Nerds FC
Find out how Outdoor Insights worked with the participants of the reality television show sensation-"Nerds FC"
Nerds FC-Personal Development Program
Originating from Denmark, "Nerd FC" has become an
international reality TV sensation, based on the
format of getting a group of sporting 'no-hopers'
together and following their progress as they are turned into a
football team! The Australian version has been produced by Grundy
TV. The show auditioned 14 men aged 18 to 24 who were “nerds” by
their own definition. The men selected were all at university
except for one.
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| The Nerd FC Team |
The show was shot over the Christmas university
break in Dec-Feb 2006 and screened over 8 episodes as a lead up to the Football
World Cup in June 06. Outdoor Insights was asked to run a wilderness based
Personal Development Program for the participants.
Outdoor Insights’s brief was to develop the player’s personal skills
especially those relating to moving into manhood. Manhood is
rather subjective so we defined manhood as being:
- Able to stand by their own beliefs and be comfortable with who they are or are willing to change.
- Courageous
- Willing to take 100% responsibility for their actions
- Be able to contribute and add value to their community (team)
- Able to dig deep emotionally, spiritually and physically to achieve goals and be willing to step out their personal comfort zone to do so.
- Able to trust themselves
- Be In their power and use it for good, and be willing to share knowledge and ideas
- Passionate about achieving their dreams
Grundy TV also wanted the team memebers to get dirty and toughen up a bit!
Program Design:
We designed and ran the program where the young men participated in a
sequential series of activities and debriefs that increased in
difficulty in a bush environment. We started slowly with a fun
bonding exercise to get used to each other and a chance for Outdoor
Insights to observe the dynamics.
Trust and goal setting was next and how much passion the guys could
develop to be the very best that they could be using a low wire
activity. The camp set up that night was also part of the
development activities with cooking, tent set up, fire lighting and
washing up. After dinner we challenged the team members by getting them
to do a blind folded night walk through the bush following 800 metres
of cord.
Day two, upped the ante with high wires in the morning, abseiling after lunch to prepare for the next days major challenge. After dinner the group sat around the fire listening to each man share a personal story that was a defining moment in their growth towards adulthood and becoming a man.
Day three dawned damp and very misty on the mountaintops. This added to the sense of foreboding. The journey up and over Mt Carrialoo via a 60-metre abseil was now upon them. We walked everywhere on the program, which was all part of the “digging deep” experience.
Outcomes:
The program was a great success for Grundy TV and
the team members. Grundy was able to get some great footage and
dialogue and Outdoor Insights was able to run the program without
interference from Grundy TV. It was great to work together with
the film crew, producer, talent co-ordinator, our staff and the team to
pull it all together for a win win.
The team members were an amazing bunch of young men and certainly were not shy around the camera whereas I took some time to get used to the filming.
The 'Wild Woosey' exercise certainly got the team thinking how they set their personal goals and how much trust they had in themselves. The personal trust came out that evening again as each man walked around the nightline. The debrief brought out how quickly you can tap into your intuition and generally the men found the exercise really valuable in connecting with that part of themselves.
Personal goal setting was highlighted on the 'High Trapeze Jump' (leap of faith) as the men had the chance to set their level of achievement and work through their barriers that stopped them really going all out to do their best. Some men where sent up (by choice) again as they where amazed what happened to their body when they attempted unrealistic goals, the second attempt gave them the experience to adjust their belief system. There were some amazing leaps that brought out how much we can achieve when we align our thoughts to our belief system.
The afternoon’s abseiling session was mainly designed to teach the skills required for the next day’s adventure. Nevertheless a lot was achieved by continuing to take the men out of their comfort zones and consolidating their strategies to deal with achieving goals and dealing with stressful situations. Some men had to dig deep to abseil three or four times until they became comfortable with the process and deal with the emotions and thoughts that comes when one is pushing through something that is scaring the day lights out of some of them.
The evening’s sharing was pretty special to be witness to the men’s stories. I was surprised and delighted how much they spoke from their truth and the evening achieved a great deal as men rarely as a rule share at this level.
The morning saw the team walking up 600 metres vertical height gain via
a series of fire trails then a rough track breaking through a cliff
line to the top of Mt Carrialoo. We had to resort to a compass
bearing due to the mist and naturally everyone got drenched from the
moisture laden under growth. At least one team member
learnt that pain never killed anyone and was amazed when he arrived at
the top with help from Bob coaching him along. It was just great
to see this guy just shine when he realised what he could achieve by
pushing through his self-defeating thoughts and talk. This guy
just got stronger as the day progressed but he was relieved to crawl on
the bus.
The abseiling was wet, slippery and tricky as they descended into the gloom of the mist at the end of Mt Carrialoo. I honestly felt proud on how well they used their learning from the last two days. We then walked along and down the ridge through some pretty thick scrub back to the bus.
We had a very powerful off camera debrief and the men easily articulated some of the benefits and insights they had gained from the program. I enjoyed the program especially as I never really heard any negative put downs between the men and they were enthusiastic even when they were digging deep physically or emotionally, filthy from sweat and dirt.
We look forward to seeing the end results on the pitch and on our screens!
The team members were an amazing bunch of young men and certainly were not shy around the camera whereas I took some time to get used to the filming.
The 'Wild Woosey' exercise certainly got the team thinking how they set their personal goals and how much trust they had in themselves. The personal trust came out that evening again as each man walked around the nightline. The debrief brought out how quickly you can tap into your intuition and generally the men found the exercise really valuable in connecting with that part of themselves.
Personal goal setting was highlighted on the 'High Trapeze Jump' (leap of faith) as the men had the chance to set their level of achievement and work through their barriers that stopped them really going all out to do their best. Some men where sent up (by choice) again as they where amazed what happened to their body when they attempted unrealistic goals, the second attempt gave them the experience to adjust their belief system. There were some amazing leaps that brought out how much we can achieve when we align our thoughts to our belief system.
The afternoon’s abseiling session was mainly designed to teach the skills required for the next day’s adventure. Nevertheless a lot was achieved by continuing to take the men out of their comfort zones and consolidating their strategies to deal with achieving goals and dealing with stressful situations. Some men had to dig deep to abseil three or four times until they became comfortable with the process and deal with the emotions and thoughts that comes when one is pushing through something that is scaring the day lights out of some of them.
The evening’s sharing was pretty special to be witness to the men’s stories. I was surprised and delighted how much they spoke from their truth and the evening achieved a great deal as men rarely as a rule share at this level.
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| Abseiling training |
The abseiling was wet, slippery and tricky as they descended into the gloom of the mist at the end of Mt Carrialoo. I honestly felt proud on how well they used their learning from the last two days. We then walked along and down the ridge through some pretty thick scrub back to the bus.
We had a very powerful off camera debrief and the men easily articulated some of the benefits and insights they had gained from the program. I enjoyed the program especially as I never really heard any negative put downs between the men and they were enthusiastic even when they were digging deep physically or emotionally, filthy from sweat and dirt.
We look forward to seeing the end results on the pitch and on our screens!
Bob Killip-Managing Director, Outdoor Insights
Interested in a Wilderness based program for your team? Then please be in touch at Contact us.
Want to find out more about Nerd FC and check out some rough footage of the team? Then check out www.nerdsfc.com.au
Outdoor Insights Pty Ltd
ACN: 051 752 740
Phone: 1800 81 33 51
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