Conference Program
The program for the International Talent Identification and Development Conference 2026
Please note: The program is currently being updated, and additional sessions and information will be added as they are confirmed.
Location: Charlesworth Theatre, Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra
Time | Session | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
08:30 - 09:30 | Arrival and delegate registration | Pick up your lanyard, grab a hot beverage and mingle! Please make your way to the Charlesworth Theatre at 09:25. | |
09:30 - 10:00 | Conference Opening | Welcome Address Matti Clements | AIS Director Welcome to Ngunnawal Country Richie Allan Opening Remarks Elissa Morley and Dr Alex Roberts | Co-chairs, International Talent Identification and Development Conference | |
10:00 - 11:00 | Panel | From Identifying Potential to High-Performance: A Historical Review of Australia’s Talent Identification and Development Systems Professor David T Martin | Queensland Academy of Sport and University of Queensland Panelists: Professor Allan Hahn | Queensland Academy of Sport Dr Jason Gulbin | International Sport Advisory Services Tim Matthews OAM PLY | Paralympics Australia | |
11:00 - 11:45 | Oral Presentations (12 min + 3 min Q&A) | Patrick Norton | Adelaide University Efficiencies in physical talent Identification among Australian youth Masahiro Hagiwara | Japan Institute of Sport Sciences, Japan High Performance Sport Center Physical development trajectories and elite success in Japanese local talent identification and development program Mohd Zaid Mohd Ghazali | Centre for Talent Identification and Development, National Sport Institute of Malaysia Detecting ‘Better Movers’: A national profile of motor coordination among Malaysian primary school children | |
11:45 - 12:00 | Flash Oral Presentations (3 min + 2min Q&A) | Keenan Dundas | Elite Sport UAE Developing and implementing athletics sprint standards in an emerging high-performance system Christopher L Court Gold | University of Canberra and Australian Institute of Sport Sampling a single defender creates a representative basketball shooting assessment for talent identification Casey Atkins | Swimming Australia, University of Queensland and Queensland Academy of Sport Description and success of start, turn, free swim and finish techniques for physically impaired para-swimmers | |
12:00 - 13:15 | Lunch | Food and refreshments provided. Please make your way back to the Charlesworth Theater at 13:10. | |
13:15 - 14:00 | Keynote | Associate Professor Inigo Mujika | University of the Basque Country Youth player development model. | |
14:00 - 14:30 | Oral Presentations (12 min + 3 min Q&A) | Nathan Lynch | University of Canberra Athlete development in women’s artistic gymnastics: Current coaching practice Kylie Moulds | University of Sydney Coach microclimates as a lever for talent detection and development | |
14:30 - 14:45 | Flash Oral Presentations (3 min + 2 min Q&A) | Bryan Yang Hao | Singapore Hockey “I’m not biased”: A longitudinal study on differences in player ratings among staff Corey Butcher | University of Newcastle Understanding basketball practitioners’ perspectives on maturity bias and the selection of young players in the early stages of the talent pathway Ethan Forge | Australian Catholic University Insights of Para experts: The intangibles of talent identification in Para sport | |
14:45 - 15:00 | Oral Presentation (12 min + 3 min Q&A) | Michael Maloney and Derek Panchuk | Australian Institute of Sport The emergence of learning design in the Australian high-performance system: Reframing skill acquisition | |
15:00 - 15:30 | Afternoon Tea | Food and refreshments provided. Please make your way back to the Charlesworth Theater at 15:25. | |
15:30 - 16:00 | Panel | Australian Talent Identification Initiatives | |
16:00 - 17:00 | Spotlight | Australian System Athlete Development Initiatives - Speed Dating Cam French | PlayWell, Australian Sports Commission TBC | High Performance Coach Development, Australian Institute of Sport Ross Pinder | Learning Design, Australian Institute of Sport John Russell | Enabling Para TID through Engineering, Australian Institute of Sport TBC | Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement, Australian Institute of Sport | |
17:00 - 18:00 | Social Event | Conference Networking onsite at AIS. Complementary light food and refreshments. | |
Location: Charlesworth Theatre, Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra
Time | Session | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
08:00 - 08:45 | Arrival and Registration | Please make your way to the Charlesworth Theatre at 08:40. | |
08:45 - 09:00 | First Day Reflections | ||
09:00 - 09:30 | Spotlight | ||
09:30 - 10:15 | Oral Presentations (12 min + 3 min Q&A) | Juliane Wulff | Institute for Applied Training Science The Global Sportsprofiler: Mapping and visualising sport demands Ben Exton | Australian Taekwondo and Southern Cross University Talent Transfer in Para Taekwondo: Practical learnings one year on with talent transfer athletes Hannah Walker | Griffith University Ramp to Run: Developing tools to monitor progression of talent identified BMX Freestyle athletes | |
10:15 - 10:30 | Spotlight | ||
10:30 - 11:00 | Morning Tea | Food and refreshments provided. Please make your way back to the Charlesworth Theater at 10:55. | |
11:00 - 12:00 | Keynote | Casey Stoner | 2x MotoGP World Champion In conversation with Casey Stoner | |
12:00 - 13:15 | Lunch and Poster Presentations | Food and refreshments provided. Poster Presentations 12:00-12:30. Please make your way back to the Charlesworth Theater at 13:10. | |
13:15 - 14:00 | Keynote | ||
14:00 - 15:00 | Oral Presentations (12 min + 3 min Q&A) | Dr Juanita Weissensteiner | New South Wales Office of Sport Empowering our future champions (and all who support them) through a dedicated hybrid approach to learning and development Craig Williams | Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) A national support model for talented athletes Isaac Maynard | Bond University and Queensland Academy of Sport Unearthing critical perspectives: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement and development in sports pathways Dr Jason Gulbin | International Sport Advisory Services & Dr Karlee Quinn | Coaching and Talent, Queensland Academy of Sport Squeezing the TID lemon: Techniques and reflections for optimising a large-scale, multi-sport TID start-up | |
15:00 - 15:30 | Afternoon Tea | Food and refreshments provided. Please make your way back to the Charlesworth Theater at 15:25. | |
15:30 - 16:00 | Keynote | Professor Stephen Cobley | University of Sydney Coachability in athlete development: Always discussed, rarely defined, & seldom assessed. | |
16:00 - 17:00 | AIS Tour (optional) | ||
Use this day to travel to Brisbane - the next conference location - and/or enjoy some free time. Suggestions and activities are listed on the Plan Your Visit page.
Use this day to travel to Brisbane - the next conference location - and/or enjoy some free time. Suggestions and activities are listed on the Plan Your Visit page.
13:00 - 15:00 Optional QAS Para Session: Para Talent Identification and Development in Practice | Queensland Academy of Sport Para Unit Staff | Location: Queensland Academy of Sport, Nathan
Location: PACE Auditorium; University of Queensland Dutton Park Campus, Woolloongabba
Time | Session | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
08:00 - 08:30 | Arrival and Registration | Please make your way to the auditorium at 08:25. | |
08:30 - 08:45 | Conference Opening | Welcome to Turrbal and Jagera Country Opening Remarks Troy Ayres | CEO, Queensland Academy of Sport Dr Alex Roberts and Elissa Morley | Co-Chairs, International Talent Identification and Development Conference 2026 | |
08:45 - 09:30 | Keynote | Professor Sophia Nimphius | Edith Cowan University We can’t turn back time: The potential cost of compressed development | |
09:30 - 09:45 | Spotlight | Dr Graham Turner | Australian Institute of Sport AIS Position Statement on Early Youth Specialisation | |
09:45 - 10:30 | Morning Tea | Food and refreshments provided. Please make your way to the auditorium at 10:25. | |
10:30 - 11:30 | Oral Presentations (12 min + 3 min Q&A) | Magdalena Wojtowicz | York University The mental edge: Examining neurocognitive profiles in emerging talent pathways Stephen MacGabhann | New South Wales Institute of Sport and University of Canberra Multisensory assessment and machine learning for athlete classification in Olympic diving talent identification Laurens Gilson | Ghent University A vision on talent: Exploring gaze behaviour in football coaches and scouts David L Mann | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Does the halo effect influence the identification of talent in sport? | |
11:30 - 12:00 | Spotlight | Associate Professor Emma Beckman | Queensland Academy of Sport How classification impacts performance potential | |
12:00 - 13:15 | Lunch and Poster Presentations | Food and refreshments provided. Poster Presentations 12:00-12:30. Please make your way to the auditorium at 13:10. | |
13:15 - 13:45 | Spotlight | Professor Adam Kelly | FIFA Talent Development and Birmingham City University Find - Train - Play: An analysis of the Global Talent Development Ecosystem in Football and the FIFA Talent Development Scheme | |
13:45 - 14:45 | Panel | Talent Identification and Development in Para Sport: Practitioner Round Table | |
14:45 - 15:15 | Afternoon Tea | Food and refreshments provided. Please make your way to the auditorium at 15:10. | |
15:15 - 15:45 | Rapid Research Project Pitch | Ben Scott | University of Canberra, American Football Australia, Australian Institute of Sport Supporting skill acquisition in team-sport talent transfer athletes Brooke Niccol | Australian Catholic University and Queensland Academy of Sport Bridging the gap between athlete testing protocols, test data, and coach decision-making in Olympic sports Caera Larson | University of Canberra Skill periodisation for athlete development: Developing an applied framework Jessica McDonald | Deakin University and Queensland Academy of Sport An exploration into short-term athletic development in the QAS YouFor2032 program Jack Trace | University of Queensland and Queensland Academy of Sport Geography, hotspots and environments in talent development. | |
15:45 - 16:45 | Spotlight | Featuring athletes, parents, coaches, practitioners and stakeholders involved in the QAS YouFor2032 Program Lived Perspectives on Talent ID and Development – Speed Dating | |
17:00 - TBC | Social Event | Details to be confirmed. | |
Location: PACE Auditorium; University of Queensland Dutton Park Campus, Woolloongabba
Time | Session | Detail | |
|---|---|---|---|
08:00 - 8:45 | Arrival and Registrations | Please make your way to the auditorium at 08:40. | |
08:45 - 09:00 | Conference Reflections | ||
09:00 - 09:30 | Keynote | Emeritus Professor Johan Pion | Ghent University Potential to Podium: Evidence-based tools and strategies for the next generation of high performers. | |
09:30 - 10:15 | Oral Presentations (12 min + 3 min Q&A) | Jörg Schorer | Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg A closer look at Relative Age Effects in Handball: Critical life incidents and athlete development Shaun Abbott | University of Sydney Unsteady in the fast lane: How growth tempo influences vertical stiffness across maturation in youth swimmers Joshua Woodridge | University of Sydney Can percentile comparison methods (PCMs) better identify developmental trajectories in youth swimmers? | |
10:15 - 10:30 | Flash Oral Presentations (3 min + 2 min Q&A) | Luke Mitchell | Western Australian Institute of Sport Developing an expected points framework in elite wheelchair basketball Nur Adilah Binte Masismadi | La Trobe University and High-Performance Sport Institute Singapore The quest for success: What are we really pursuing? | |
10:30 - 10:45 | Morning Tea | Food and refreshments provided. Please make your way to the auditorium at 10:40. | |
10:45 - 11.15 | Spotlight | ||
11.15 - 12:00 | Oral Presentations (12 min + 3 min Q&A) | James Davidson | Waikato Institute of Technology Two sides of the same coin? Kyle Bennett | Southern Cross University When numbers agree but context resists: Expert consensus and feasibility in talent systems Nick Wattie | Ontario Tech University An ecological framework for advancing athlete identification and selection research | |
12:00 - 13:15 | Lunch | Food and refreshments provided. Please make your way to the auditorium at 13:10. | |
13:15 - 14:00 | Keynote | Professor Joe Baker | Tanenbaum Institute of Science in Sport, University of Toronto Predicting the unpredictable: First principles of talent identification | |
14:00 - 15:00 | Spotlight | Next Practice Round Table | |
15:00 - 15:30 | Awards Presentation and Conference Close | ||
Contact
For further information, please contact austidconference@ausport.gov.au