Sports unite on the Gold Coast for national coaching conference

02 August 2022

More than 150 people from 58 sports will descend on the Gold Coast tomorrow when the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) hosts a national community coaching conference.

Sport coaches, professors, CEOs and sporting stars will come together to learn more about the ASC’s modern coaching approach; an initiative to help the 500,000 community coaches across Australia provide a world-class, fun and inclusive sporting experience.

Developed in collaboration with the sport sector, the new approach has caught international attention as it sees coach education delivered differently, focusing on participant’s needs and motivations, rather than just skills and drills.

“The overall goal of this approach is to make grassroots sport a more appealing, inclusive and enjoyable place through educating and empowering our incredible workforce of community coaches,’’ conference organiser and ASC’s Director of Coaching and Officiating Cameron Tradell said.

"Since unveiling the new approach, we’ve been inundated with requests from sports who are eager to learn more and embed this new model which is fantastic.

"This conference is an extension of the support we’re pleased to provide to sports. Over the next two days we’ll unpack the new approach and hear from a range of experts including leading researchers, diversity and inclusion specialists and high performance coaches who have all played a pivotal role in this work."

Australian Boxing star Jamie Pittman is among the line-up of speakers and is a strong advocate of the initiative.

“The coach who had the biggest impact on my career was my junior coach Mrs Short who created a safe space for me to learn and took the time to understand me as a person,’’ Pittman said.

“If we can help coaches create this kind of environment for participants, more people will form a lifetime connection with sport just like I have."

Tradell describes the new approach as a real game changer for Australian sport and expects participation rates to soar in the coming years.

Sports including hockey, squash and swimming have already started to embed this new approach and are seeing promising results with high engagement levels among coaches.

"Thousands of coaches have already completed our free world-class online ‘Community Coaching Essential Skills course’ which is available on the Australian Sport Learning Centre. We will continue to add more resources to support coaches on their journey and encourage coaches who haven’t completed the course yet to sign up."

The two-day conference kicks off tomorrow morning at 9am AEST at Aquis Park and includes a mix of interactive workshops and presentations.

More information about the conference can be found here: Community Coaching Conference.

The Australian Sports Commission is hosting 150 delegates at a community coaching conference on the Gold Coast this week.