Antony Pinshaw and David Weiner’s friendship goes back decades. With Pinshaw at Masada College and Weiner at Moriah College, they were bound to bump into each other throughout the years. But it wasn’t until they played side by side in the football Kanga Cup that they really got to know each other.
The pair’s love of sport continued through their careers working at Fox Sports. Now, Pinshaw and Weiner have turned their attention to the next generation, starting their podcast Aussie Sport for Kids.
Pinshaw and Weiner have had numerous conversations over the years, sharing ideas that they may be able to collaborate on. Pinshaw shared that it was an experience with his young sons that piqued his interest in a podcast.
“It was an English guy talking about the Premier League,” he recalled. “And I was like, this is cool, where’s the Australian one of this? I went looking for something similar on Spotify and I couldn’t find it. And then we heard an episode on Sam Kerr. But why was an English guy telling kids about Sam Kerr?”
With breaks in their schedules, the duo sat down and began to plan things out. Aussie Sport for Kids was born, with Pinshaw writing and Weiner hosting.
While it is aimed at children, the podcast is something the whole family can enjoy. It spotlights some of Australia’s greatest sporting moments and the sportspeople behind them.
John Aloisi’s penalty for a spot in the 2006 Football World Cup, for example. Something that many kids wouldn’t necessarily know about, but many parents would certainly recall.
The recent 2024 Olympics gave Pinshaw and Weiner even more excellent people to talk about, sharing the stories behind the sporting heroes.
“We could talk about when these people were young and how they first got into the sport,” Pinshaw explained. “I think it’s important that kids understand that these people weren’t born professional athletes. It sounds obvious but as a kid, you don’t consider that they were once as far away from the sport that they’re now in, as you are.”
Weiner said their aim is also to foster a love of sports, plural, rather than only giving kids one option.
“The Olympics ones gave us a really great opportunity to show diversity. [Kids] should have diversity in all things in life and they should have diversity in sport too,” he said. “All of a sudden, if they’re listening to things about swimming, BMX riding, tennis, athletics – it opens their eyes to the choices they have.”
Both Pinshaw and Weiner also recognise that the podcast is another medium that children can use to enjoy something they love.
While there are a lot of books and television series about sporting heroes available, not every child necessarily wants to read, and not every parent wants their child in front of a screen.
A podcast provides another way for kids to listen, learn and be entertained.
While originally the podcast was sharing the stories of classic sporting moments, Pinshaw and Weiner realised that it needed to include some contemporary moments as well.
“It’s a tough sell to explain to a six-year-old about a game from 1993,” Pinshaw laughed. “I still think there is something in that but it’s difficult. Kids want to know what happened in the game on the weekend.”
Both also said they needed to get into a child’s brain when choosing the athletes and writing their stories.
“You have to pretend you’re a kid. We’re looking at everything through a kid’s lens.”
Which they admitted can be difficult as they were both seven-year-old sports nerds who wanted all the facts and figures – not something every other child necessarily wants.
“It has been an exercise in finding the right tone,” Weiner explained, with Pinshaw adding that they don’t just want the podcast to be for kids who are “into sport”.
“We want it to be for kids whose parents don’t think they’re into sport. Ideally, we want to be showing that it’s ok if you’re not so great at kicking a ball for example, there are so many amazing stories, so many life lessons about being on a team, it doesn’t matter if you’re not the best,” he said.
The ultimate dream, according to the pair, is that any child in Australia, or indeed around the world, can hear, read, watch or talk about something to do with sport, and rather than asking mum or dad, can put on the podcast and Pinshaw and Weiner can answer the question for them.
“There’s so much rubbish in kids’ faces and in the world today, that anything positive we can harness for our kids, whether it be a BMX rider or a footy player, or a swimmer – if we can give them something positive to really drill into, that can never be a bad thing,” Weiner said.
It’s bringing the experts directly to the ears of children, while fostering positivity, an understanding of the importance of discipline, teamwork, determination and ultimately a love of sport for sports sake.
Listen and follow Aussie Sport for Kids on Spotify. If you want Aussie Sport for Kids to do an episode on a sportsperson or event that you love, email aussiesportforkids@gmail.com
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