how other programs such as Study Squad can help students during their final year of secondary schooling. The Huddle is now working with Al-Taqwa College on integrating more social cohesion through education, or SCTE, initiatives throughout 2023 and beyond. The Huddle recently assisted Al-Taqwa students with running activities at their annual Eid fundraiser, and Al-Taqwa College staff are also utilising The Huddle’s True North Portal and relevant resources to deliver lessons to students. “We really appreciate your team coming out to the camp and running the program. It was definitely beneficial. I’ve also used True North resources during my lessons which were great!” – Urooj Shah, Year 12 Coordinator, Al-Taqwa College Interested in learning more, or accessing free resources? True North and other Huddle educator resources can be found here. Previous Next

< Back The Huddle launches Australian-first immersive AFL program, Game Day The North Melbourne Kangaroos have officially launched Game Day, The Huddle’s newest education program North Media Previous Next

< Back Female Sports Tournament Hosted by Carlton Baths, in partnership with Jump Ball Previous Next

< Back Game Day VIP Event The Huddle unveil the new Game Day Program at this Grand Opening Previous Next

< Back Nurturing Growth and Connection Mariam Taleb 19 Jan 2024 Abdullah's Journey with Huddle Up! Junior Huddle Up! Junior, a program situated at The Hub in Docklands, is on a mission to enrich the lives of primary school-aged children. The program not only seeks to increase physical activity levels but also endeavors to build social connections, instill new skills, and create a profound sense of belonging for its participants. Huddle Up! Junior addresses the challenge of the limited availability of activities for children to stay active and socialise in a secure environment after school, especially for families like Abdullah's, who are new to Australia and unfamiliar with the area. Abdullah is a 8-year-old boy who, along with his parents, arrived in Australia from Saudi Arabia in 2020. The family's primary purpose was to pursue education and obtain degrees. Having accomplished their academic goals in 2023, Abdullah's parents recently returned to Saudi Arabia in January of 2024. Abdullah and his mother, Amal, attended Huddle Up! at Docklands every Tuesday. Amal first learned about the program at Docklands Primary School and is delighted that Abdullah could participate in a variety of sports and engaging activities each week. She expressed that she found joy in seeing Abdullah play with other children, make new friends, and extend those connections to school. Abdullah's father has expressed gratitude for the additional activities that the Huddle has involved the family in. A standout moment was their participation in the AFLW Grand Final, where Abdullah had the opportunity to run out through the banner as the junior mascot for The Huddle. For Abdullah, this experience was not only his favourite but also the most memorable with The Huddle, evident in the uncontainable smile on his face on the day. He shared that the diversity of sports he engages in keeps him returning to the Tuesday program. Some sports are entirely new to him, and the coaches, especially his favourite, Maz, make it easy for him to connect with both them and fellow participants. Abdullah's time with Huddle Up! Junior has cultivated a sense of fun, the building of connections with peers, a heightened sense of belonging within the community, and the confidence to embrace new experiences. As Abdullah returns to Saudi Arabia, he carries with him not just memories, but a stockpile of new skills and games acquired during his time in Australia. Previous Next

< Back Community supporting community Maddy Ware and John King 14 Feb 2023 Duad’s experiences with careers support from The Huddle Recruitment processes, such as resume writing and interviews, in today’s employment landscape are becoming more complex. Young people from diverse backgrounds continue to be adversely affected by these processes, often due to a lack of exposure or access to appropriate support through their own networks. This leads to challenges in obtaining sustainable employment. Mentoring and coaching throughout the recruitment process has proven to be highly valuable to young people from diverse communities (Meet Me in the Middle Report, P.21 ). In today’s employment market, employers are consistently looking for transferrable skills over technical skills. They expect young people to be able to confidently speak about their transferable skills, as well as explain in what circumstances they use them. The objective of The Huddle’s Game Changers program is to bridge the information gap between young people and employers. By providing Career Coaching on resume writing, cover letter writing and interview preparation, young people can identify their skills and confidently communicate them to an employer. Game Changers supports young people from diverse backgrounds to not only identify skills they have acquired through their lived experiences, but also understand that they use transferable skills in everyday settings such as home life, sports, school, and work. Daud is a 19-year-old male from North Melbourne. He had been involved with The Huddle’s Huddle Holidays and Huddle Up! programs since 2020, and was referred to Game Changers through a family member who had previously been involved in the program, suggesting the supportive structure and coaching provided in the program would be beneficial. Daud connected with the Careers Coordinator mid-2022 and, following Career Coaching sessions, expressed interest in working with The Huddle or within the community setting more broadly. The interest was due to positive experiences he had participating in programs in his local North Melbourne area. After finalising his resume and cover letter, the Careers Coordinator suggested Daud apply for a role available with the YMCA, a partner organisation of The Huddle, at the North Melbourne Community Centre (NMCC). Daud was reluctant because he had been a participant at NMCC and was unsure of his abilities to lead people within his social circle. The Careers Coordinator and Daud had many conversations about his skills and abilities and what it would mean to work within his community and, despite being initially apprehensive, Daud had built up enough confidence in his abilities and decided to apply for a Duty Manager role. Daud was successful in getting an interview at NMCC and took part in a number of job interview preparation sessions, answering practice interview questions and preparing examples with the Careers Coordinator. After Daud’s interview, he felt confident in how he presented himself, his transferrable skills, and his experience as a member of the North Melbourne community. Daud was successful in his application and appointed to the role of Duty Manager, beginning at NMCC in December 2022. Through participating in Game Changers, Daud was supported to identify his talents and believe in himself, giving him the confidence needed to apply for a management position. Furthermore, Game Changers resulted in Daud having a better understanding of recruitment processes and procedures while also fostering a safe psychological environment in which Daud could learn about his abilities and successfully talk to his skillset. Daud was able to identify his skills and communicate them to an employer confidently and succinctly in an interview situation, successfully gaining employment. Game Changers massively helped me with resumes, with cover letter writing, with interviewing skills…[and] being able to appropriately sell myself in a way. - Duad Daud is thoroughly enjoying work at North Melbourne Community Centre and hopes to gain full-time employment in the community space in the future. “The thing I enjoy most about working at North Melbourne Community Centre is the community atmosphere. Being part of the community myself and being able to work in the community and do my part and give back what I got, it’s a great feeling.” Previous Next

< Back HERStory Camp - Winter 23' Winter HERStory Camp at Mt Evelyn Discovery Camp Previous Next