INSPIRING COASTERS AWARDED
These bright young Gold Coast minds are finding creative ways to make the world we live in a better place – and have been recognised with an award for their efforts
THE future is looking bright for four Gold Coast kids who were applauded for their creativity and efforts within the community at the Seven News Young Achievers 2019 Awards.
Alexandra Wells, Tara Baker, Navdeep Pasricha and Joshua Apitz all took home a trophy and $2000 each last Friday night.
The four were awarded in front of an audience of 400 people in Brisbane.
Alex, 19, from Ormeau, was recognised for establishing the
Gold Coast Inclusive Sports Program.
The program is designed for children with disabilities and special needs to get them involved in sports.
“When I was 14, I started a YouTube channel and interviewed different athletes because I wanted to study sports journalism,” she said.
“I interviewed people at a soccer club which had an allabilities soccer team ... which I thought was great.
“I did a bit of research in the program and realised there was only one on the Gold Coast and one on the northside of
Brisbane and that’s it.
“I found there were lots of different sport clubs, but nothing that caters for everybody in our community.
“I spoke to my school principal and he said to go ahead with the idea and that’s how it got started.”
For the past four years she has dedicated every second Saturday during school terms to get kids with disabilities involved in sport at Lutheran Ormeau and District School (LORDS).
The program has increased from 30 athletes and 30 volunteers to 90 athletes and 100 volunteers.
“Each session we play a different sport," Alex said. “We are trying to open up sporting goals to see what they like … from basketball, soccer, tennis, cricket.
“I’m really passionate about it because growing up I was really lucky to be able to play so many different sports. (Sport is) such a massive part of life, and the fact there is a part of the community that can’t take part i isn’t right.”
She plans on using the $2000 she won by giving it to the Gold Coast Inclusive Sports Program.
Joshua Apitz, 16, from Mudgeeraba, won the Australia Small Business Achiever Award for his sunscreen brand Seagull Milk.
Josh made headlines Australia-wide when he invented the first vegan non-slip sunscreen.
He came up with the idea last year after being fed up with sliding off his surfboard.
In early February Josh told the Bulletin he had made more than $10,000 in pre-sales, before having it available for sale.
Since it has been for sale online on the Seagull Milk website (for $24.95), pro surfers John John Florence and Ace Buchan have used the sunscreen.
Currumbin’s Tara Baker, 29, won the iFly Online Achievement Award for being an inspiring LGBTIQ+ advocate and influencer.
Her website, Dancing With Her, celebrates LGBTIQ+ women in love and has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram. She posted to Facebook showing off a photo of her with the trophy.
“I won my first trophy since the pity one I got when I took part in a ten-pin bowling league back when I was 12,” she said.
“As hard as the journey to having my own business is sometimes, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
Navdeep Pasricha, 22, from Carrara, won The University of Queensland Create Change Award for his efforts to improve children’s education in rural and regional Australia.
He is the CEO of iYouth Global which offers iYouth on Demand, the Netflix for teachers’ professional development. He developed an online platform called Teachflix, which allows teachers even in remote areas of Australian to be able to access training online and at anytime.