To be considered for a team coach position on international teams please see the section on Team Staff.
The Australian Athletics’ (AA) Women in High Performance Coaching Program, launched in November 2022 with AIS support, is an important part of AA’s High-Performance Strategy. It aims to address the under-representation of women in high performance (HP) coaching (46% at Level 1 vs only 3.3% at HP level) and support AA’s 40/40/20 team coach representation target.
The Australian Athletics’ (AA) Women in High Performance Coaching Program, launched in November 2022 with AIS support, is an important part of AA’s High-Performance Strategy. It aims to address the under-representation of women in high performance (HP) coaching (46% at Level 1 vs only 3.3% at HP level) and support AA’s 40/40/20 team coach representation target.
Through an Expression of Interest process, 14 women were selected for the inaugural cohort. The program delivered workshops, individual coach development plans, access to the AA’s HP Coach Mentor Program, peer networking and opportunities to attend national camps and international competitions. Over 60% of participants have since been appointed as Australian team coaches or managers.
Key achievements include:
The program has increased visibility and recognition of women in HP coaching, created national team opportunities, and built system-wide collaboration. It aims to drive cultural change and establish pathways to attract, develop and retain more women in Australian high-performance coaching.
Expressions of interest for the second intake are now open and close 5 October 2025: EOI WiHP 2025-2027
Australian Athletics has a group of highly qualified and experienced coaches who have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to develop junior talent through to elite senior international levels. These coaches have also shown that they have the knowledge of ‘what it takes to win’ on the world stage. The mentoring program aims to capture this collective expertise for the benefit of our developing high-performance coaches and their athletes. The program is aimed at system and personal coaches for the 2028 Los Angeles and 2032 Brisbane Olympic cycles.
The 2025 Mentors are John Quinn, Sharon Hannan, Lyn Foreman, Dick Telford, Susan Hobson, Tudor Bidder, Adam Didyk, Cliff Mallett, Sandro Bisetto, Nicole Boegman-Stewart, Grant Ward, Brent Vallance & Esa Peltola.
The mentee coaches are based in Australia and have fulfilled all/some of the following criteria:
2025 is the fourth intake of the Mentoring Program, and it will run for twelve months with each mentee being assigned a single mentor.
For more information see: High Performance Coach Mentoring Program 2025
These panels have been established to provide input into the Australian Athletics High Performance department and throughout the High-Performance community of the event group.
All event group’s objectives are guided by the overarching statement of ‘Australia versus the Rest of the World’, the fundamental purpose of the panels is to:
The members of the Event Group Advisory Panel have a high level of expertise in Athletics and are made up of:
The Event Group Advisory Panels meet virtually and in person to establish the plan for the Event Group which will include the calendar of camps, the up skilling of coaches and the overarching spirit and philosophy of the Event Group.
The appointed Event Group Advisory Panel members undertake and regularly update anti-doping and integrity training and requirements as well as declare any potential conflict associated with their role on the panel.
Collis Birmingham (Vic), Gavin Burren (Vic), Dianne Huxley (Vic & facilitator), Elizabeth Mathews (Vic), Philo Saunders (ACT), Avish Sharma (Vic), Susan Krumins (Vic) and Susan Hobson (ACT).
2025-27 Distance Event Group Plan
Mike Barber (Qld & facilitator), Breanne Clement (NSW), Matt Hornemann (Vic), Steve Larsson (SA), Angus McEntyre (NSW), Debbie Sosimenko (NSW), Ben Thomson (Qld) and Grant Ward (WA).
Jackie Gallagher (Qld), Paul Pearce (Qld), David Reid (Qld & facilitator), Melissa Smith (NSW), Cathy Woodruff (VIC), Braiden Clarke (WA) and Cathalina Walsh (NSW).
Matt Beckenham (ACT), Lauren Boden (ACT), Darren Clarke (Vic), Lyn Foreman (WA), Sharon Hannan (Qld), Rohan Robinson (Vic), Brent Vallance (VIC & facilitator) and Debbi Schulstad (NSW).
Event Group Plan – Coming Soon
Sandro Bissetto (Vic), David Culbert (Vic), Matthew Horsnell (NSW), Alwyn Jones (Vic), Emma Millett (NSW), Andrew Murphy (NSW & facilitator), Alex Stewart (NSW) and Theresa (Marty) Stolberg (Qld).
Aaron Balloch (Vic), Olivia Carah (ACT), James Fitzpatrick (WA), Lauren Hyde-Cooling (WA), Zsuzsanna Olgyay-Szabo (NSW), Kym Simons (SA), Mark Stewart (Vic & facilitator), Ilse Way (NSW).
Brent Vallance (Vic), David Beacroft (NSW), Jared Tallent (SA & Facilitator), Jess Rothwell (Vic), Lauren Richardson (NSW), Megan Szirom (Vic), Nicole Fagan (NSW), Shane Pearson (Qld) & Terry Swan (Vic).
Event Group Plan - coming soon.
The National Generation 2032 Coach Program (NG32CP) is an initiative of the Australian Institute of Sport High Performance Coach Strategy and aims to increase the number and diversity of Australian high-performance coaches across the system who can contribute positively to future Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games. National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) and National Institute Network (NIN) partners are encouraged to collaborate, and together or independently, partner with AIS to deliver the NG32CP.
Coaches selected for the program are employed full time for two years, jointly funded by Australian Athletics, the AIS, and the appropriate NIN. The NG32CP coaches work in their own daily training environment as well as being trained through an intensive coach development program run by the AIS.
For the 2022-24 intake of NG32CP the athletics coaches selected were:
For the 2024-26 intake of NG32CP the athletics coach selected was:
For more information
