Coolabah Turf
Brand Ambassador
Mark ‘Howie’ Howard
“I’m thrilled about the opportunity to join Coolabah Turf as brand ambassador and to work with such a positive and progressive company on their greenspace crusade to inspire kids and families to disconnect from tech, to get outdoors and to get active in their own backyard, at the local footy ground or at their local park”
- Mark 'Howie' Howard
Coolabah Turf
Brand Ambassador
Mark ‘Howie’ Howard
“I’m thrilled about the opportunity to join Coolabah Turf as brand ambassador and to work with such a positive and progressive company on their greenspace crusade to inspire kids and families to disconnect from tech, to get outdoors and to get active in their own backyard, at the local footy ground or at their local park”
- Mark 'Howie' Howard
‘Howie’ signs on as Coolabah Turf brand ambassador
In a match made in turfing heaven, award-winning sports journalist Mark (Howie) Howard has officially joined Coolabah Turf as brand ambassador.
Australian television presenter, Fox Sports Cricket commentator and host of Australia’s number one sports podcast – The Howie Games, will saddle up with the Coolabah Turf team to amplify the Echuca based turf production company’s education campaigns to inspire hope and happiness in backyards, local parks, playgrounds, sporting fields and public spaces across the state.
The alliance is designed to elevate Coolabah’s long-held brand values around cultivating lawns for life, backyard sporting heroes, building healthy communities and promoting happy, simple, active lifestyles.
When Australian sports journalist Mark Howard speaks, the whole world stops to listen. Mark ‘’Howie’’ Howard is the infectious and energetic voice behind the mic on Fox Sport, Fox Cricket, Triple M Footy and of course his very own ‘’The Howie Games’’ Podcast. Howie is also the passionate and proud brand ambassador for Victoria’s premier turf supply company Coolabah Turf, to help in their greenspace crusade to build healthy communities and breed a generation of backyard sporting heroes!
The partnership will also assist to promote Coolabah Turf’s industry advocacy objectives to educate local and state governments about the importance of ongoing investment in quality public open space projects (local parks and playgrounds) and public recreation facilities (sporting fields/walking tracks, mountain bike trails/outdoor gym equipment) at a local level to accommodate needs of our future generations.
Coolabah Turf Founder and passionate greenspace advocate, Suzie Shearer said the Howie alliance was obvious and effortless.
“Howie is a frequent flyer on the tv, radio and podcast listening apps in our family home, and both our personal and professional values could not be more aligned,” she said. “We are huge fans of Howie and his podcast and we are constantly inspired by the incredible work he is doing to inspire hope and happiness across our nation for every age group.”
‘’Just like our Coolabah brand that makes people happy with the supply of quality instant lawns and inspires and enables them to get active in the great outdoors and reap all the science backed rewards from increased physical and mental health benefits of greenspace in their own backyard, Howie’s infectious and positive outlook on life is an irresistible and contagious vibe.
For more than 20 years, Coolabah Turf’s purpose has centred on building Aussie backyards – creating safe and inviting play spaces for kids to be active, and for families to gather and connect. It’s what’s core to the Coolabah family in life and in business – growing lawns for life, raising backyard sporting heroes and building healthy communities.
When Suzie approached Howie about joining the team as brand ambassador late last year, she spoke from the heart about what their business stood for and how a Howie/Coolabah partnership could help do some collective good.
We do so much good for our community through our work and more specifically through our sponsorship program and in the way we live and breathe our brand values, similar to the way Howie does every week through his podcast” she said. ''We were looking for a voice loader than our own, and wanted to align with somebody with a higher public profile than we have to help spread more widely our key messages around the importance of promoting active lifestyles, ditching screen time for green time and building healthy communities.''
Suzie made it her mission to forge a formal partnership with Howie after listening to his podcast interview with former Australian test cricketer Greg Chappell. ”I had had the thought on multiple occasions to approach Howie about working together through Covid when we were running a Hope and Happiness campaign to ignite some optimism in our markets about feeling safe and valuing their own private patch in residential backyards during Victorian local downs. Every time I listened to Howie and his incredibly empathetic interview style that so naturally curates connection with everyone he speaks to on a level many folk never have the capacity to achieve. Connection is such an important value in our Coolabah family and in life and I was convinced at this point, a Howie Coolabah alliance would undoubtedly be a winner to help positively impact a broad cross section of people across our Victorian markets.
“In this conversation between two Aussie greats, Howie highlighted the significance Chappell’s humble backyard had on shaping and influencing his batting style that spiralled him to international cricket stardom,” she said. “Greg developed his unique batting technique because he had to navigate a peach tree and a tank stand in the backyard, as well as the home of an ethnic migrant neighbour next door. His dad would say to him, ‘if your ball hits my fruit trees, or the tank stand, or the neighbour’s window again, then there’s no more backyard cricket’. So Chappell had to change his style to shimmy the ball along the ground between the fruit trees and tank. Listening to that interview, I felt for a moment that I was actually in Greg Chapell’s backyard and I just loved it. I thought how many kids and families around Australia can relate to this story - it’s so quintessentially Australian. It’s just so relatable, and that’s what made me first reach out to approach Howie.” This is Howie's natural interview style to flesh out this kind of information from people of all walks of life on his podcast - so through his work, he too is talking about the importance of family and early years in Aussie backyards and to us, both topics are billboard worthy values and traditions.
For many professional cricketers lucky enough, or who work hard enough to make it big in elite level sport, lining up large for a Boxing Day Test at the MCG is the ultimate stage. But in reality for most of us, our biggest stage is in our own backyard, where we take our first steps, where we fall down, and learn to get back up again. It’s where we hit our first ball for six, and take our first outfield catch. Check out Coolabah Turf brand ambassador, Mark ‘’Howie’’ Howard and his son Mac in a friendly backyard test match…
For Coolabah Turf, the humble backyard is not just a safe-haven for families – it’s a place where life’s most important moments happen.
“It’s where we learn to crawl and take our first steps, where we fall down and learn to get back up again. It’s where we build resilience,” Suzie said. “We joke and tell Howie he wouldn’t have a job as a commentator if it wasn’t for the backyard sporting heroes who progress to elite level playing fields as professional sports men and women which Howie's talents and career choice as a commentator are integral to. “It all starts in the backyard, before it evolves and progresses to the local park, playground, footy oval, cricket pitch, netball court, basketball stadium and the broader local and national stage. “That’s the link here, and the synergy couldn’t be more perfect.”
From Howie’s perspective, his first impression of the Coolabah story was one of respect, admiration and natural affinity.
He resonated deeply with the company’s commitment to family values, team culture, the importance of outdoor active lifestyles, and building healthy communities.
“I’m thrilled about the opportunity to join Coolabah Turf as brand ambassador and to work with a company so committed to inspiring kids and families to disconnect from tech, to get outdoors and to get active in their own backyard, at the local footy ground or at their local park,” he said. ‘’I cannot wait to contribute to the Coolabah led conversation about the importance of greenspace and nature as an integral part of our existing and future urban design. I couldn’t think of a more worthwhile cause to support," Howie said.
Memories are made in Aussie backyards. Even when we are not intentionally curating insta worthy moments, life shaping memories are influencing our future selves subconsciously. Here at Coolabah Turf, we take immense pride in helping our customers create the perfect stage for letting life happen in their own backyards. Coolabah Turf Brand Ambassador, Mark “Howie’’ Howard shares some humerous and reflective insights into what life was like growing up in regional Victoria in the backyard of his family home.
