The first annual Collingwood STEM Cup competition has come to a close revealing Australia’s top amateur Capologists. The competition invited Australians, with a focus on secondary students, to step into the role of the Capologist (or list manager) at Collingwood Football Club and decide player salaries for the 2017 season whilst staying under the AFL salary cap. The challenge is designed to inspire students to pursue degrees and careers in the STEM fields by illuminating an exciting application in sports analytics.

The STEM Cup explored the real-life career of Dominic Milesi who works as Collingwood’s Capologist, in addition to Sandra Hogan, a Data Analytics Specialist at SAS and Nathan Holland, an Internet of Things (IoT) Architect with Cisco Systems. Winning Capologists used skills in maths, statistics and problem solving to determine player salaries that most closely resembled the actual figures decided by the professional Capologist Dominic Milesi.

The top three male and female students, and top three fans, have won an exclusive Fantasy Draft Day Experience with Collingwood Football Club. The experience includes a behind the scenes tour of Collingwood FC with Dominic and Collingwood’s coaching staff during AFL draft week in November. Winners will be able to to see how players and salaries are selected based on performance statistics and data analytics.

Top Schools (Accuracy)

1. Eaglehawk Secondary College (Victoria)
2. St. Clement of Rome (Victoria)
3. Rutherglen High School (Victoria)

Top Schools (Participation)

1. Belgrave Heights Christian School (Victoria)
2. Riverside Girls High School (New South Wales)
3. Caroline Chisholm Catholic College (Victoria)

Over 1,600 students participated from nearly 50 different schools across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. The winning students, along with their teachers, will be recognized by the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) who supported the program by promoting the opportunity to their networks of teachers. The top schools in terms of accuracy and participation will also be recognized for their efforts by Collingwood and AAMT.

The Collingwood STEM Cup will take place again in 2017 within a similar context. A rugby league version of the STEM Cup is under development. The Collingwood STEM Cup program (minus the competition and prizes) is still available free of charge for students, teachers, schools and fans. The Collingwood STEM Cup is part of a broader initiative called the Day of STEM.

The Day Of STEM is a national initiative designed to raise the National IQ for STEM careers by inspiring the next generation of students through a self guided interactive, online STEM awareness experience called LifeJourney. The fully automated online experience enables students to test-drive their future by living a day in the life of STEM leaders.