< Back Hitting the lanes and sinking putts at Strike A day of bowling and mini-golf Jasper Menor Previous Next

Basketball is breaking barriers and empowering youth in Melbourne’s West. < Back Using Basketball to Empower Melbourne’s Youth Rachael Scotland 5 Mar 2025 Basketball is breaking barriers and empowering youth in Melbourne’s West. Shooters Shoot is a Melbourne based youth organisation that works to raise money and awareness on key issues facing young people in Western Melbourne including breaking the stigma around mental health, youth disengagement, and the value of sport. Their work culminates in an end of year charity basketball tournament which, now in it’s fourth year, brings together over 1000 people throughout the weekend; the reputation of this event has begun drawing basketball teams from across the country. After the event, organisers work to support young people in Melbourne’s West by providing workshops, free counselling, building bikes and delivering their message through schools. Over the course of the two-day event, they were able to raise $40,000. Shooters Shoot has raised over $100,000 over their last 4 major events, which is reinvested back into community. Huddle staff attended the recent tournament in December, and created a video that captures some of the excitement of the tournament weekend, as well as highlighting the impact their work has across the year. We are working together with Shooters Shoot to help build their capacity as an organisation, to ensure this small volunteer led organisation is able to continue to engage thousands of young people and deliver their powerful message. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/90d451_28791e32c4b84ed5976ff7bb9e6f8e07/1080p/mp4/file.mp4 Previous Next

Mohamed turned his love for sport and passion for helping other into a career. < Back Proving Success Has No Single Path Zakaria Farah 6 Oct 2025 Mohamed turned his love for sport and passion for helping other into a career. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/90d451_a31a921110d54b00935bd474c6fb11d3/1080p/mp4/file.mp4 Mohamed Habib - Managing Director | Physiotherapist Mohamed’s story is what How We Move is all about. Growing up in the same neighbourhoods many young people know well, he turned his love of sport and passion for helping others into a career that’s changing lives. Today, Mohamed is the Managing Director of A Plus Physiotherapy , a clinic he founded to help people recover, move freely, and get back to doing what they love. But Mohamed is more than just a business owner and physiotherapist. He’s still that community kid you’ll find playing soccer at the park, spending time with family and friends, and showing up for those around him. His journey proves that success doesn’t follow one script — it’s about finding your own way and giving back as you go. This is why we created How We Move — to share real stories of young people carving their own paths, showing that success looks different for everyone. No scripted journeys, just honest voices proving there’s more than one way to move forward. How We Move is a series that captures the different ways voices from our communities navigate life, pursue their dreams and make an impact. “Move” is about more than motion. It is moving through challenges, moving towards opportunities and moving forward in our own way. This series shares the real stories of voices who turned challenges into opportunities and dreams into reality. Each journey reminds us there is no single definition of success. What matters is how we move towards it and the possibilities we open up along the way. Previous Next

Future stars welcomed to the North Melbourne family. < Back Bungaree Football Club Joins the Roo Squad Astrid Blackburn 8 May 2026 Future stars welcomed to the North Melbourne family. Founded in 1905, the Bungaree Football & Netball Club is one of Country Victoria’s most respected community sporting clubs. Located in the fertile potato-growing district east of Ballarat, in 2026 the Bungaree Demons have five teams playing in the Central Highlands Football League. Earlier this year Luke Boyd, coach of the Under 12s reached out to the North Melbourne Football Club requesting possible donations for members of his footy team. Boyd’s Demons are a team made up from boys and girls ranging in ages from eight to 12 years old. The team includes a mixture of new and experienced players. Boyd hopes one day is “to produce future AFL stars for the club”. The club was pleased to make available to all members of Boyd’s team a free Roo Squad membership. Roo Squad is a kids’ membership that provides access to four home matches at Marvel Stadium each season, plus match day activations, special merchandise and much more. On Wednesday, May 6, Astrid Blackburn packed the Roo mobile with Roo Squad goodies and hit the highway to accept an invitation from Boyd to attend the Under 12s weekly training session. The weather was very typical of Ballarat, but the grey clouds and wet conditions weren’t enough to dampen the spirits of the Boyd’s Under12s, with almost a full team at training to run through their paces and then take part in a special presentation afterwards. The team’s goal for the 2026 season is to continue to develop and improve their skills whilst having fun with mates. Planning for the end of season footy trip is already well underway, with the team keen to make the trip down to Marvel Stadium to watch the Kangaroos in action. Previous Next

That’s a wrap! Reliving and remembering the Summer Huddle Holidays! < Back Recapping Huddle Holidays Summer 2025 Patrick McPhee 3 Feb 2025 That’s a wrap! Reliving and remembering the Summer Huddle Holidays! That’s a wrap! Summer Huddle Holidays 2025 has come to an end, and what a massive two weeks it was! Huddle Holidays is a school holiday program offered at the end of each school term for primary and secondary school students aged 8-18. The program provides children and young people with opportunities to try new experiences, developing their skills and capacity across social inclusion, health and emotional wellbeing, leadership, education, and careers.  This year our summer programming was set between Tuesday, January 14th and Thursday, January 23rd. Over the two weeks, we fit in 4 junior activities and 2 senior ones. It was action packed! This Huddle Holidays saw our Juniors (aged 8- to 12-years-old), participate in an Arts and Craft Day, a trip to Anglesea Beach, a visit at the Australian Sports Museum and a Multi-Sport Clinic. As the first of our four sets of holiday activities in 2025, the focus was on building connections with their peers. Throughout all junior activities, our participants were placed in small groups built around their ages to promote safety and inclusion. Following the holidays, one participant acknowledged that a highlight was, “I like meeting other kids around my age and trying out new activities.” What an awesome reflection! Our first activity of the year was our Junior Summer Arts and Craft Day. Here, the participants started off by getting to know their small groups with fun icebreaker activities focused around learning names and setting up our holidays for success! Next, we broke into groups, half of the participants engaged their creative side in a choose- your-own-adventure craft space. Some young people folded paper aeroplanes, others choose to draw or colour in, but the biggest hit was beading! Young people created bracelets and necklaces, some for themselves, some for friends and some for family! One participant expressed that they “loved making friendship bracelets” and that The Huddle staff were “really lovely and helped him.” The other half of our participants embraced their active side, through playing drama games and circle activities aimed at providing the group opportunities to get active and mingle amongst the whole group. After a quick snack break, our participants switched spaces and got to try their hand at the other half! At the conclusion of the day, we launched our Huddle Hero awards. Huddle Hero prizes are a big hit here at The Huddle, and at all our events and programs we recognise participants who go above and beyond to demonstrate some amazing traits including teamwork, talking to new people and engaging fully in the activity. Our Huddle Hero awards continued throughout the Junior holiday activities. Next up for the Juniors was the annual Anglesea Beach trip. This was a massive highlight! Upon arriving at Anglesea, our participants were greeting by the amazing team at the Anglesea Surf Lifesaving Club who helped them all to squeeze into wetsuits before a session on Water Safety. From here, every participant was paired with a water safety team member to support them in the water – then it was into the waves! The Anglesea volunteers were amazing supporters for the young people on the water, encouraging them to build their confidence and helping them to surf! On reflection from this activity, The Huddle staff felt it was a record number of young people standing up on the boards and this is a credit to the amazing work by the Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club. After the water session, the participants enjoyed a BBQ lunch prepared by even more Anglesea volunteers. Many young people expressed their love for this activity, but a highlight was a participant sharing, “thank you for organising these activities, because of today I have spoken to my mum, she is going to bring me back here to hire a surfboard and continue practicing, because I had so much fun!” Returning to Anglesea each year is a special opportunity for The Huddle community to build its connection with the Surf Life Saving Club while participants develop lifelong skills in a controlled and safe environment. The Huddle wishes to thank the Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club for their ongoing support of our program! The second week of Huddle Holidays started with the Junior participants visiting the Australian Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The group started in the Game On exhibit. This fun space offered many little tasters of different sports including AFL, Netball, Soccer, Surfing, Cycling, and more! The exhibit also had other physical challenges including reflex tests and catching. Following the exhibit, the group headed into the museum which used engaging displays to share some insight into the history of many different Australian sports. Participants really enjoyed learning more about their favourite sports, and some new ones! The final junior activity was our Multi-Sport Clinic held at the North Melbourne Community Centre. Young people engaged in four sports lessons facilitated by some of our Huddle Up! Leaders. Huddle Up! is The Huddle’s sports and recreation program that runs out of multiple locations in Wyndham and Melbourne throughout school terms. Learn more about Huddle Up! Junior (5-12-years-old) and Senior (13+ years-old) here: Huddle Up! Junior - Huddle Up! Senior . In age-appropriate groups, our Juniors engaged in different hands-on activities aiming to further their interest and skills in sports such as AFL, Soccer, Basketball and even Juggling! It was clear throughout the day that this was all a lot of fun for people of all skill levels. One mother shared “My daughter is not naturally gifted with sports, but she was so motivated to win a prize for her group that it's really built up her confidence and enthusiasm for different sports.” The Multi-Sport Clinic was an exciting way to close out our Junior activities for Summer 2025 and we look forward to seeing everyone back in Autumn! Our Seniors (13- to 18-years-old) had the opportunity these holidays to enjoy a day at the Australian Open and to try their skills in a round of Bowling and Mini-Golf. One participant shared that a highlight for the holiday period was, “I get to meet new people and try out things I wouldn’t have otherwise tried”. Like the Junior program, a focus of the Senior activities was to provide opportunities to connect with new people and try new things. Our first Senior activity at the Australian Open was supported by the Australian Tennis Foundation’s Brighter Days program. Through this, the Foundation generously provided tickets for our participants to attend the tennis and hand-delivering some gift bags – talk about spoiled! The Seniors spent time watching the eventual Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner’s open training session and past winner Naomi Osaka’s round 1 match. Some participants shared that this was their first time watching the tennis and the group spent some of the day’s downtime getting to know each other while teaching each other the rules of the game. It was a hit! The other Senior activity was Bowling and Mini-Golf at Strike in Point Cook. Bowling and Mini-Golf set the scene for the competitions on the day, but the real winner was a day spent in teams, providing the opportunity to meet and connect with people they otherwise wouldn’t. One participant stated, “I liked how inclusive everyone was, it felt good to know that you will always have fun no matter who you are with.” We love to hear it! Thanks to our participants, their families, activity providers and partners – Victorian Department of Education and Bendigo Bank Seddon. We couldn’t have this much fun without you! Watch the highlight recap of the Summer Huddle Holidays HERE. Huddle Holidays will return in April 2025 with an all-new, exciting range of activities across both Junior and Senior age groups. If you would like any further information or to join our email list so you can be notified when we launch registrations, please email huddle@nmfc.com.au .  Previous Next

In partnership with Mott MacDonald, The Huddle has won the 2023 Asia Pacific Audio Visual Industry Award for the best application of AV in Education < Back The Huddle Claims Prestigious AV Industry Award North Media 5 Sept 2023 In partnership with Mott MacDonald, The Huddle has won the 2023 Asia Pacific Audio Visual Industry Award for the best application of AV in Education It is one of the most prestigious awards in the Australian AV Industry and was handed out in Sydney last week. The Huddle’s immersive education program 'Game Day' is helping thousands of students kick goals in the classroom with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The judges at the event praised the community engagement aspects of the project and the way it enables a new and immersive approach to teaching STEM. Previous Next

A group of students from Werribee Primary School and St Andrews School had a day out to remember at North Melbourne’s most recent home game < Back Big Smiles as Schools Return to Cheer on North Melbourne Emily Buysen 3 June 2026 A group of students from Werribee Primary School and St Andrews School had a day out to remember at North Melbourne’s most recent home game A group of students and their families from Werribee Primary School and St Andrews School had a day out to remember at North Melbourne’s most recent home game against the Gold Coast Suns, thanks to an initiative run by The Huddle in partnership with the Australian Football League and the North Melbourne Football Club. Two buses were organised to bring the students and their families into the match, giving them another chance to experience AFL live after attending their first game earlier in the season in Round 6 against Richmond. Sharing the experience together as a school community made the day even more special, with students and families all able to enjoy the excitement of the footy together. To help build the atmosphere, the group was welcomed with giveaways designed to get everyone involved in the colour, noise and energy of a live AFL crowd, and feel like part of it. The timing also worked out well on the field. The students have now been lucky enough to witness two strong wins from North Melbourne across their two visits, which made the trips even more memorable and gave them plenty to talk about on the bus rides home. Beyond the results, the day was really about connection, between schools, the club, and the wider football community. Each of the families involved were also presented with a Welcome to AFL membership, giving them the chance to come back and attend future North Melbourne home games if they’re able. For the club, The Huddle and the AFL, the focus continues to be on making the game more accessible and providing memorable experiences for everyone to enjoy our great game. Previous Next

Summer holidays just got cooler! < Back Riding the Waves with Huddle Holidays Jasper Menor 16 Jan 2025 Summer holidays just got cooler! Huddle Holidays took to the coast for an unforgettable day at Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club! Our participants dived straight into it learning the basics of surfing and beach safety thanks to the guidance of the Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club. With expert guidance, many first-timers impressively caught their very first waves—an incredible sight to see! For some, it was not only their first time surfing but their first time at the beach, making the experience even more special. The weather couldn’t have been better, with the perfect mix of sun, wind, and warmth creating ideal conditions for a day on the water. A huge thank you to the amazing team at Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club for showing us the ropes and making it a day to remember! Previous Next

< Back Shooters Shoot: Hoopin' for a cause Snapshots of Shooters Shoot 24' Previous Next

The Huddle Holiday Juniors hone their skills in Aussie Rules and Soccer! < Back Warming up this winter with AFL and Soccer clinics 4 July 2024 The Huddle Holiday Juniors hone their skills in Aussie Rules and Soccer! The Huddle Holiday Sports Clinic at Avalon Airport Oval, home of the Werribee Football Club, offered young sports enthusiasts a day of soccer and AFL training to enhance skills and promote teamwork. The engaging sessions included drills and skill games to challenge and develop abilities. The Cart Co team's warm hospitality with hot chocolate and coffee added to the festive atmosphere, keeping participants cozy. The blend of sportsmanship, skill-building, and comfort provided a holistic experience, leaving a lasting impression on young athletes for a memorable day of learning and fun. Previous Next

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

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