It’s round one of the AFL season in 1999. 28,000 fans pack the Sydney Cricket Ground as a fresh-faced Adam Goodes runs out for his first game with the Sydney Swans. You probably know what came next.  What you haven’t heard before is this side of Adam Goodes - a busy dad of four, giving an insight on how he’s constantly finding new ways to enjoy staying active every day.  Adam shares the few simple rules he lives by to keep balance in a full-on family life, and how protecting his energy has become the key to showing up at home.  

Saturday sport can bring out the best in our kids… and the loudest in us. One minute they’re chasing the ball, the next they’re sitting in the grass making daisy chains. As a sideline parent, something in us flicks. Suddenly we’re “just giving tips” at a volume the entire suburb can hear. Gen Muir is a parenting educator and mum of four boys. She shares her top tips on how you can support your kids without hijacking their game – right down to what you could say in the car on the drive home. 

Kieren Perkins knows what it takes to win (Atlanta 96, 1500m, ICONIC), but he’s far more interested in whether Australians are still playing sport at all.   As an Olympic champion and now CEO of the Australian Sports Commission, Kieren is urging us to be a nation of “doers” rather than just “watchers”.  If you want kids to love sport for life, it starts with participation, curiosity, and showing up.  

For Rana Hussain, cricket gave a sense of belonging. But in fact organised sport wasn’t really set-up for her. Whether it was the non-inclusive uniforms, the lack of knowledge of cultural expectations, or simply the lack of diversity in the food offered at sports clubs, Rana felt locked out of sport.  Today, Rana’s changing that. As founder of Good Human, she’s helped sporting organisations like Cricket Australia and various football clubs build spaces that are inclusive, welcoming, and community focused.

Before sport was graded, scored and analysed... what did you love to play? Not just do, but actually, play? 

That feeling of joy, curiosity and being completely immersed in something is known as the 'play state'. Mindset coach Ben Crowe says most of us leave it behind far too early. As sport becomes organised, measured, and outcome-driven, we change from playing for love to playing for approval. 

Swimmer Ellie Cole has spent most of her life adapting. Losing her leg aged three meant learning how to move differently, think differently, and push through moments most kids never face. That early resilience didn’t just make her a Paralympian - it shaped how she sees sport and who gets to take part in it. 

As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Melbourne, sport was the soundtrack for Hugh van Cuylenburg’s childhood. That deep, visceral connection to sport looks different since Hugh founded The Resilience Project, but the lessons of sport continue to inform every aspect of his life.  

“I experienced shocking burnout. I wouldn’t have got through it all without track. There’s no way. I feel like [sport is] almost petrol. I feel when my tank is empty. I go the track and I fill up and go; I’m good now,” he says. 

And the broader opportunity for sport? To be the place where neurodiverse, or people with a disability, or just the less talented can also be involved.  

Imagine walking out in front of 15,000 people, taking a deep breath, smiling and thinking: “How cool is this?” That was Ash Barty on centre court… and she still chose to leave while at the top of her game. 

Ash shares her insights into what really sits behind those trophies: the brutal Wimbledon loss that sent her back to the drawing board, the conversation with her coach that flipped her mindset, and the “why not me?” question she now shares with kids. 

Hello Sporties. Did you listen to the trailer? Are you as excited as we are?! Well, before the first episode of the new season of Sportish comes out next week, we have a little treat for you. We wanted to bring you behind the scenes and have a quick gasbag about some of the amazing guests you'll hear from this season and the things that happened on (and off) the mic. Tune in! 

Have you seen it all on the sidelines? Cheered the wins. Felt the losses. Sat through missed selections. Heard the “I don’t want to go anymore.” 

If you’re an amateur athlete, a coach, a parent, or a volunteer — this new season of Sportish is for you.