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.
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.
1 July 2026
“What is High Performance Coaching – Insights and knowledge from Professional Sports”
Presenter: John Quinn – High Performance Coach Mentor.
3 June 2026
“Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Lumbar Bone Stress and Hamstring Injuries”
Kevin Craigie - Australian Athletics’ High Performance Network Physiotherapy Lead
Richard Saw - Australian Athletics’ Chief Medical Officer
Cory Innes - Australian Athletics’ High-Performance Strength & Conditioning Lea
6 May 2026
“800M Coaching Philosophy: Principles and Practices for Middle-Distance Success”
Justin Rinaldi - High Performance Coach
1 April 2026
“Relationships and circles of influence in coaching”
Tudor Bidder - High Performance Coach Mentor
4 March 2026
Mentor Program Launch
25 February 2026
“Coach Guidelines for Disordered Eating, Eating Disorder and Body Composition Testing”
Jessica Rothwell, Australian Athletics' Nutrition Lead
Bryce Anderson, Australian Athletics' Pathways Performance Specialist (Dietetics & Physiology)
Briar Sefo, Australian Athletics' General Manager - Integrity.
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1168327190
10 December 2025
“Para Athletics - The Rise of High Performance”
Presenter – Andrew Dawes, Australian Athletics’ Para Performance Coaching Manager
25 November 2025
“Long Jump: A Practical Coaches Approach”
Presenter – Keith Herston, jumps coach at Texas Tech – Coach Herston has developed three Olympians, two World Championship finalists, one NCAA Champion and 38 All-Americans.
6 November 2025
“Planning around a triple phased periodize year"
Presenter: Matt Horsnell - coach of the current World High Jump Champion Nicola Olyslagers - talks about how he set up Nicola's training and competitions in 2025.
1 October 2025
“There’s no such thing as a perfect preparation”
Presenter: Susan Krumins, Australian Athletics Coach Development Manager & Dutch Olympian
3 September 2025
“Coaching with pressure: Coaches as sculptors and performers”
Presenter – Cliff Mallett
13 August 2025
‘Development of Women Triple Jumpers’
Presenter – Keith Herston, jumps coach at Texas Tech – Coach Herston has coached three Olympians, two World Championship finalists, one NCAA Champion and 38 All-Americans, and has coached four separate girls over 14 metres in TJ.
2 July 2025
‘Developing a collaborative coaching model’
Presenter – Adam Didyk (Australian Athletics Pathways Transition Manager)
4 June 2025
‘Lessons learnt from a coaching journey’
Presenter – Grant Ward
7 May 2025
‘Planning and preparation of the Australian team for the Tokyo World Championships’
Presenters - Andrew Faichney (General Manager High Performance) & Nathan Sims (Teams & Operations Manager).
2 April 2025
‘Training Camps Preparation, Planning and Execution’
Presenter - Brent Vallance
5 March 2025
2025 Mentoring Program Launch and Training.
Here is the link to the recording:
11 December 2024
'The pathway to the top key factors and influences in the development of Australian Olympic and World Championship Track and Field athletes'
Presenter - Dianne Huxley
6 November 2024
“Reflections on coaching at an elite level while TRYING to have a normal life”
Presenter – Sandro Bisetto
2 October 2024
"The whole training program and the whole athlete"
Presenters – Susan Hobson & Bryce Anderson
Pt 1 https://vimeo.com/1015514066
Pt 2 https://vimeo.com/1015514544
September 4 2024
"Why is it so hard to win medals in track and field?"
Presenter - Mark Stewart, Australian Athletics National Coach Development Coordinator
3 July 2024
Q & A with Sonia O’Sullivan
4 June 2024
“A Coaches Call Out: 2028-2032 AA Para-Athletics Resurgence”
Athletics Australia’s Victoria Moore (Head of Performance Support and Solutions) & Steve Caddy (Paralympic Lead).
1 May 2024
“Preparing their athletes for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics”
Andrew Murphy, Alex Stewart & Philo Saunders
3 April 2024
“What It Takes To Win (WITTW)”
Emma Millett – Senior Biomechanist at the New South Wales Institute of Sport and the National Lead Biomechanics for Athletics Australia.
Nick Frey – State Performance Advisor (Athletics) at the Victorian Institute of Sport.
Cathy Woodruff – High Performance Coach
Part 1 https://vimeo.com/930840018
Part 2 https://vimeo.com/930430186
6 March 2024
2024 Mentoring Program Launch and Training.
Here is the link to the recording:
6th December 2023
“Australia's Performance at Benchmark Events”
Andrew Faichney – Athletics Australia’s General Manager High Performance
1st November 2023
“National Generation 2032 Coach Program (NG32CP)”
Danny Kevan, Collis Birmingham and Lukas Cannan reflecting on their experiences as part of the NG32CP:
11th October 2023
“New World Athletics Rules”
Presenter Brian Roe
The slides & recording from Brian Roe’s presentation on the New World Athletics Rules are available here:
4th October 2023
“Tour/Team Coach Reflections - Experiences, Learning & Challenges”
The presenters Andrew Iselin, Marty Stolberg, Caroline Bailey & Jackie Gallagher
6th September 2023
“A discussion with Dick about his vast experience as a high-performance coach”
5 July 2023
Cliff Mallett:” Serial winning coaches: Striving, surviving, and thriving”
7th June 2023
Melanie Purkiss, Scott Goodman, and Mark Stewart talking about the issues and processes associated with Athletes Changing Coaches.
3rd May 2023
“Working with Para Athletes” Iryna Dvoskina, Sebastian Kuzminski & Philo Saunders
6th April 2023
Dale Stevenson – “Better lucky than good”
1st March 2023
Athlete Management. “A detailed outline of the new paradigm in the organisation and operation of the global athletics calendar and the implications for athletes and coaches in accessing meets and outside events, particularly outside Australia.”
Presenter Brian Roe
1st February 2023
2023 Mentoring Program Launch and Training.
7 December 2022
Athletics Australia’s High Performance Coach Development Strategy – a review of 2022 and plans for 2023.
Di Huxley & Mark Stewart
or
https://vimeo.com/779028405/4eabfcbd5b
16 November 2022
“Event specific training”
Uwe Hohn
Wednesday 5th October
Australian Athletics’ High Performance Coach Mentoring Program – Four short presentations from mentees in the program.
Transitioning from being an athlete to coach – challenges, surprises, learnings, and rewards? – Lyndsay Troode
Coaching or teaching – Nicole Fagan
What track and field could learn from another sport - Jamie Green.
A comparison of touring as an athlete to that as a coach – Jared Tallent
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/757365969
6 September 2022
‘Women in Sport – Athletics Australia updates, initiatives & learnings’
Presenters:
Victoria Moore – A physio by training and is currently AA’s Head of Performance Health and Solutions.
Melanie Purkiss AA’s Athlete Wellbeing & Engagement Manager.
John Nicolosi - High Performance Sprints Coach and mentee in our program.
Women in Sport Congress - Summary for Athletics Coaches on Vimeo
6 July 2022
The Coaching Journey of Lyn Foreman - Athlete to Coach to Senior Coach and Mentor
Lyn Foreman - Athlete > Scholarship Coach > HP Coach > Mentor Coach.
https://vimeo.com/731978161/d00c788ee0
1 June 2022
Serial Winning Coaches by Cliff Mallett
Serial Winning Coaches by Cliff Mallett (vimeo.com)
4 May 2022
Sharon Hannan Competing and Training Overseas
https://vimeo.com/710188082/4e3994d8d9
Sandro Bissetto High Performance coaching while having another full-time career.
https://vimeo.com/711487674/718707b425
6 April 2022
John Quinn
What is High Performance Coaching – Insights and knowledge from Professional Sports?
John will discuss this under the headings of planning, reducing performance limiting illness/injury and understanding what it takes to win.
https://vimeo.com/698429173/ccc2031693
Craig Hilliard
What I have learned in 40 years of High-Performance Coaching.
https://vimeo.com/698468080/e314a7aa56
4 May 2022
Sharon Hannan Competing and Training Overseas
https://vimeo.com/710188082/4e3994d8d9
Sandro Bissetto High Performance coaching while having another full-time career.
https://vimeo.com/711487674/718707b425
6 April 2022
John Quinn
What is High Performance Coaching – Insights and knowledge from Professional Sports?
John will discuss this under the headings of planning, reducing performance limiting illness/injury and understanding what it takes to win.
https://vimeo.com/698429173/ccc2031693
Craig Hilliard
What I have learned in 40 years of High-Performance Coaching.
The 2026 Mentors are Andrew Dawes, John Quinn, Sharon Hannan, Lyn Foreman, Dick Telford, Susan Hobson, Tudor Bidder, Adam Didyk, Cliff Mallett, Sandro Bisetto, Nicole Boegman-Stewart, Grant Ward, Justin Rinaldi, Matthew Horsnell & Esa Peltola.
The mentee coaches are based in Australia and have fulfilled all/some of the following criteria:
2026 is the fifth 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 2026
This program is for recently retired athletes, or athletes that are likely to retire during the current Olympic cycle. It aims to assist athletes to prepare themselves to eventually become high-performance coaches. The program runs for two years and there have been three intakes in 2021, 2022 and 2025; and we expect to offer places again in 2027.
Athlete to Coach Transition Program is part of Australian Athletics Coach Development Strategy whose objective is to support and develop system and personal coaches for the 2028 Los Angeles, 2032 Brisbane cycles, and beyond.
Through an athlete’s competitive career, they gain high level sports specific knowledge, learn skills from their own coaches and develop coaching tools which they can use if they choose to coach. However, transferring these skills into coaching can be challenging.
The Athlete to Coach transition program is an initiative to assist athletes to develop knowledge and experience gained as athletes to support future athletes. Additionally, the program provides individualized support to promote a successful transition to coaching.
The successful applicants will set up an Individual Coach Development Plan (ICDP) which may involve, but is not limited to:
SELECTION
Australian Athletics supports coach workforce diversity and is committed to creating inclusive coaching opportunities. As part of this commitment, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes, Para-athletes, culturally diverse athletes, and athletes who identify as LGBTIQ are strongly encouraged to apply.
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), Cathalina Walsh (NSW) and Danny Kevan (WA).
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).
2026-28 Pole Vault Event Group Plan
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).
2026-28 Race Walks Event Group Plan
Andew Dawes (NSW & facilitator), Jamie Green (QLD), Garth Plank (QLD), Glen Lebeau (NSW), Chris Kent (WA), Louise Sauvage (NSW) & Fred Periac (ACT).
Event Group Plan - coming soon.
Preliminary work has also been undertaken on a Combined Events advisory panel.
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
To be considered for a team coach position on international teams please see the section on Team Staff.
