Coaching Advisory Group Members

Andrew Bennie

Dr Andrew Bennie works on the traditional lands of the Darug Peoples as an Associate Professor in Health and Physical Education (HPE) and Sport Development. His research interests focus on sports coaching, factors influencing elite athlete development from a psychosocial perspective, First Nations Peoples’ sport participation, social justice, and teaching and learning in Health and Physical Education. Dr Bennie is a co-founder of Coaching Unlimited, an initiative that provides sport specific coaching accreditation and research-based workshops to support First Nations sport coaches. 

Ashley Ross

Ashley Ross has been professionally involved in coaching for 40 years, working in and with many countries and across sports. He has coached athletes from grass roots to World Championship winning teams, (Aust Women’s Team ICC World Cup, 1997 India, NZ Black Caps ICC Knock Out Kenya 2000) across genders and Sports.

Professionally qualified with a B.Ed, he has completed and been accredited as an Advanced Coach Developer by the world renowned Nittaidai Sports Science University / International Council for Coaching Excellence Nippon Coach Developer Academy (NCDA). Presenting for the internationally renowned NCDA, Ashley is one of very few people qualified at this level throughout the world and works to develop coaches across many sports and countries.

Ashley is sort after as an international presenter and consultant having been a member of HP Sport NZ’s “World Class Coaching Working Group”, presented to NZ Elite Rugby Coaches for NZ Rugby on “World Class Coaching” and consulted to the World Champion NZ Lawn Bowls teams of 2008.

In his role as Head of Education with the International Cricket Council Academy in Dubai Ashley developed a full suite of Coach Education programs (level 1, 2 & 3, High Performance Coach Development and the Intern Coach Experience) from the ground up each featuring blended learning strategies that attracted candidates from over 50 countries across the globe.

In his recent role as South Australian Sports Institute Coach Development Lead Ashley delivered a bespoke coach development program to many of Australia’s Olympic facing coaches and those working in pathway programs.

As founder of Coach Learning Solutions, Ashley is currently providing Coach Developer services to individual coaches and also leading Coach Developer system builds and workforce training to State, National and International sporting organisations.

Cliff Mallett

Dr Cliff Mallett (OAM) is Professor of Sport and Performance Psychology and Coaching at The University of Queensland. He has enjoyed a distinguished career across both elite sport and academia, and has been recognised with the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his contribution to sport and education.

Across his working life, Cliff has been committed to helping others perform, learn, and grow through a wide range of roles. These include physical education teacher, Olympic medal-winning high-performance coach, coach developer and educator, sport and performance psychologist, researcher, and university lecturer.

Cliff has supervised more than 40 PhD students and was instrumental in establishing the postgraduate degrees in sport coaching at The University of Queensland. His work continues to bridge research and practice, with a strong focus on developing people, leaders, and learning environments across sport and performance settings.

Dave Reynolds

Dave Reynolds is based in Adelaide, South Australia, and is currently the SANFL State Coaching Manager, a role he has held for 16 years. In this position, Dave leads the development of coaches across South Australia, managing the state’s coach developer system, which includes 18 casual coach developers and more than 200 club coach coordinators.

Dave delivers both formal and informal coach learning programs and has played a key role in building contemporary coach development practices across the state. He has led Women’s Coaching Academies for nine years and has contributed to the creation of coaching videos, practical resources, and coach behaviour frameworks that support positive, inclusive sporting environments.

With more than 25 years of football coaching experience, Dave has worked across community, college, state teams and AFLW programs. His coaching spans all stages of the pathway, from Auskick (5–8 years), juniors and youth, through to senior football, across both male and female teams.

Ellen Falkner

Ellen Falkner is an experienced sport development leader who has worked across both the UK and Australian sporting systems. She is currently a senior leader at Bowls Australia, where she is responsible for workforce development and leads the creation and implementation of a sustainable national coaching framework. In this role, Ellen drives system-wide change, working across multiple stakeholders and leading workforce mapping, planning, and gap analysis to strengthen coaching capability across the sport.

Ellen is a former international athlete and coach and has been recognised for her contribution to Lawn Bowls with an MBE for services to the sport. She is also a World Bowls Hall of Fame inductee. Her coaching experience spans grassroots to high performance, working with both open and para athletes.

A passionate advocate for inclusion, Ellen strongly believes in the power of sport to change lives, inspire communities, and create broader social impact. She sees coaches as fundamental to this change, through the creation of inclusive, welcoming, and safe environments where everyone feels they belong.

Kate Thomas

Kate Thomas is the Acting Manager of Welcoming Clubs at Welcoming Australia and the Australasian Lead for The Centre for Healing and Justice through Sport. Through her roles, Kate leads and delivers programs, curriculum and training that support safe, inclusive, participant-centred and healing-centred sport environments.

A committed community volunteer, Kate coaches basketball and serves on multiple sports organisation committees. With lived experience across community, representative, and professional basketball, she is passionate about using sport as a vehicle for belonging, wellbeing, and positive change, and creating welcoming environments where all young people can belong and thrive.

Lawrie Woodman

Lawrie Woodman is an experienced coach, teacher, coach developer, mentor, program manager and board member. He strives to inspire lifelong enjoyment of sport and physical activity.

Lawrie worked in the sports industry for more than 40 years - in management, development, coaching, injury prevention, high performance, and participation programs - after starting as a physical education teacher, and later as a lecturer at Phillip Institute of Technology (now RMIT) in Victoria.

Professional positions include Director of the Australian Coaching Council (ACC), Sports Performance Coordinator at the AIS, High Performance Manager at Athletics Australia and Coaching Development Manager at AFL.

Board experience includes Vicsport, ACHPER Victoria, ACT Academy of Sport, Sports Medicine Australia National Council and Chair of their Safer Sports Committee, AFL Research Board, Australian Track & Field Coaches’ Association, Australian Football Coaches’ Association. 

Lawrie is currently engaged in coach development and mentoring with University Blues (VAFA) and in volunteer work with the Australian Coaching Council and the Malvern Emergency Food Program. He volunteered at the Bluearth Foundation (physical literacy) throughout 2020.

Lawrie has a master’s degree in physical education (University of WA), a certificate IV in workplace training and assessment and is an AFL Level 3 Coach.

A father of three adult sons and grandfather of six, Lawrie lives in Melbourne. He is an active member of Ardrie Park Tennis Club, the Harold Holt Swim Centre and Glenhuntly Athletic Club.

He was awarded an OAM for services to coaching and sport development in 2021.

Lisa Alexander

Lisa Alexander AM is a high-performance netball coach with more than 30 years’ experience across all levels of the sport. Throughout her career, she has combined elite coaching with teaching and development roles, working across community, pathway and high-performance environments.

Lisa has been deeply involved in coach education and development for her entire sporting career and is a passionate advocate for the role coaches play in shaping positive sporting experiences.

From 2011 to 2020, Lisa served as Head Coach of the Australian Diamonds. During her nine-year tenure, the team maintained a world number one ranking, reflecting her leadership, high-performance expertise, and commitment to excellence.

Michelle Hemley

Michelle has over 25 years experience in the sports coaching industry, from grassroots community coaching right through to high performance. Currently, she is a High Performance Coach Advisor with the QLD Academy of Sport and through 2025 her team provided close to 200 coaches from 34 different sports with coach development opportunities, including 14 Para-Sport Coaches who make up the four-year QAS Gen 2032 Project Para Coach Development Program. Previous professional roles include lecturing in Sports Coaching for Deakin University, running Athlete Development & Coach Education Programs in Secondary Schools, being a Lead Game Sense facilitator for the Australian Sports Commission and Michelle has worked in performance pathways, coach development and education projects for numerous State and National Sporting Organisations. At a community level, Michelle has coached AFLW, Swimming, Surf Lifesaving and Triathlon

Robert Hillard

Robert Hillard is a senior Deloitte Asia Pacific consulting leader, experienced board director and expert in organisational transformation, strategy and capability development. He leads the Consulting Businesses across Deloitte Asia Pacific, working with organisations to build leadership depth, strengthen systems of performance and support people through complex change.

Across his career, Robert has advised boards, senior executives and large workforces on transformation, workforce capability and leadership in high-pressure environments. A consistent focus of his work has been aligning purpose, incentives and culture to engage people to contribute discretionary effort toward shared, collective and community goals. He brings a strong systems-thinking perspective to coaching, with a particular interest in how structure, information, trust and feedback shape individual and team performance over time.

Robert has also worked extensively in advisory roles supporting governments, public agencies and peak bodies, contributing to policy and capability initiatives designed for real-world implementation. As a member of the Australian Sports Commission Coaching Advisory Group, he brings insights from leadership, organisational design and performance systems to support the development of effective, modern coaching practices across Australian sport.

Ross Pinder

Ross Pinder is currently Learning Design Lead for the Australian Institute of Sport, where he is leading the design and implementation of a national action plan for skill acquisition and learning design, in close collaboration with the HP Coach Development, National Performance Support Systems and Pathways teams. Ross is an experienced skill acquisition specialist having spent 12 years as a sport scientist and innovation lead with Paralympics Australia. Ross has supported coaches and athletes to maximise potential performance at major international events, and driven change through creativity, empathy, complex thinking, negotiation, and effective communication. He led the evolution of a Paralympic Innovation team that aimed to co-design world-leading learning environments, and aspires to be recognised as an empathetic and authentic leader that provides challenging and enjoyable environments for people to be vulnerable and explore new possibilities. Ross currently mentors coaches, applied researchers, movement scientists, and coach and athlete development specialists.

Steven Rynne

Dr. Steven Rynne is an Associate Professor in Sports Coaching at The University of Queensland, Australia. Steven has worked and conducted research with a variety of peak domestic and international sporting bodies in the areas of high performance coach learning and Indigenous sport. Steven teaches undergraduate and graduate students, is a registered HPE teacher, and has been involved in community sport for more than 20 years.

Katie Foulkes (Chair Coaching Advisory Group)

Katie is Director, Coaching and Officiating at the Australian Sports Commission, where she leads national work to strengthen coaching and officiating capability and shape positive sporting environments across Australia. With more than 20 years’ experience across sport, government and global organisations, she works at the intersection of performance, wellbeing and system-wide change.

A two-time Olympian and former international rowing coach, Katie combines lived experience with research expertise in resilience and coaching psychology. As Chair of the Coaching Advisory Group, she is committed to elevating the leadership role of coaches and building sustainable, participant-centred sport environments nationwide.