World Class to World Best
Australia’s premium high performance sports conference
World Class to World Best (WC2WB) is Australia’s premium high performance sport conference.
This conference brings together CEOs, high performance coaches, directors, managers and performance support personnel. It provides a unique opportunity to connect, share and collaborate across Australia’s high performance sporting system.
Tuesday 23rd - Wednesday 24th
February 2021, approx. 9am - 4pm
Online event Invitation only
Themes
The Conference will provide attendees with cutting edge insights for the future of elite sport.
The key themes of 2021 are:
Program
Day 1 | Tuesday 23 February 2021
Time | Session | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
9.15 | Welcome to Country Opening remarks Opening Ministerial address | Richie Allan Samantha Lane, MC Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck, Minister for Sport |
9.30-10.05 | Getting to great; leading the way | Ellen Ochoa Chair, National Science Board and former Director, NASA Johnson Space Center |
10.05-10.15 | Interval | |
10.15-11.00 | Bringing strategy to life | Lynne Anderson CEO, Paralympics Australia Kate McLoughlin General Manager, Sport, Paralympics Australia & Chef de Mission for 2020 Tokyo Paralympics & 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics |
11.00-11.10 | Interval | |
11.10-11.55 | Frontiers of sport and exercise medicine (SEM) | Dr David Hughes Chief Medical Officer, AIS & Medical Director, Australian Olympic Team, Tokyo 2020 |
11.55-13.20 | Lunch break & networking | |
13.20-14.10 | The transition from athlete to coach | Katrina Powell OAM Head Coach, Hockey Women, NSW Institute of Sport Ken Wallace OAM OLY Head Coach, Canoe/Kayak, QLD Academy of Sport Brad Ness OAM Head Coach, Wheelchair Basketball, WA Institute of Sport |
14.10-14.20 | Interval | |
14.20-14.55 | Coaching better with creativity | Dr Veronique Richard Mental Performance Consultant, Le Groupe Cirque du Soleil Darren Holder Managing Director, Coaching Better |
14.55-15.05 | Interval | |
15.05-15.50 | Creating a culture where innovation thrives | Dr Amantha Imber Founder and Chief Maker, Inventium |
15.50-16.00 | Summary and close | Samantha Lane, MC |
Day 2 | Wednesday 24 February 2021
| Time | Session | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| From 9.00 | Welcome and reflections of Day 1 |
Samantha Lane, MC Josephine Sukkar AM, Chair, Australian Sports Commission |
| 9.10-10.10 | Developing and supporting high performance women coaches | Judy Murray OBE The Judy Murray Foundation |
| 10.10-10.20 | Interval | |
| 10.20-11.20 | The five question leader | Michael Bungay Stanier Author and Founder, Box of Crayons Matthew Wells OAM OLY High Performance Coach, Hockey QLD |
| 11.20-11.30 | Interval | |
| 11.30-12.30 | Driving performance and coach wellbeing | Stacey Marinkovich Head Coach, Australian Diamonds Warren McDonald Para-cycling Technical Director/Head Coach, AusCycling Miles Stewart OAM OLY CEO, Triathlon Australia |
| 12.30-13.45 | Lunch break & networking | |
| 13.45-14.45 | Why falling behind can get you ahead | David Epstein Science Writer and Investigative Reporter |
| 14.45-14.55 | Interval | |
| 14.55-15.50 | Staying on top by striving to be better | Eddie Jones Head Coach, England Rugby Neil Craig High Performance Manager, England Rugby |
| 15.50-16.00 | Summary and close | Samantha Lane, MC |
Speakers
WC2WB will provide 2 days of delightful speakers from across the world. See a sneak peek of these speakers below. Full program to come.
Eddie Jones
Presentation: Staying on top by striving to be better (with Neil Craig)
Hear from one of the coaching greats! Eddie shares his insights on the key attributes of a good coach, his road to coaching longevity and his thirst for continual improvement. Eddie is joined by Neil Craig to discuss their professional relationship as Head Coach and critical friend. How does this work? Why is it so important?
Biography
Eddie Jones, head coach of the England men’s senior team, is meticulous in all aspects of the game. Since taking up the role in November 2015, he has taken England to a Rugby World Cup Final, beating reigning champions New Zealand on the way, and masterminded back-to-back Six Nations titles including the Grand Slam in his initial season as England’s first head coach from overseas. In the process, Jones extended his winning run to a world record equalling 18 games – an unprecedented achievement by a new England coach that included a 3-0 clean sweep away against Australia in June 2016.
A former New South Wales hooker, he took charge of the Wallabies between 2001 and 2005. Australia reached the 2003 Rugby World Cup final on home soil, losing narrowly to England. He acted as technical advisor to South Africa for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, which they won. Jones has also coached Saracens and Japan, topping his three years with them by creating the biggest shock in Rugby World Cup history when the Brave Blossoms beat South Africa 34-32 in 2015.
Neil Craig
Presentation: Staying on top by striving to be better (with Eddie Jones)
Hear from one of the coaching greats! Eddie shares his insights on the key attributes of a good coach, his road to coaching longevity and his thirst for continual improvement. Eddie is joined by Neil Craig to discuss their professional relationship as Head Coach and critical friend. How does this work? Why is it so important?
Biography
Neil Craig is an Australian coach and former Australian Rules footballer. He has worked as a fitness adviser, Assistant and Senior Coach of the Adelaide Football Club, a caretaker coach of the Melbourne Football Club, the former General of Football Performance at the Essendon Football Club as well as the Director of Coaching and Development at the Carlton Football Club.
Since 2017 he has been High Performance Manager for the England rugby union team, working closely with Head Coach Eddie Jones.
Stacey Marinkovich
Presentation: Driving performance and coach wellbeing (with Warren McDonald, Miles Stewart)
Coach wellbeing is a current and concerning focus in high performance sport. Stacey, Warren and Miles engage in a frank discussion on the impact of coach wellbeing on performance, the strategies they use and the support required from NSOs, or the broader system, to ensure the ongoing wellbeing of both current and future high performance coaches.
- Stacey Marinkovich, Head Coach, Australian National Netball Team
- Miles Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Triathlon Australia
- Warren McDonald, Para-cycling Technical Director/Head Coach, AusCycling
Biography
Stacey Marinkovich is one of the country’s leading coaches. After spending the early stages of her career playing in Queensland, Marinkovich moved to Perth where she joined the Perth Orioles. In 2008, the ANZ Championship and West Coast Fever were born, with Marinkovich named as the Club’s inaugural Captain.
Following her retirement, Marinkovich turned her attention to coaching, quickly progressing through the ranks. In 2015, she was named Head Coach of West Coast Fever, and in doing so, became the first person to captain and coach the same club. Marinkovich led Fever to their maiden finals appearance in 2015, and three seasons later, led the Club to their first Grand Final appearance.
In 2020, Marinkovich took Fever to their second Grand Final in three seasons, after spending the year in a Queensland hub. Marinkovich was appointed to Head Coach of the Australian Diamonds in 2020, after serving as Head Coach of the Australian Fast5 Flyers and a Specialist Coach in the Australian Development Squad.
Brad Ness OAM
Presentation: The Transition from Athlete to Coach (with Katrina Powell and Ken Wallace)
The majority of Australian high performance coaches are former athletes who have made the transition from athlete to coach. In developing a larger pool of home-grown coaches, it is important to understand how coaches experience and navigate the transition and how this is best supported, both on an individual and a broader system level. Katrina, Ken and Brad share their reflections and identify what helped and what challenged them as they made their early forays into high performance coaching.
Biography
Brad has had the unique opportunity to combine the personal outcome of a work place accident with his successful professional sporting career to now morph into coaching.
His role as player and captain of the Australian Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team over a period of 18 years, together with his education, has given him the skills to communicate effectively at all levels. As well as providing him with the knowledge and credentials to coach.
Brad has travelled the world in his pursuit of excellence with the Australian team as well as living and playing basketball in Italy for more than 10 years. He uses these opportunities to engage and inspire on the court.
Judy Murray OBE
Presentation: Developing and supporting high performance women coaches
The figures are alarming and nothing much has changed in the last 20 years – women are significantly under-represented in high performance coaching roles. How can we change the paradigm? A strong and vocal advocate for women and girls engaging in sport, Judy discusses the current challenges facing women in high performance coaching and most importantly, shares her learnings and experiences in identifying opportunities to attract, develop, support and progress more women coaches.
Biography
Judy Murray OBE is a former Scottish international tennis player with 64 national titles to her name.
She became Scottish National Coach in 1995, the same year that she became the first woman to pass the Lawn Tennis Association’s Performance Coach Award. She initiated the Scottish Development School programme which ultimately produced four Davis Cup players and one Fed Cup player, including her Grand Slam winning sons, Jamie and Andy.
In 2011, Judy was appointed Captain of the British Fed Cup Team and used this role to grow the profile and numbers in women’s tennis across players and coaches. Judy has developed several tennis initiatives including Miss-Hits, a starter programme for girls age 5 to 8, Tennis on the Road, which takes tennis into remote and deprived parts of Scotland, and, most recently, She Rallies, a programme with the LTA, to encourage more women and girls into playing and delivering tennis across the UK.
In June 2018, Judy launched the Judy Murray Foundation with a simple mission to build workforces in rural and disadvantaged communities in Scotland in order to give many more people the chance to play tennis.
Judy is also a Community Ambassador for the WTA and creates community activation around some of the major events.
Ellen Ochoa
Presentation: Getting to Great; Leading the way
Ellen has led with distinction throughout her truly remarkable career. Most notably she was appointed Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Centre and in becoming the Centre’s first Latina female Director and being the first Latina female astronaut in space, she leads on many other fronts as well. Ellen shares leadership insights gained in an industry at the cutting edge of science, technology and human performance and which prepares leaders and teams for performance environments that are challenging and different.
Biography
Ellen Ochoa is the first Latina ever to go to space. She’s also only the second female Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center—where she led the human space flight enterprise for the nation from 2013 to 2018. Ochoa is a trailblazer like no other.
As an in-demand speaker, she touches on resonant issues that have defined her historic career: What can we learn about change, innovation, and the culture of teams from her time at the upper reaches of NASA’s leadership? And what can we do—really do—to ensure that more women and minorities find a place within STEM fields?
Dr. David Hughes
Presentation: Frontiers of Sport and exercise medicine (SEM)
A look at the latest developments in SEM and possible implications in the future, including an update on 'point of care' testing (including COVID-19 testing) protocols that will impact approaches to optimising athlete care in the future.
Biography
Dr. Hughes is a Sport & Exercise Medicine Physician with 25+ years experience working in high performance sport. He is currently Chief Medical Officer of the AIS and Medical Director for the Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2020/2021.
Experience includes Super Rugby, NRL and English Premier League football. He attended London 2012 with the Opals and Rio 2016 as Olympic Team Medical Director. He is a former President of the Australasian College of Sport & Exercise Physicians (ACSEP).
Dr Hughes’ current work focus is on system-wide protocols to optimise athlete health & safety, and ethical/integrity challenges in high performance sport.
Lynne Anderson
Presentation: Bringing Strategy to Life (with Kate McLoughin)
Lynne and Kate have successfully led the development and implementation of strategic priorities within Paralympics Australia and the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. They provide these dual perspectives in bringing to light the methodology, successes and challenges of strategy implementation and the creation of the widely acknowledged ‘mob’ culture that galvanised the Paralympic team at the Rio Games.
Biography
Lynne Anderson was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Paralympic Committee in August 2015. The APC was re-named Paralympics Australia in 2019.
Before joining the APC, Lynne was Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand for Repucom, a global leader in sports marketing research. She started her career as Marketing Manager for the Canterbury Bulldogs Rugby League Club (1993-1997) before setting up her own sponsorship research consultancy with S-COMM Australia and New Zealand.
Lynne has nearly 30 years’ experience helping all sectors of the industry (sports, sponsors, government and media).
Lynne is the former Chair of the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs Rugby League Club and was also formerly Deputy Chair of the Parramatta Stadium Trust. Former Board roles also include World Masters Games Melbourne 2002, Camp Quality, the Gold Coast Titans NRL Club, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and Invictus Games Sydney 2018.
David Epstein
Presentation: Why Falling Behind Can Get You Ahead
Human intuition loves a head start. Unfortunately, it is ill-equipped to recognize when a headstart is in fact a tradeoff for short term progress that can actually undermine long term development. In this talk, David Epstein will discuss the advantages of a winding path, for managers, and the performers they develop.
Biography
David Epstein is the author of the New York Times best sellers Range, and The Sports Gene, and host of Slate's popular "How To!" podcast. He is a science writer and investigative reporter, most recently with ProPublica, and before that with Sports Illustrated. David has master's degrees in environmental science and journalism, and is reasonably sure he’s the only person to have co-authored a paper in the journal of Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research while a writer at Sports Illustrated.
Kate McLoughlin
Presentation: Bringing Strategy to Life (with Lynne Anderson)
Lynne and Kate have successfully led the development and implementation of strategic priorities within Paralympics Australia and the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. They provide these dual perspectives in bringing to light the methodology, successes and challenges of strategy implementation and the creation of the widely acknowledged ‘mob’ culture that galvanised the Paralympic team at the Rio Games.
Biography
As the first female Chef de Mission to be appointed by Paralympics Australia, Kate McLoughlin led the Australian Paralympic Team to fifth place on the medal tally at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. She has since been named the first female Chef de Mission of an Australian Winter Paralympics Team, for Beijing 2022.
Kate has been widely lauded for the performance-driven, inclusive and supportive environment she helped to create for the 2016 Paralympic Team and her proven ability to excel in the unique environment of a Games saw her reappointment as Chef de Mission for the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games.
In addition to being the recipient of the Australian Institute of Sport’s Award for Leadership in 2016, Kate was named Best Official at Rio 2016 at the 2017 International Paralympic Awards Gala. Kate is the only Australian to have won the award and the first Australian to win an International Paralympic Award in any category since 2009.
Kate is also the General Manager, Games Delivery at Paralympics Australia. Her experience in the industry prior to her arrival at the organisation includes roles with the Australian Olympic Committee, the New South Wales Institute of Sport, Western Sydney University and Chelsea Football Club.
Dr. Amantha Imber
Presentation: Creating a culture where innovation thrives
It is universally recognised that innovation is key to growing a business. As such, creating a culture where innovation thrives is critical. Amantha outlines the key drivers in creating a culture of innovation and provides examples from some of the world’s most innovative organisations showing how these principles have been applied. Learn where to focus innovation efforts and gain practical ideas on how to unlock breakthrough thinking by creating the right type of working environment.
Biography
Dr. Amantha Imber is an organisational psychologist, founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium, and co-creator of the Australian Financial Review’s Most Innovative Companies list. Amantha has helped companies such as Google, Apple, Disney, LEGO, Virgin Australia, Commonwealth Bank and many others innovate more successfully and reinvent the way they approach their work.
In 2019, Amantha was named as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence. Amantha is also the host of the number one ranking business podcast How I Work, where she interviews some of the world’s most successful people about their habits, rituals and strategies for structuring their day and being more productive.
Amantha’s thoughts have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Entrepreneur and Fast Company and she is the author of two best-selling books: “The Creativity Formula” and “The Innovation Formula”.
Dr. Veronique Richard
Presentation: Coaching Better with Creativity (with Darren Holder)
A holistic coach creativity approach to designing ‘next-practice’ is introduced. Cirque du Soleil inspired, the approach incorporates the development of creative elements such as cognitive flexibility, tolerance to discomfort and interpersonal trust. It challenges coaches to create risk-friendly environments where athletes can fulfil their own creative potential and optimise their performance and wellbeing.
Biography
Veronique earned her doctoral degree in sport science from the University of Montreal then went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in sport psychology at Florida State University. Her research focuses on the effects of creativity enhancement on motor performance and psychological adaptation.
She currently has a rich and varied performance psychology practice primarily working as a mental performance consultant with different Canadian national teams (e.g. water polo, artistic swimming) and individual elite athletes (e.g. gymnastic, figure skating, trampoline, etc.). As a Mental Performance Advisor for Cirque du Soleil, Veronique Richard supports artists to optimize their performance and ensure their well-being. Additionally, she is an associate researcher at the Montreal National Circus School working on several creativity projects.
Finally, building on her research and applied experiences, she has designed a program to stimulate creativity which combines movement improvisation, creative problem solving and collective ideation. With this program, she has helped coaches and athletes to create their next practice in organizations around the world such as Cricket Australia, Swimming Australia, AFL teams, Coaching Better, PAISAC, NXT WWE, and PGA.
Darren Holder
Presentation: Coaching Better with Creativity (with Dr Veronique Richard)
A holistic coach creativity approach to designing ‘next-practice’ is introduced. Cirque du Soleil inspired, the approach incorporates the development of creative elements such as cognitive flexibility, tolerance to discomfort and interpersonal trust. It challenges coaches to create risk-friendly environments where athletes can fulfil their own creative potential and optimise their performance and wellbeing.
Biography
Darren is an experienced facilitator, coach developer and systems convener with a demonstrated history of working internationally with elite coaches and performance leaders to develop strategy, design systems and programs, implement processes and support learning and the growth of individuals.
Darren is a visionary in the field of coach learning, who is always prepared to challenge traditional thinking in the search for better and was a key architect in the growth of Australian Cricket’s Elite Coaches, following two decades as a respected cricket professional working with international cricket organizations around the globe. He recently founded his own consulting business, Coaching Better. Learning is key to Coaching Better and everything offered is underpinned by evidence-based research. Creating value through connecting a vast network across international sport, and the sport coaching academia, Darren has developed an ecosystem of coach expertise and support to facilitate a variety of experiential learning opportunities in secure social learning spaces, such as immersive study tours, re-treats, exchanges, forums and summits.
Darren has a passion and commitment to support the elevation of coaching as a profession through learning and continuous improvement. He has established an array of resources, services, and bespoke programs to support coach growth, development, practice, performance, and well-being, across all sporting domains.
Darren possesses a Bachelor of Exercise Science (B.Ex.Sc.) with majors in both Exercise Science and Sport Management from Griffith University, and has contributed to several published academic articles and book chapters.
Michael Bungay Stanier
Presentation: The five question leader (with Matt Wells)
Coaching is an essential leadership skill to move people from world class to world best. But it's not as straightforward as it sounds, even with a high performance sports background. Mastering these five essential questions will help you increase the capacity, self-sufficiency and courage of those you influence and lead. In this practical, interactive and engaging keynote, you will:
- Learn about the three vicious circles that keep you busy, overwhelmed and exhausted.
- Practice a powerful tool to help stay focused on the work that has the most impact and most meaning.
- Get three fast-to-master techniques to ask a question well (it’s harder to do than it sounds!)
- Learn and practice the five core questions, including the best coaching question in the world.
You'll leave this session not only with new tools to use, but with new focus in the work you do.
Biography
Michael Bungay Stanier helps people be a force for change.He’s best known for his book The Coaching Habit which has sold close to a million copies and has thousands of 5-star reviews online. His latest book The Advice Trap focuses on what it takes to tame your Advice Monster.
He founded Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that helps organizations move from advice-drivento curiosity-led. They’ve trained hundreds of thousands of managers to be more coach-like and their clients range from Microsoft to Gucci.
Heleft Australia about 30 years ago to be a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University ...where his only significant achievement was falling in love with a Canadian... which is why he now lives in Toronto, having spent time in London and Boston.
Balancing out these moments of success, he was banned from his high school graduation for “the balloon incident”...was sued by one of his Law School professors for defamation...and his first published piece of writing was a Harlequin Romance-esque story involving a misdelivered letter ... and called The Male Delivery.
Miles Stewart OAM, OLY
Presentation: Driving performance and coach wellbeing (with Stacey Marinkovich, Warren McDonald)
Coach wellbeing is a current and concerning focus in high performance sport. Stacey, Warren and Miles engage in a frank discussion on the impact of coach wellbeing on performance, the strategies they use and the support required from NSOs, or the broader system, to ensure the ongoing wellbeing of both current and future high performance coaches.
- Stacey Marinkovich, Head Coach, Australian National Netball Team
- Miles Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Triathlon Australia
- Warren McDonald, Para-cycling Technical Director/Head Coach, AusCycling
Biography
His professional career started with a bang when he placed third in his first ever event at just 15 years old. With an impressive background in swimming, speed skating, duathlon, aquathlon, triathlon and cycling, winning national championships in all six sports, he was a well-rounded athlete.
Stewart made his first World Championship team in 1989, aged 18, and finished in an incredible fourth place, behind Mark Allen, the most successful competitor in triathlon history.
At age 20, Stewart experienced one of the defining moments of his career, winning the illustrious World Championship in his hometown, the Gold Coast. He remains the youngest triathlete ever to be World Champion.
Following this famous victory, Stewart went on to win the World Indoor Championship, a World Cup Championship, 10 ITU World Cup wins, the 1996 and 2000 Australian Championships and, in the process, added two World Records to his name. Stewart is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest triathlon time in the world.
In 2000, the triathlon made its debut as an Olympic sport at the Sydney Olympic Games. Stewart’s father and long-time coach, Col, was appointed as Head Australian Olympic Triathlon Coach. Under his father’s guidance, Stewart was the first Australian in the event, finishing sixth overall.
His success continued during 2001, when he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal. Continuing to perform at his peak, Stewart competed at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and finished only three seconds behind the winner, Canadian Simon Whitfield, to claim Silver for Australia. Later in 2002, Stewart had three consecutive wins in the ITU races throughout Japan, which he followed with another victory in Nice.
Just like it began, Stewart’s professional career finished with a bang. In 2004, Stewart’s last year on the international circuit, he was selected in the Australian team for the 16th consecutive year, arguably a record unlikely ever to be broken. In 2005, Stewart retired from the professional triathlon circuit ending a triumphant and wildly successful career spanning nearly two decades.
At the completion of his career, Stewart moved into the finance world and started working for Macquarie Bank real estate investment trust in Australia and Charter Hall. Stewart was there for 12 years, Australian Stock Exchange listed trusts. As Head of Retail Leasing, Stewart was heavily involved in the acquisition of 33 Shopping Centre’s delivering financial forecasting and modelling with extensive strategies for growth which took care of all the income for the shopping centre portfolio, across the country. During this time, Stewart managed a staff of 21 across Retail being the Leasing team, Lease Administration and Tenancy Delivery who planned, budgeted, designed and prepared all documentation to completion for both the acquisitions, developments and static Centre’s reporting directly to the CEO.
Stewart then took up a role as CEO of Triathlon Australia which he has done for the last 5 years, during this time he has completed his executive masters in Sports Administration.
Matthew Wells OAM, OLY
Presentation: The five question leader (with Michael Bungay Stainer)
Coaching is an essential leadership skill to move people from world class to world best. But it's not as straightforward as it sounds, even with a high performance sports background. Mastering these five essential questions will help you increase the capacity, self-sufficiency and courage of those you influence and lead. In this practical, interactive and engaging keynote, you will:
- Learn about the three vicious circles that keep you busy, overwhelmed and exhausted.
- Practice a powerful tool to help stay focused on the work that has the most impact and most meaning.
- Get three fast-to-master techniques to ask a question well (it’s harder to do than it sounds!)
- Learn and practice the five core questions, including the best coaching question in the world.
You'll leave this session not only with new tools to use, but with new focus in the work you do.
Biography
Matt Wells was a member of the Australian Men’s Hockey team (Kookaburras) for 12 years. He competed at three Olympic Games. In Athens 2004, he was part of the only Australian Men’s Hockey team that has won an Olympic Gold Medal thus far. He also has a Bronze Medal from Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008. Across Matt's career, he has competed in all the major world Hockey events, and in the last eight years of his career, was part of the leadership group.
Matt was born and raised in Tasmania before relocating as an 18 year old to the Australian Hockey High Performance Centre in Perth. Eight years later, he moved to Brisbane and since retirement in 2008 has been the High Performance Lead Coach for Hockey Queensland where he has continued to learn and develop every day in the evolving world of sport.
He is driven by the love of elite sport and motivated by influencing the transition of athletes from junior into senior international competition and following their success. Knowledge and experience has taught Matt the values of commitment, discipline, resilience and team first mentality. His experience with leadership has enhanced his ability to deal with pressure and make decisions in stressful environments which he enjoys sharing with the next generation of athletes.
Katrina Powell
Presentation: The Transition from Athlete to Coach (with Brad Ness and Ken Wallace)
The majority of Australian high performance coaches are former athletes who have made the transition from athlete to coach. In developing a larger pool of home-grown coaches, it is important to understand how coaches experience and navigate the transition and how this is best supported, both on an individual and a broader system level. Katrina, Ken and Brad share their reflections and identify what helped and what challenged them as they made their early forays into high performance coaching.
Biography
Katrina Powell is a three-time hockey Olympian, winning Gold Medals at both the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Completing her career as Captain for the Athens 2004 Olympics, Katrina played over 250 games for Australia, scoring 141 goals. Growing up in Canberra, Katrina faced numerous challenges, including enduring back to back knee reconstructions in order to achieve her goals.
Stepping into a coaching role post her playing career, Katrina coached the National Junior Women’s Squad and progressed to Assistant Coach of the Australian Women’s Hockey team, the Hockeyroos. Having coach at World Cup and Commonwealth Games level, Katrina is currently the head coach of the Women’s Hockey Program at the NSW Institute of Sport and leads the NSW Pride in the newly formed Hockey One domestic competition.
Ken Wallace OAM, OLY
Presentation: The Transition from Athlete to Coach (with Katrina Powell and Brad Ness)
The majority of Australian high performance coaches are former athletes who have made the transition from athlete to coach. In developing a larger pool of home-grown coaches, it is important to understand how coaches experience and navigate the transition and how this is best supported, both on an individual and a broader system level. Katrina, Ken and Brad share their reflections and identify what helped and what challenged them as they made their early forays into high performance coaching.
Biography
Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Wallace is an Olympic gold medal winning sprint canoeist who spent more than 20 years as part of the Australian National Kayak team. Ken represented Australia at three Olympic Games, winning gold in Beijing 2008, and is a seven-time World Champion. Following his success in Beijing, Ken was named the 2008 AIS Athlete of the Year and received an Order of Australia Medal [OAM] in 2009 for his contribution to the sport.
While he never officially retired, his decorated career came to an end in a memorable way in March 2020, competing alongside his son in a K2 during his last race at the National Championships.
Away from the water, Ken is dedicated to giving back and helping shape the future of high performance sport through athlete advisory committee roles with the Australian Olympic Committee, Oceania National Olympic Committee and Paddle Australia Athletes Commission.
Ken is now focusing on transitioning from athlete to coach. He was recently appointed to the Queensland Academy of Sport as Head Coach of the Canoe/Kayak Program.
Ken currently lives on the Gold Coast and is a father of three young children.
Warren McDonald
Presentation: Driving performance and coach wellbeing (with Stacey Marinkovich, Miles Stewart)
Coach wellbeing is a current and concerning focus in high performance sport. Stacey, Warren and Miles engage in a frank discussion on the impact of coach wellbeing on performance, the strategies they use and the support required from NSOs, or the broader system, to ensure the ongoing wellbeing of both current and future high performance coaches.
- Stacey Marinkovich, Head Coach, Australian National Netball Team
- Miles Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Triathlon Australia
- Warren McDonald, Para-cycling Technical Director/Head Coach, AusCycling
Biography
Warren has been involved in Australia’s High Performance cycling programs for over 20 years, having previously held positions of AIS & National Women’s Road Coach and ACTAS Head Cycling Coach.
As National Coach, Warren experienced extreme highs and lows, leading the program that saw Sara Carrigan deliver gold for Australia at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and Oenone Wood dominate with multiple World Cup Series victories, Commonwealth Games gold and World Championship bronze. He also led the program through the tragic accident that claimed the life of Amy Gillett.
After the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Warren turned his attention to finding our future generations of elite cyclists as a member of the National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program and Pathway Coach before opening his own cycling business.
In 2018, Warren was appointed Para Cycling Technical Director and is currently guiding his team through the pandemic and towards a successful Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Samantha Lane
MC
Award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster, Sam Lane is a trailblazer. Her experience and reach across media platforms is unique.
Sport Australia Awards winner and 2019 Walkley Awards finalist for her interview with Adam Goodes, Sam has also won two Quill Awards from the Melbourne Press Club and was a Walkley recipient for Fairfax Media in 2013 covering drugs in sport.
Sam's first book, ROAR – the stories behind the rise of AFLW, is unparalleled. Launched by Australian luminary Natasha Stott-Despoja AO, ROAR is multi-award winning and has formal endorsement from Australia’s only woman Prime Minister, Julia Gillard AC.
Sam has been engaged to discuss change catalysed through the rise of women’s sport since ROAR’s 2018 release. In October 2019 she delivered a keynote address on the topic at the Australian Embassy in Paris, France.
Selected for the inaugural Sport Australia-Australian Institute of Sport executive talent program in 2019, Sam sits on the new AIS Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement Advisory Committee. The committee is chaired by iconic athlete, Ian Thorpe AM, and Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry AO, and Richmond Football Club president Peggy O’Neal AO are fellow members.
Sam is a co-host and boundary rider for the Seven Network’s telecasts of AFL women’s matches and joined AFL men's telecasts with Channel Seven’s Saturday Night Footy team in 2013. Sam was part of Seven’s record-breaking broadcasting of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, covering cycling. She became a regular on the network’s flagship program, Weekend Sunrise, in 2018 as a ‘Sport Talk’ guest.
In 2020 Sam presented, and executive produced, a podcast series for the Richmond Football Club – The Originals – that hit number one Australian sports podcast on Apple iTunes charts upon launch.
Sam covered three Summer Olympics for Fairfax Media – assigned Olympics Reporter for The Age in 2012 - and has reported from the Tour de France on three occasions.
Top corporates and sporting clubs engage Sam as a keynote speaker, event host, conference moderator and consultant. Clients include QBE, Virgin Australia, CGU, National Australia Bank, Sport Australia, the Australian Institute of Sport, and the Sydney Swans and Richmond AFL football clubs.
She spent ten years with Australia’s best-known comics on Channel 10’s Before the Game and was on ABC TV’s Agony Aunts series. Her extensive radio experience includes Melbourne’s ABC 774, SEN 1116 and 3RRR.
Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Minister for Sport
Presentation: Welcome address
Biography
Richard was elected as Senator for Tasmania in 2002. He has held several parliamentary roles in the Australian Government, including in the areas of agriculture, forestry, finance, industry, science, research, and trade and Investment.
As Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard is responsible for the delivery of aged care services (including residential and home care packages), aged care sector regulation and Senior Australians. As Minister for Sport, he has a strong focus on local and community sport.
Josephine Sukkar AM
Chair, Australian Sports Commission
Presentation: Welcome address
Biography
Josephine is a professional company director who works across a range of industries, including property, construction, finance, sport, the arts, medical research and social services.
Josephine is Principal of Buildcorp, and serves on a number of private, public, government and not-for-profit boards, including The Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited, Growthpoint Properties Australia, Opera Australia, the Australian Museum, Property Council of Australia, Green Building Council of Australia, Centenary Institute of Medical Research and the Buildcorp Foundation.
She is president of Australian Women’s Rugby and through Buildcorp has been a major sponsor of rugby in Australia for nearly 30 years.
Josephine is a Fellow of the University of Sydney, and in 2017 she was recognised for her services to the community, the arts and sports in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Richie Allan
An emerging elder, within Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation
Presentation: Welcome to Country
Biography
Richie is on the board of the Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation who are the Traditional Custodians of the Canberra region. The Ngunnawal people.
He delivers cultural awareness training, culture, and education talks, performs Welcome to Country and smoking ceremonies and cultural tours for the local community and local Government to find new and innovative ways to improve the lives of Indigenous people.
More information
Contact: wc2wb@ausport.gov.au