by One Playground
Behind the scenes at One Playground, your favourite coaches and trainers have been enjoying the final days of the year, fuelled by some healthy competition.
We’ve been busy celebrating all kinds of wins, from internal fitness competitions to handing out our end-of-year staff awards, to crowning our Club of the Year.
Get ready to discover who won big and who was crowned:
• The Fittest Club
• Employee award winners
• Club of the Year
WHICH TEAM IS “THE FITTEST ONE PLAYGROUND CLUB”?
Whether in a coaching session or group class our coaches are dedicated to pushing their clients out of their comfort zone with some spicy workouts that challenge both physical and mental strength.
So we know they “talk the talk”. But can they “walk the walk”?
Our interclub challenge hosted on Friday 15th December at Newtown proved they absolutely can. Each year, the clubs battle it out throughout the year to win points. The club with the most points wins the coveted Winners Shield, which stays on display at the winning club for the whole year. With this being the last interclub challenge of the year and the overall Winners Shield up for grabs, it was all to play for.
Each club entered a team, putting forward athletes to compete in 4 workouts:
1. 1RM deadlift
2. Max double broad jump distance
3. Max dips before failure
4. Max distance on the rower in 5 minutes between 4 team members
Connaugh’s HUGE 275kg deadlift
Friday’s challenge was the biggest turnout so far and with head coach Amie Hessen taking up the role as resident DJ, the vibes were epic, the workouts were sweaty and it was an all-around good time.
SO, WHO TOOK THE VICTORY?
The Bunker won on the day, no easy feat. The highlights of the day included a 275kg deadlift by Bunker Coach Connaugh Pearce, a new interclub challenge record. As well as what was possibly the fastest rowing team demonstration we have seen from The Bunker crew. But it was Surry Hills who managed to earn the most points across the year and were the overall winners of the Shield!
Smiles for Friday’s winners, The Bunker
The 2023 Interclub Challenge final rankings
The December Grand Finale Challenge:
The Bunker
The 2023 Tournament 1. Surry Hills 2. The Bunker 3. Newtown 4. Marrickville
1. Surry Hills
2. The Bunker
3. Newtown
4. Marrickville
Employee awards: recognising our GREAT HUMANS?
Fitness for us isn’t only about who lifts the heaviest, jumps the highest or runs the fastest, it’s also about the work that they do to support our members and excel in their roles. At our 2023 Christmas Party, we had the great honour of shining light on all our amazing staff, highlighting a few that have gone above and beyond, as well as announcing the coveted title of Club of the Year. With a team of over 250 great humans, picking a winner is never an easy task but we managed to whittle it down to some incredibly deserving individuals.
AWARD WINNERS
Star: Cosette Jackson
From the Surry Hills club, Cosette is someone who always goes beyond what is expected of her, in a very short amount of time. She moved from being a brand new coach applicant to being an expert in all areas of club and personal training management in a matter of months. We’re proud of everything Cosette has accomplished so far and are incredibly excited to see what she will do over the next few years.
Coach of the Year: Mica Andino
Most coaches have between 20 and 30 clients, and you can fundamentally change someone’s life through this role with the deep personal connections you foster. But if you want to help more people, one of the best ways is to help other coaches. Mica, our Newtown superstar, has not only helped many clients to become the best version of themselves but in the last 12 months she has also helped 20 new coaches, who in turn have made an impact on hundreds of clients. A true team player.
Group Trainer of the Year: Michael Roache
Michael’s numbers don’t lie! Over his 7 years with the business, he has taught over 5,000 classes across Yoga, Barre and Pilates, 1,000 this year alone. That adds up to over 50,000 visits over his time with us at One Playground. He shows up with energy and a fierce passion for doing the best for his members. Talk about impact.
Club Manager of the Year: Kareim Afif
Kareim was a regular member at our Marrickville gym while working 2 jobs at Woolworths and in a warehouse. Arriving on an Industry Insights night, with a very impressive man bun, he made an impression straight away. Kareim started as a Relationship Manager, and within a year he was running our biggest club. While we call the award a manager, this man has grown into a truly high-quality leader.
Support Team Member of the Year: Catalina
After being a member, and spending her weekends coercing her friends to attend – an opportunity came for Catalina to turn her passion into their job (and get a free membership). Having people in your marketing team who use your product, love your product, know your teachers and live the brand is a huge advantage. After starting as a relatively young designer, Cata’s achievements include driving our rebrand, building our new website and even writing proposals for amazing new opportunities for the brand.
Relationship Manager of the Year: Amelia Filip.
Amelia started as one of our members and transitioned to a staff member at 19 years old by cornering our CEO, Justin, and convincing him to give her a job. We gave her a shot with a casual role but once she decided it was all in, we have not looked back. The only Relationship Manager ever to top the charts in both sales and service at the same time, Amelia doesn’t sell memberships she changes people’s lives!
Employee of the Year: Amelia Filip
We had to go one step further and give Amelia the main award. This award has to be more than just numbers. It has to be about impact and alignment with our values: one team, great humans, better every day, design the future, do cool sh!t and truly inspire change. Amelia always puts those around her, before herself, and cares more about every single member than anyone we have ever met. From our greatest fan as a member to our star employee, we give huge congratulations to Marrickville’s Amelia Filip.
Club of The Year: Newtown.
To crown the winner of the Club of the Year, we have been running a competition this year, allocating points to each of the clubs based on a number of factors such as member connection and engagement. It was a very close finish but the club to take home the trophy was…
Newtown!
The “Fitness industry” was historically a male-dominated industry, so it is fantastic to see such a large female contingent in our award winners, as well as people from a diverse range of communities, countries (shout out to Argentina!) and locations. Our members encompass a range of communities, and having our team reflect this diversity is a superpower.
A huge congratulations to our winners and a big thank you to all our great humans for their hard work this year.
