February at the EEA.

Welcome to our Class of 2024!

This month we welcomed our new 2024 cohort to the EEA! The students have experienced a fast-paced start to the year, with orientation, guest speakers and settling into classes before placements commence in the coming weeks!

As part of the EEA Student Experience we offer the opportunity for students to hear from staff and leaders at the Essendon Football Club, learning about the different pathways into careers in sport. As part of our Guest Speaker series, the students were fortunate to hear from Essendon CEO Craig Vozzo, COO Nick Ryan along with staff and external guests sharing their unique experiences. This was an invaluable experience for the students, highlighting the unique opportunities the EEA presents over the course of the upcoming 12 months. 

With classes well and truly underway, students now have the opportunity to learn more about the various roles at the Essendon Football Club, and placement opportunities available through our structured group block placements. Over the next 8 weeks, students will participate in placements across all of our administration departments at the Club, including Marketing, Events, Partnerships, Finance, and many more business functions. By first gaining more insight into these areas of the club, students can start to tailor their journey through the EEA selecting placements where they are most interested. 

With Round 1 of the AFL season also kicking off in a couple of weeks' time, we look forward to seeing the students make the most of these experiences!

November at the EEA.

Congratulations to our Class of 2023!

The recent EEA Completion Ceremony saw the final celebration for our 2023 cohort as they received their qualification from RMIT University and now turn their attention to having an impact as the next generation of Sports Leaders.

Our Graduating cohort had the chance to wind down and celebrate their achievements from the year with the EEA Completion Ceremony held last week. A fantastic opportunity for students, as well as RMIT and EFC staff to come together and congratulate all students on the completion of their Dual Diploma Qualification, and present them with their certificates.

Congratulations to all students for the effort and contributions made to the Essendon Football Club this year. We look forward to seeing the success of the next generation of sports leaders impacting sporting organisations across Australia in the future.

Whilst we celebrate the achievements of the whole 2023 cohort, a special mention must go to our two successful students on accepting Graduate roles at the Essendon Football Club, Maddy Pelletier and Josh Parisot. Just three weeks into their new roles in the Membership team, both graduates have hit the ground running, already having a significant impact on the team. Congratulations also to Sarah Galic, who successfully secured a full-time role at Essendon Football Club as a Membership Services Officer.

With 2023 coming to a close, we now turn our attention to our 2024 cohort of students. With excitement building for an Open Day at the Hangar Friday, December 15, we are looking forward to another successful year of the EEA.

October at the EEA.

Classes completed for 2023!

October has been a milestone month for our 2023 cohort with final assignments, presentations and celebrations getting underway for the conclusion of their time in the EEA.

With the conclusion of formal classes, it has been a race to the finish for the students, completing assignments and applying themselves outside of the classroom to make the most of the opportunities they still have for placements remaining at the club.

The last two weekends in October saw the final two games of the AFLW season at Windy Hill. A great opportunity for students to soak up the action with 20 students putting up their hand to take part across the two weeks. Supporting EFC staff across areas of fan engagement, ticketing, brand activations and football department to round out the year.

In the classroom, students had the opportunity to present their hard work back to Essendon Football Club staff showcasing their knowledge of how the club runs from an administration perspective, sharing their new ideas and innovation to the club. An exciting opportunity for students, with the chance to have an impact on EFC’s future.

Across the last 12 months, all students in our 2023 cohort have applied themselves and generously offered their time to assist staff across all areas of the club. Three of our students were recognised for their immense support of EFC Wheelchair team, helping at training and game days for a total of 228 placement hours across the year. Congratulations to all of our students in the 2023 cohort on a fantastic year of placement experience!

September at the EEA.

The final stretch for our 2023 students!

September has been another great month at the EEA, with students entering their final few weeks of the year. While they race to submit assignments and complete their studies, students are also hitting the 100-hour milestone, with some even ticking over 200 hours of placements they have completed at the club across the last 12 months.

Block placements have continued for our students, giving them insight into the inner workings of the Football Club, learning about all things marketing, consumer, finance, and community. Whilst assignment submissions and group work have kept the students busy completing their qualification, there has been no shortage of placements across the club with students involved in AFLW training and match day placements, as well as various events across the month. With games returning to Windy Hill there has been significant opportunity for students, having a great impact on the operations and match day activations of these games. A special shout-out to our EEA students who bravely wore the mascot suits for our most recent AFLW match supporting our consumer team to provide entertainment at breaks in the game for the fans.

Outside the classroom, the EEA filmed the very first edition of the EEA podcast, a project we are looking forward to seeing grow and evolve as our 2024 cohort of students take on this new venture. Exploring all things Leadership, study and Football, this special edition podcast featured EEA graduate, Blake Gaffiero, current student, Sarah Galic and Essendon player and current RMIT student, Kyle Langford. Make sure to keep an eye on EEA socials to keep up to date and not miss the podcast release!

Around the Hangar, the EEA team have also been focusing on our 2024 cohort, welcoming students to the Hangar for tours of the facilities, various information sessions and online webinars to learn more about the exciting journey they are about to embark on as an EEA student. 2024 applications are currently open for the program, with places rapidly filling up as students secure their plans for 2024 before the year closes out.

August at the EEA

Half-way through semester 2 for our 2023 class!

With August coming to a close, our students are halfway through this semester with only two short months remaining before their graduation from the EEA.

This month has brought new opportunities to apply their learning through placements, and assignments bringing new ideas to assist various departments of EFC admin to work through current projects. As students take a well-earned break from studies with their mid-semester break, we take a look back on the month at the EEA.

As our AFLM season came to a close, another door opens with the first round of AFLW season taking place on September 2. Students have been working tirelessly with our AFLW team as they prepared through pre-season assisting with main training sessions, skills, strength and conditioning tasks, and playing vital roles across practice matches umpiring and timing. EFC VWFL team were successful in reaching finals for their competition, with students continuing to apply their knowledge across placements in both training sessions and games over the weekends.

For our mid-year students, they have taken part in block placements, exploring the various departments within EFC administration, discovering new learnings and roles they didn’t know previously played such a pivotal role within a sporting organisation. For many students, these block placements will lead to further discovery of these teams, as they take part in real-life experience across game-days and day-to-day tasks having the opportunity to apply their business, leadership and management skills.

Students continue to apply themselves and make the most of their time in the EEA, with Football Development sessions alongside their study reaching new heights throughout August. Often a highlight of the student’s week, Dustin Fletcher and Maddy Prespakis have worked with the students to help them improve their game utilising the high-performance facilities at the Hangar. We look forward to seeing the results of their hard work paying off as they approach finals for their individual football teams.

July at the EEA

With a new classroom space for our students, the second semester started with a new level of energy.

July at the EEA saw another month full of exciting placements for our students at various events, community clinics, school expos and lots of work supporting teams at home games.

With a new classroom space for our students, the second semester started with a new level of energy. Students worked together on various activities as an engaging way to welcome in the new mid-year cohort of students, developing their leadership and team communication skills. Straight into presentations, the students worked in groups to create new innovative ideas for how different departments at the football club can improve. It was great to see the student’s creativity, and experiences come to light in unique, new ideas for the Essendon Football Club.

Outside of the classroom, students took part in a variety of placements, with game days a consistent highlight. We had several home games throughout the month which opened up the opportunity for students to work across our teams of fan engagement, commercial partnerships, events and football department. Students have played active roles in assisting hosting school groups to the Hangar, as well as representing the EEA at school expos, sharing their stories and experiences with eager year 12 students.  

Already a month into their second semester for our 2023 cohort, the students will continue to bring their expertise and energy to another busy period for the EEA in the coming months.

To learn more about the EEA, join us at the Hangar, Saturday August 5th at 10am. This is an opportunity to hear from key EEA and RMIT program staff, tour the facilities and watch our AFLW team kick off their season with the first internal practice match at the Hangar.  

June at the EEA

June has been another jam-packed month for the EEA, with students assisting 30-year anniversary celebrations for the club’s premierships, as well as our 2022/23 mid-year cohort of students graduating and completing their final week of classes.

June saw official classes come to a close for the end of Semester 1 2023 at the Essendon Education Academy. Whilst classes were completed, the students were still out and about around the Hangar, seen supporting our staff in various teams across placements, including The Long Walk, and supporting at key functions for the club.

Some placement highlights across the month included:

• Preparation and implementation of the Skeeta Skills clinic

• Ongoing work with AFLW

• Community Visits with AFLM Players

• 1993 Premiership Reunion and Hall of Fame Dinner

• Footy Development Program and gym sessions at Windy Hill

• Long Lunch

• Supporting the Long Walk

It is great to see students applying learning from their studies directly to hands-on experiences through placements, giving them exposure to the behind the scenes preparation and implementation that goes into events at a high-performance level.

Students who commenced with the Academy in our 2022 mid-year intake completed their final classes and successfully achieved their Dual Diploma of Business, Diploma of Leadership and Management. During their 12 months, students dove head first into placement experiences, making meaningful connections with staff across the business, and making significant contributions to the teams they were a part of.

We are excited to be soon welcoming our new 2023/24 mid-year students who are  in the process of finalising their applications and will commence in semester 2 on July 10.