2026 Women in Coaching Talent Program Cohort Connects in Brisbane

Fresh from guiding Danielle Scott to a silver medal at the Milano Cortina Olympic Games, aerial ski coach Renee McElduff has gone straight back to work, joining other elite female coaches at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Women’s Talent Coach Program.

Ten of the 16-coach cohort came together in Brisbane for the first in-person session of the 2026 Program, which includes coaches from across summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic sports.

The Talent Program is funded by the Women Leaders in Sport initiative, which aims to accelerate the leadership capability of women in the high performance system, including coaches, executives and women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine).

The group took part in a four-day face-to-face engagement that included taking in March’s Women in Sport Congress in Brisbane.

“I flew back from Italy and went straight into the session, and the energy in the room was incredible,” McElduff said. “Being surrounded by people who love what they do as much as I love what I do, you feed off that energy and it really pushes you along.”

“It’s been great, this is the second AIS coaching program I’ve done as I was lucky to be part of the National Generation 2032 Coach program. This feels like a really natural extension of that, we’ve harnessed what’s important to coaches in these programs.”

“I’ve been working on my leadership style and how to shift my tendencies so I can show up as the leader I want to be, it’s such a valuable opportunity this Talent Program is providing.”

Targeting women who hold senior leadership responsibilities within their national sporting organisation or National Institute Network and are ready to progress to the next stage of their career, this year’s group of 16 coaches is building on the 269 women who have already progressed through the Talent Program since its inception in 2017.

The four-day intensive is one of two in-person engagements the coaches will undertake, with monthly remote connections providing ongoing feedback and learning opportunities throughout the year-long program. With many of the coaches in the program working across Australia and globally, the mix of residential and remote sessions ensures the group can stay connected and make the most of the Program.

Technical Lead at Skate Australia, Shari Duffy, said the opportunity to connect in person had been invaluable. 

“The program has been awesome, being able to properly connect and have a supportive group of women to uplift each other has been huge,” Duffy said. 

“No matter what sport you come from or what stage of your career you’re in, we all share experiences, behaviours and values and we’re going through similar things in a fast-paced sport environment. Finding that connection is so important.”

“We’re all so successful in our own right, but you still sometimes question or downplay your ability. I walk away from these sessions thinking, ‘I can do this’.”

Duffy, who was a park skateboarding judge at the Paris 2024 Olympics, said the program had also opened her eyes to the realities of leadership in a male dominated sport.

“Having a space to talk through problems, strategies, bounce ideas around and share experiences has been amazing, especially coming from a sport that’s been very male dominated. What I love is that it doesn’t matter how long someone has been in their role; everyone takes something different out of it.”

The coaches in the program for 2026 are:

• Ali Bombardier - Para Alpine Skiing (Snow Australia)
• Alice Ingley - Archery Australia
• Cat Berry - Para Shooting (Shooting Australia)
• Hally Chapman - Rowing Australia
• Janelle Pallister - Swimming Australia
• Kaarle McCulloch - AusCycling
• Katie Edwards - Para Athletics (Australian Athletics)
• Leanne Choo - Badminton Australia
• Maggie Meng - Para Table Tennis (Table Tennis Australia)
• Meg Hall - Para Triathlon (AusTriathlon)
• Mel Tantrum - Para Swimming (Swimming Australia)
• Non Stanford-Royle - AusTriathlon
• Renae Garlepp - Basketball Australia
• Renee McElduff - Aerial Skiing (OWIA)
• Shari Duffy - Skate Australia
• Vanessa Bof - Para Cycling (Victorian Institute of Sport)

The coaches continue their monthly Community of Practice sessions remotely before another residential program in September.

The Talent Program provides coaches the opportunity to explore leadership presence, decision making, professional networks and the personal experiences that shape how they lead. It is part of the Women in High Performance Coaching initiative, which seeks to increase representation, retention and visibility of women in high performance coaching by driving system change through the Leaky Pipeline Action Plan.