Andrew Sturgess hopes Emergence podcast can bring hope and build leadership in COVID-19 lockdown
Coburg coach Andrew Sturgess was determined to use the season halt to better himself and now hopes to help others with his new podcast, featuring conversations with greats of Australian sport and inspiring people from the community.
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When the VFL season was put on hold first-year Coburg coach Andrew Sturgess found himself at a loss.
However, he was determined not to waste his time off and used it to improve his leadership, mindset and continue his personal development.
With the help of wife, Bianca, what started out as conversations with a range of sport’s best minds and inspiring people in the community has now grown into a podcast series.
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Australia cricket coach Justin Langer, Hawthorn premiership stars and coaching legends Andy Collins and Gary Ayres, VFL/AFL games record holder Brent Harvey and Australia cricketer Elyse Villani are just some of the conversations Sturgess has had in the Emergence podcast.
There are also uplifting stories from Afghanistan veteran and quadriplegic Joel Sardi, domestic violence campaigner Tessa Jetson and cancer awareness advocate Damien Bujega.
Sturgess hopes Emergence can help anyone struggling in the COVID-19 lockdown or looking to improve their mental health and leadership skills.
“Every conversation was an opportunity for me to learn and now I have the opportunity to share that with others,” he said.
“I just wanted to keep myself stimulated, growing and learning … I reached out to a few people to pick their brains and asked if I could record the conversations to listen back to and take notes.
“Then I asked if I could share the conversations because I was getting a lot out of them – they were positive and uplifting – and there was a lot that other people could take out of it.”
Sturgess believes a lot of the stories can relate to the impact of coronavirus, which the Lions coach described as a “hit in the face” for a lot of Australians.
“Nobody expected their lives to be put on pause to this extent and human beings are so driven by routine any change throws a spanner in the works and our mental health suffers because of it,” he said.
“For me, how can I go to these people that have overcome obstacles – albeit not the coronavirus – to find some hope, positivity and inspiration?
“People will be drawn to names like Harvey, Maxwell, Langer and Akermanis but it’s the learnings from the people that don’t have the status or name that I think will be just as valuable if not more.
“I spoke to Joel Sardi, who was a rifleman in the Australian Army. He did a seven-month deployment to Afghanistan and when he came home he was at a mate’s place, had a fall and became a quadriplegic at the age of 22.
“For three years he lived in hell and then he had a defining moment. Now he’s taught himself to swim, built his own house, married, he’s back in the army and got a totally different outlook on life.”
The Emergence podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts or you can contact Andrew at andrewlsturgess@gmail.com.