Those attending the Saint Mary’s Mens’ basketball game last Thursday night could be forgiven for thinking the world had temporarily turned upside-down. With meat pies and sausage rolls sold from the concession stands, and a student body decked out in commemorative t-shirts featuring an Aboriginal-inspired kangaroo design, a gymnasium in Moraga, California suddenly felt more like a raucous footy game Down Under.

The tradition of Aussie excellence has established roots with the Saint Mary’s basketball team. Since the arrival of Australian guard Adam Caporn in 2001, 18 different Australian players have worn the Gaels jersey on the hardwood. Among the most notable of this group are Patty Mills, now of the San Antonio Spurs, and Matt Dellavedova of the Milwaukee Bucks. To commemorate this proud legacy, Saint Mary’s hosted their 2nd annual Australia Day promotion.

An Enhanced Arena Experience with IQbuds

Nuheara happily took part in promoting and sponsoring the Australia Day game against the BYU Cougars. As an upstart innovator from Perth making waves in the Silicon Valley, it only made sense to support the growing tradition of Aussie upstarts shaking up American collegiate basketball.

In addition to courtside signage displayed throughout the game (broadcast nationally on ESPN2), IQbuds was also featured in the “Nuheara Joey Challenge” during the 1st quarter. In the challenge, two students in kangaroo costumes had to dribble to center court. Once there, they raced to stuff a joey in their pouch, hop up and down five times, then dribble to the basket and make a lay-up. The 1st contestant to make their lay-up won a free pair of IQbuds. Entertaining stuff without a doubt.

The evening and the game both ended with success. Saint Mary’s defeated BYU by a score of 75 to 62.

Not lost on the Nuheara team attending the game, was just how loud live sporting events can be. Even for those without noise sensitivity, IQbuds provided significant relief with a cheering crowd and a loud band playing nearby. Moreover, IQbuds worked beautifully to mute ambient crowd noise while listening to co-founder David Cannington’s interview with the radio “Voice of the Gaels,” Alex Jensen, during halftime.

Perhaps the highlight of the evening was the chance for the Nuheara team to meet a family before the game while giving demos to ticket holders. The lobby was packed and very loud as the crowds rushed through the doors pre-game. One family – a mother, her 10 year old son, and his grandmother – came to the table to “spin to win”. The boy was clearly a bit overwhelmed with all the noise, so we asked if he’d like to try the IQbuds – this was met with an enthusiastic “YES, please!”

The IQbuds fit his ears perfectly, and he suddenly began smiling, then tapping the buds to where the music started playing. He kept smiling and talking as his mom asked him questions, occasionally bopping his head to the music. After it was obvious he was experiencing relief from the noisy lobby, his mom and grandmother both shared stories of how much their spouses and whole family could benefit from the IQbuds, especially the feature to drop down the background noise without being completely cut off from the world, like with traditional big over the ear headphones.  We gave the family a pair of IQbuds and look forward to meeting with them again soon.

As a company committed to changing lives, helping this family was as big a win for us as it was for the Gaels triumph that night!

February 5th, 2018