HPCD Team

Bill Davoren

Bill is a world-class high performance sport leader with 35 years of experience across coaching, management and leadership roles in Olympic and professional environments in Australia. He is a former Sports Performance Manager at the Tasmanian Institute of Sport and relocated to the Gold Coast in 1999 to coach triathlon full time. In 2002, he became Performance Director and Head Coach at Triathlon Australia, leading the high performance program and coaching multiple medalists during a successful era. Following the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he worked in the AFL system as a Performance Manager with the Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and Collingwood for almost a decade. He returned to Olympic sport in 2018 as Pathways Manager at Hockey Australia and is now Director of the AIS High Performance Coach Development Program, leading national coach development across Olympic sports.

Alan McConnell

Alan is the HP Coach Development Lead at NSWIS. He brings extensive experience across the Australian sporting system, supporting coaches and athletes. A former AFL and AFLW head coach, he was the first employee at the GWS Giants and helped establish and drive high performance environments. His career spans teaching, talent pathways, national academies and major consultancy roles, including reviews for Cricket Australia and Football Australia. Alan is a recipient of the AFL Neale Daniher Lifetime Achievement Award and is a Life Member of the GWS Giants. He remains committed to continuous learning and to developing Australia’s next generation of high-performance coaches. He leads with a focus on practical impact, collaboration, and building world class coaching environments that deliver sustained success across the Australian high performance sport system.

Belinda Stowell

Belinda is the AIS Coach Development Lead with WAIS. She works closely with coaches across Western Australia and national programs, supporting capability development and high performance practice. Together with the team, she contributes to the AIS National Gen 32 Coach Program, supports the Women’s Talent Program, and leads the AIS Summit Coach Program. An Olympic gold medallist in sailing at Sydney 2000 in the 470 class, Belinda transitioned into coaching and spent 18 years as Head Coach of the WAIS Sailing Program. She led the program and supported the development of Olympic gold medal winning sailors, building sustained success across multiple campaigns before moving into coach development. Belinda joined the AIS HP Coach Development team in 2022. She is committed to making a positive impact, working alongside coaches to grow capability, strengthen performance environments, and support the next generation of high-performance coaches across Australia.

Claire Lambe

Claire Lambe is the High Performance Coach Development Lead at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS). She works closely with coaches across Victoria and national programs, contributing to the AIS National Gen 32 Coach Program, supporting the Women’s Talent Program, and leading the Enhancing Performance Teams project. An Olympian, Claire represented Ireland in international rowing for eight years. She studied engineering and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge before transitioning into a career in sport. Over the past seven years, she has worked in coach development with Rowing Ireland and on initiatives supporting women in coaching with Sport Ireland and World Rowing. Claire joined the AIS High Performance Coach Development team after relocating to Australia in 2022. She is focused on strengthening coaching environments, building capability across systems, and supporting coaches to perform at the highest level through practical, collaborative development.

Jenni Banks

Jenni Banks is the High Performance Coach Development Lead – Paralympics. She leads Project Para, a suite of initiatives designed to grow the capability, capacity and number of coaches working with Para athletes, supporting Australia’s 2023+ ambitions. A knee injury ended her elite athlete career, leading her into coaching and a shift in focus from personal performance to developing others to become world best. She has since coached athletes to multiple Paralympic and World Championship medals in Para Athletics and Para Cycling, working across both the Australian and British high performance sport systems. Jenni has also held senior consulting and high performance management roles, including eight years at the Australian Paralympic Committee as Director of Sport and later as High Performance Manager. She has experience across seven Paralympic Games, one Olympic Games and 16 World Championships, retiring from coaching in 2024. Jenni holds a Master’s degree in human movement and sport science from The University of Western Australia and remains committed to continuous learning and developing world best Para coaching environments.

Kylee Byrne

Kylee is the High Performance Coach Development Lead at the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS), bringing more than 20 years of experience coaching and leading elite netball programs across Australia. She works closely with coaches and performance teams to strengthen coaching capability and support high performance environments across Queensland and national sport systems. An experienced high performance coach, Kylee previously served as Head Coach of the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Suncorp Super Netball League, following key contributions as Assistant Coach during the club’s 2017 and 2018 premierships and 2019 Grand Final campaign. She has also coached at national level as Australian Under-21 Head Coach and held coaching roles with Netball Queensland, Queensland Firebirds, Queensland Fusion, the Australian Institute of Sport and Netball Australia.Kylee combines coaching, leadership and commercial experience, with a strong focus on collaboration, people development and sustainable high performance outcomes.

Michael Nelson

Mick is the AIS High Performance Coach Development Lead at SASI, where he leads the AIS HP Coach Mentorship Program. The program supports high performance coaches through a national network of Australia’s Coaching Elders, strengthening connection, learning and practice across the system. He is known as an innovator and problem solver, with a focus on creating safe, supportive environments where coaches can grow, develop and thrive. Mick brings over 14 years of international coaching experience and achieved early career success, coaching beach volleyball at two Olympic Games before the age of 30. He holds an undergraduate degree in Sports Management and a postgraduate certificate in Sports Coaching. Mick is focused on building strong mentoring environments that support coach development, shared learning and sustained high performance impact across Australian sport.

Michelle De Highden

Michelle is a High Performance Coach Development Senior Lead at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). She leads an initiative focused on improving the representation and experiences of women in high performance coaching and contributes to the design and delivery of national and international coach development programs. She is a high performance coach and coach development facilitator with expertise in supporting coach development at elite level across national and global environments. Over more than 35 years, Michelle has coached athletes from development pathways through to World Championship level, building deep experience across high performance systems. Michelle holds a Master of Sport Coaching (2021) and completed the ICCE/NSSU Coach Developer Academy in Japan (2020). She applies this experience and international best practice to strengthen coaching capability, improve system outcomes, and support the ongoing development of high performance coaches across sport.

Pip Taylor

Pip is a Senior Lead in the High Performance Coach Development team, where she leads national initiatives that strengthen the capability and cohesion of Australia’s high performance coaching workforce. A former professional athlete and AIS/NSWIS scholarship holder, she brings a practitioner’s perspective as an Accredited Sports Dietitian, bridging strategy, program delivery and cross-sector collaboration to strengthen system outcomes. Her professional experience spans elite sport, executive government and board leadership, providing a broad systems lens to her work in coach development. Pip focuses on building capability, connecting people and programs, and supporting high performance coaches to operate effectively within complex and evolving environments across Australian sport and high-performance systems. She is committed to practical impact, collaboration, and continuous improvement in coaching practice and performance.

Ross Pinder

Ross is the Learning Design Lead for the Australian Institute of Sport, currently on a two-year secondment from Paralympics Australia. He leads the scoping, design and implementation of a national action plan for skill acquisition and learning design within high performance coach development. He is an experienced skill acquisition and learning design specialist, focused on supporting high performance coaches to enhance their capability and capacity to design learning environments that are intentional, individualised, imaginative and evidence informed. Ross’ approach emphasises empathy, curiosity, collaboration and problem solving. He works alongside coaches to co-create practical solutions that enhance athletes’ skilled performance in competition. He is committed to strengthening coaching practice through applied learning design, supporting coaches to better understand skill development and create environments that translate learning into performance outcomes across Australian high performance sport.

Sue Jenkins

Sue is a High Performance Coach Development Advisor with more than 25 years of experience across elite sport and coach development. She contributes to national initiatives that strengthen coaching capability and support the ongoing evolution of Australia’s high performance coaching system. She plays a key role in the AIS National Generation 2032 Coach Program (Gen 32 Program) and the HP Coach Development Initiatives Grant Program, supporting the design and delivery of contemporary, future-focused coach development initiatives. Her work focuses on building coach capability, supporting system alignment, and creating environments that enable coaches to learn, adapt and perform at the highest level. Alongside her coach development work, Sue remains an active volleyball coach, bringing practical insights and experience from Olympic and World Championship environments. She is committed to supporting coaches through practical learning, collaboration and continuous development to strengthen high performance outcomes across Australian sport.

Stacia Strain

Stacia Strain is the High Performance Coach Development Lead at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), based at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) on secondment from her role as Head Coach of the VIS Women’s Hockey Program, a position she has held since 2016. She also serves as Assistant Coach of the Australian women’s national field hockey team, the Hockeyroos. Her coaching career followed a distinguished playing career spanning more than a decade in the national system, including over twelve years as a VIS scholarship holder. In 2021, she was appointed Head Coach of the Australian Under-21 women’s national team, the Jillaroos, leading the program to two Oceania Cup titles before stepping down in early 2025. Known for her people-first approach, Stacia is committed to building confidence, self-belief and strong performance environments where athletes and coaches are supported to grow both on and off the field. She holds degrees in Exercise and Sport Science and Education from Australian Catholic University and Monash University.

Erin Evans

Erin is a High Performance Coach Development Adviser, providing leadership in the development and delivery of initiatives that support the HPCD and Australia’s HP 2032+ Sport Strategies. She works in partnership with senior executives and HP system stakeholders to strengthen coaching capability and align whole-of-system priorities. Erin contributes to major strategic reform projects, supporting effective governance, risk management and system alignment across sport. Her work focuses on insight-led decision making, collaboration and continuous improvement, helping to connect strategy to practice across the Australian HP sport system. She holds a degree in Sports Management from the University of Canberra and has experience working across multiple HP sport organisations, including Cricket Australia and Swimming Australia. She is committed to building capability across coaches and organisations to support long-term performance impact and system-wide effectiveness.

Sarah Larkham

Sarah is a Project Officer at the Australian Institute of Sport, where she has worked since 2019 supporting the delivery of high performance projects and programs. She brings a diverse professional background, having worked as an Executive Assistant across corporate banking, branding and design. After starting a family and relocating to Australia, she returned to work and gained experience in sport through roles at the AFL, alongside coaching tennis and supporting a school tennis program with her husband and former Fed Cup player Annabel Ellwood. Sarah also volunteered at the Sydney Olympic Games with IBM, recording tennis statistics. She draws on this broad experience across sport, business and program delivery to support effective project coordination, collaboration and execution within the Australian high performance sport system.

Ruby White

Ruby is a Project Officer with the High Performance Coach Development team, contributing to the delivery of national initiatives that support coach capability and system development across Australian high performance sport. She has worked at the AIS for several years, including the past three in high performance sport, with experience across program delivery, grants management and project coordination. Ruby holds a Bachelor of Health Science from the Australian National University and has an elite middle distance running background, representing Australia in cross country and track and field and competing in NCAA Division I on scholarship with Florida State University. She brings a performance mindset to her work, drawing on her elite sport experience to support effective delivery and coordination across programs.