Creative thinking

THREE Ardrossan Area School students have returned from Brisbane with second place in the national Future Anything competition, held on November 18 at the State Library of Queensland.

Archie Teakle, Lucas McKibbin and Mark Stacey represented their school with a business idea called Never in the Rough, one of 600 entries from over 1000 students nationwide.

Their concept was among the top eight selected for the final — a remarkable achievement for the Year 10 team.

Inspired by a shared passion for sport, community and improving men’s mental health, the trio designed a set of golf balls featuring conversation starters, aiming to encourage meaningful conversations on the golf course.

“Our goal for the project was to create a solution to a problem that mattered to us,” Archie said.

“Plenty of men play golf, often with mates or in groups, so we thought golf balls with messages on them would be a great way to get men talking about their feelings,” Mark added.

“It was a great evening — we enjoyed the whole experience, especially making some great potential connections,” Archie said.

“Considering it was just an idea we thought was only for the workshop, we were pretty surprised to make it this far,” Lucas added.

Through regular practice, they refined both the content and delivery of their three-minute pitch — and their preparation paid off.

The trio walked away not only with a national runner-up title, but also valuable industry connections and experience.

“On the day of the award dinner, we were lucky enough to have lunch with Sam Parker, the founder of Grab Life by the Balls,” Lucas said.

“He is someone who can help us spread our message across Australia and someone we can work closely with to push this further with his message and connections.”

Their prize included a $7500 mentorship package and $500 each in cash.

Principal Margaret Roads said the students are now well placed to continue developing their idea over the next two years.

“The boys now have a fantastic opportunity to undertake community studies next year and use their mentorship towards SACE Stage 2 credits in 2026, if they choose to do so,” she said.

“Their idea gained great momentum in the community and now is a great opportunity for them to build on that initiative and their studies too.”

Ardrossan Area School was the smallest school nominated for the national final and the only South Australian public school to feature.

“It has been amazing for the boys to receive recognition and for us to work with Future Anything for the past three years — and we’ll continue that relationship in 2026,” Mrs Roads said.

Year 4 students from the school also took to the Brisbane stage to present their Bottle Top Dojo project.

“They did amazing in Brisbane too — they loved it, and it was amazing for them to bond and look up to the three boys for when they reach Year 10,” Mrs Roads said.

The Year 4 class was among 22 teams invited to present.

It was one of just three primary school groups chosen, and the only public school from South Australia represented.