Collingwood Football Club, in collaboration with the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT), has launched a dynamic new national maths competition called the STEM Cup. This online digital challenge allows students and fans to leverage their maths and analytical skills to choose the ultimate 2017 Collingwood squad while staying beneath the AFL salary cap. Students, teachers, and parents interested in the STEM Cup can click here to register for the program. The competition officially opens on July 17 and runs through August 20, with winners being announced on August 27.

The role of the ‘Capologist’ is to build the best team within the salary cap and deliver competitive advantage for their club. The STEM Cup competition will allow students to assume the role of the Capologist, where they are challenged to build the best team at the best price. Guided by Collingwood’s LifeJourney mentor Dominic Milesi, students will compete to become the nation’s top capologist.

“Collingwood is delighted to engage Australian STEM students in this important challenge. Our lead capologist Dominic Milesi is arguably our brightest superstar off the field. His unique talent and analysis are critical to our success as a club. Our hope for the Collingwood STEM Cup is to inspire more students to study maths and STEM subjects and build Australia’s future.” – Gary Pert, Chief Executive Officer, Collingwood Football Club

Read Collingwood’s Announcement

The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) is promoting the initiative with its 4,500-member base of Maths Teachers and their schools so that Australian students can better appreciate the power of mathematics from the classroom to the football field.

“AAMT is pleased to work with Collingwood and LifeJourney on the STEM Cup. Our teacher members are constantly seeking out unique and interesting programs that provide students with an opportunity to leverage maths skills in a real-world context. Combining the power of football with the importance of maths enables us to accelerate the STEM agenda of our nation,” stated Will Morony, Chief Executive Officer, AAMT

The successful students and schools in each region will be recognised and rewarded with the Collinwood STEM Cup experience, including a behind the scene VIP experience and draft session with Collingwood’s Capologist Dominic Milesi and contribute to a salary cap planning session.

In addition to learning about the Capologist career and completing the STEM Cup challenge, students will explore other exciting career paths related to data science and sports analytics. Sandra Hogan, a Data Analytics Analyst at SAS, and Nathan Holland, an Internet of Things (IoT) Architect at Cisco, will serve as virtual mentors for students and guide them through their career path. All students will generate a personalized STEM Resume and earn a Certificate of Completion in the Collingwood STEM Cup for participating in the STEM Cup. The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) has supported the promotion of the program to their national teacher networks.

STEM Cup Competition Details:

• STEM Cup pre-registration period opens June 18.
• STEM Cup challenge begins on July 18 and runs through August 20.
• Prizes will be awarded to the top students, teachers, schools and adults on August 27. Top prize includes: ‘Draft Day Experience with Mentor Dom Milesi’ – experience a ‘money can’t buy’ behind-the-scenes day with Collingwood FC during Draft Week in November to understand exactly how and why Dom and Collingwood FC draft the next stars for Collingwood and set-up their 2017 roster.

Important Details for Teachers & Schools:

• Program is suitable for Year 8 – University
• Time to complete: 45 minutes in classroom, 60 minutes for homework
• Program is most suitable for maths, statistics, analytics, ICT, economics, finance, and careers programs
• Related career pathways include finance, investment, data science, sports analytics
• Teachers and schools pre-register and choose “Day of STEM” to run program in class.
• Detailed communications, updates, newsletter provided to registrants via email.
• Participation in the STEM Cup is offered free of charge.
• Teachers are encouraged to register their students for the STEM Cup through the website.

The STEM Cup is the first part of the Australian Day of STEM initiative, which seeks to inspire the next STEM generation through a cloud-based platform that allows students to test-drive future careers at today’s most innovative companies. The Day of STEM initiative gives all Australian students line of sight to the future real-world STEM careers with iconic Australian employers through on-line, web-based scalable mentorship.