By Andy Paschalidis – Heartbeat of Football Founder
It gave me great joy last Wednesday to have another Community engagement with Sydney Olympic FC – the club my late father first took me to watch in 1972 at Wentworth Park in Sydney. This is when my passion for the world game began. It’s taken me on an amazing journey but it’s what I am now doing in football which is vitally important – saving lives.
Little did I know back then I would end up working for Foreign Language Publications as a cadet journalist with Australian Soccer Weekly (ASW) in 1983 and 1984. ASW was the staple diet of all football fans in Australia long before the internet was launched.
I have been involved in the media for almost four decades and now my mission is to make a difference in the heart health space – a mission which The Greek Herald and Sydney Olympic FC have also united with our Charity to help make a difference.
Heart disease is our biggest killer. It’s not a well known fact but three times more women die of heart disease than all cancers put together. On average 110 Australians suffer a heart attack or cardiac arrest each day. Only 12 percent survive!
Last Wednesday, Sydney Olympic hosted another Heartbeat of Football testing at the Australia Cup tie against Football NSW NPL rivals Blacktown City FC. Olympic won 3-1 in a very entertaining game but for me the importance of testing football fans at Belmore Sports Ground was more important.
It was great to see former Socceroos Peter Katholos, Matthew Bingley and Peter Raskopoulos on the night. Two former Olympic legends Chris Kalantzis and Mark Koussas have undergone heart surgery in recent years.
The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute nurses tested for blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. Our model is unique and has been in existence since 2017. It has been acknowledged by FIFA – the world governing body of our great game.
Heartbeat of Football plays a key role in providing data to the FIFA Sudden Cardiac Registry team which launched in 2014 – the same year my Forest Rangers 035s team mate Matthew Richardson died on the pitch. That day will never leave me.
It’s been an amazing journey as we continue our push to create greater awareness, education, prevention and testing, as well as the need to have life saving AED’s at all sporting grounds in Australia.
Already this year, there has been four incidents with three players saved because of defibrillator access and effective CPR. Sadly 52-year-old Luis Camacho died at the wheel of his car after his first training session with the Cooks River Titans FC at Beaman Park in Earlwood. He was found three hours after the training session. There must be a legacy.
Thankfully the former NSW Liberal Government rolled out $6,000,000 for defibrillators into sporting clubs from 2017-2022. This was a benchmark initiative – one which our Charity was proudly part of. Former Sports Minister Stuart Ayres has publicly said it was the greatest Community initiative he has ever been involved in. I now look forward to collaborating with the new Sports Minister Steve Kamper who attended the launch of our Charity in 2016.
It’s a very busy month for Heartbeat of Football highlighted by the inaugural SHOW SOME HEART – MAKE IT RED campaign on the last weekend of April which is proudly sponsored by Bing Lee.
This inaugural heart health round which is endorsed by our partners Football NSW and Northern NSW Football allows clubs to highlight heart health but also fundraise for three Charities in the heart health space.
To underline the seriousness of cardiovascular disease in 2020, 24,800 Australians died of coronary heart disease or stroke. We need to address the curve. Together we can and will make a difference. Please ensure you get a regular checkup.
