Following the tragic death of Sam Davis in 2008 from a one punch assault, Sam’s parents set up the Sammy D Foundation. The aim was to educate young people about the impacts of bullying, violence, and alcohol and drug misuse, empowering them to make better life choices.
The Foundation delivers a number of educational programs designed to help young people, and those around them, make better, safer choices. One of these is the Game Changers program which helps sporting clubs, parents and coaches create fun, safe environments for kids. But after delivering the program for over a decade the Foundation saw an opportunity to gain an independent evaluation of its impact and use those insights to strengthen it.
The Foundation partnered with Flinders University through the PhD Enterprise Scholarship scheme, embedding PhD candidate, Emilea Mysko within the organisation to work alongside the team to explore how adults influence young people's experiences in sport and how education can help strengthen positive relationships, participation and enjoyment.
"The Sammy D Foundation has always believed that prevention works, but we also know that prevention needs to evolve," says Jannine Jackson, CEO of the Sammy D Foundation.
Jackson says the partnership gave them the chance to evaluate and see what the next steps could be for the program.
"Partnering with Flinders University gave us the opportunity to combine our practical experience with world-class research and ensure our program is grounded in both lived experience and evidence."
Working closely with the Sammy D Foundation team, Mysko evaluated the existing program, and interviewed parents, coaches, officials and young people. From this analysis, she identified opportunities to make the program more engaging and relatable, finding that some content was highly information-driven and could be enhanced through more interactive delivery approaches to strengthen participant engagement.
She then collaborated with staff to design a completely new program informed by evidence, theory and community insight.
The result is a new educational program which was introduced in South Australia in late 2025 and has already begun improving the impact their programs are having on sporting communities.
"For instance, feedback has shown the new program encourages parents to reflect on their own behaviour, better understand the influence they have as role models, and recognise the lasting impact their words and actions can have on young people," Jackson says.
For Emilea Mysko, spending time working directly with staff and sporting communities provided insights that would have been difficult to gain through traditional academic research alone.
"The greatest benefit has been working directly in the community and seeing how local sporting communities respond to education programs," she says.
The partnership has also delivered benefits beyond just the one program, helping strengthen the organisation's ability to continually test, refine and improve ideas in real-world settings. It’s also helped demonstrate impact, support future funding opportunities and allowed the foundation to continue to evolve its approach towards violence prevention and community education.
"Partnering with Flinders University has added credibility to our work and reinforced our commitment to delivering evidence-informed programs that make a genuine difference," says Jackson.
"Partnering with a PhD researcher gives organisations the opportunity to explore important questions in greater depth and challenge their thinking.
"When those insights are translated into practical programs and resources, the impact extends well beyond the research, creating lasting benefits for organisations and the communities they support."
