AIS World Class To World Best Conference

Early this month, over 220 delegates from the High-Performance sector in Australian sport have converged in Canberra for the 2017 AIS World Class to World Best: Australia's High-Performance Sports Conference.

Equestrian Australia's High-Performance Consultant, Gina Haddad was in attendance and gained valuable insights on the future of sport, evolution of technology, the importance of athlete wellbeing and was privileged to hear the back stories from some of the country’s most successful sports leaders.

The conference brought together high-performance coaches, directors, managers and support staff to address strategies to support Australia’s high-performance sports system.

It opens with a panel discussion with members of the Australian Olympic Committee, Australian Paralympic Committee and Australian Commonwealth Games Association on the coming Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games in early 2018.

The fifth World Class to World Best conference included presentations by Australia’s winning America’s Cup skipper for Team New Zealand Glenn Ashby, Matildas’ coach Alen Stajcic, mental health expert Rosemary Purcell, Graham Lowe, former general manager football at the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn’s multiple premiership-winning coach Alastair Clarkson.

Keynote Speaker Glenn Ashby, Skipper Emirates Team New Zealand:

Glenn has no less than 16 World Championship wins, a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics and 2 Americas cup victories to his name and delivered an inspiring presentation about how they overcame the odds to win the America’s cup by taking risks with innovation, pushing the boundaries with technology and thinking outside of the box.

Alen Stajcic, Head Coach of the Matildas:

Alen shared his insights around the shifts in attitudes and accountability required when athletes move from amatuer/semi-professional level to professional sport. He also highlighted the critical role the sports psychologist played in helping the team develop the belief which has been critical to their success, emphasising that the players had the technical skill and the fitness but lacked the genuine belief that they could compete on the world stage.

Alastair Clarkson talking about "Innovation a key to sustained performance":

Alastair has led Hawthorn to 4 AFL premierships. He has university degrees in sports science and business, an MBA from Monash University and is one of the nine leaders in B-School’s Leadership program. He is renowned for his innovation, leadership philosophies and ability to lead change in the way AFL is played. Alastair encouraged coaches and HP program leaders to look outside their sport for opportunities to innovate and gain the competitive advantage, to be prepared to take risks and not be afraid to fail and not be tied to tradition, but rather to embrace change.

New AIS Director Peter Conde said the conference was a rare occasion for Australia’s high-performance sport sector to get together and share their knowledge and experience with each other.

“This conference was born from the need for Australia’s sport sector to become more innovative and collaborative,” he said.

“The AIS is committed to ensuring Australia’s coaches and high-performance leaders are equipped to be the best they can be.