Preparation for activity

When you create an account, the system will provide you a link “www.donorbox.com/playwith-purpose/david-smith/” which will allow you to post to your social media your own fundraising account, to help find people to sponsor your activity. Remember you can start gaining sponsorship as soon as you register, but the Play with Purpose event starts on February 1st, 2024, and runs until the 29th of February 2024.

Do you want to amplify your performance, get your work mates or friends at school to sponsor you, or have a challenge within your team, or at the gym to see who can raise the most money. The more we raise as a total effort, the fitter and healthier we will all be, all while helping to save lives on the water.

Starting out

Play for Purpose is about being healthy, being active, and living a fantastic enriched life. As part of the process, we hope people who participate in the challenge find time to gain sponsorship for their month of activity, which then helps us to go on and save lives on the water.

Check out the video below which covers some basics on having the right hydration, based on your level of activity.

Learn to stretch before activity

Nothing stuffs up a month of activity like pulling a muscle or rolling an ankle in your first couple of days. Follow Mady’s video on how to stretch properly to reduce the chances of injury, and to strengthen and lengthen those muscles of yours.

If one of your activities is Yoga or Pilates, you’ll probably be ok to skip the video.

Protect your kids from accidents

Play with Purpose hopes that schools and sporting clubs will get involved. As part of introducing kids to physical activity, it’s very important we keep them safe, and teach them how to play by themselves, and as a team member.

Whilst playtime is fun, safety around traffic is very important, and you’ll have to teach them about not chasing a ball across a street or road.

Because the increasing technology competing for their time, it’s also a great life skill to teach them about balance, and safety items like a mouthguard.

See the video provided for a few hints.

Paddle safe

Nothing worries me more than people who paddle or fish by themselves or in a small group and don’t wear lifejackets. 70% of all people who die on our waterways were not wearing a lifejacket.

It’s amazing the amount of people I see with a carbon fibre $8000 kayak or canoe, yet chose the cheapest lifejacket they could find, or don’t wear one at all.

If you love your activity, you at least want to life to keep doing it, return home safely to your family. Wear the proper gear, be safe, have an amazing time, and enjoy time out with friends.

Get the right fit

Getting the right fit in a shoe for your activity is important, it’s more than likely you’ve already got the right shoes.

Being a size 16 myself, finding a shoe thats the right size sometimes is hard work, and can take a few stores to find the right one. For a running or jogging shoe, there are heaps of options from Rebel Sport, to Footlocker, and other specialised stores that cater for triathletes.

If in doubt, watch the video and get advice from your local sports shoe store.

Ready, Set, Go

Now that you’ve registered your participation, get out there and gain motivation by having lots of sponsors.

We really appreciate your assistance, and while we’ll do all the rough work out on the ocean, your part is equally important helping us get the equipment we need to save as many lives as we can.

In 2023, we attended 32 events, with events having between 80 and 700 competitors out on the water. While some of the events were in calm water, the biggest waves we saw for the year were a whopping 4 metres in height and travel at 30 km per hour. Imaging getting chased by one of those.

Don’t forget in February to post your progress, and keep and eye out on our Facebook page for giveaways and prize draws during the month.