AIS conference to present themes of Australia’s high performance sport strategy

More than 200 high performance sport personnel from across Australia and around the world will be in Canberra this week for the World Class to World Best conference, hosted by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

AIS Director Peter Conde says the theme of this year’s conference - Converting When It Matters - reflects the new AIS strategy for Australian high performance sport.

Conde began as AIS Director a year ago and, with less than two years until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, says now is an opportune time for Australian sport to come together.

Conde explains “the AIS has made a lot of progress in the past 12 months to clearly establish a new strategy for Australian high performance sport, to restructure, and to begin implementing new approaches. We will continue to work hard because our aim is to be a world leader.

“It’s our job to lead a united and collaborative Australian high performance sport system that helps our athletes achieve success and, in turn, inspires all Australians.

“One of our main goals is to help develop the people, coaches and leaders within Australia’s high performance workforce, so that everyone is getting the best out of themselves and the athletes they work with.

“This conference will bring together leaders from Australian and international sport to share their expertise. To ensure we are at the frontiers of sport, we also need to push outside our boundaries so there will also be keynote presentations from different industries, like war correspondent Michael Ware, artificial intelligence expert Tasneem Memon and science leader Dr Catherine Ball.

“We will welcome a presentation from the Japan Sports Council on preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, which is ultimately what we’re building towards together over the next two years.”

Running from tomorrow (7th November) to Friday, the invitation only conference will also feature:

• A presentation from Commonwealth Games Australia on the lessons of Gold Coast 2018
• Presentations from Australian high performance leaders including: Brad 
McGee (Cycling Australia coach); Andy King (Coach of world championship surfing contender Julian Wilson); Louise Sauvage (Paralympic athletics).
• International presentations from Danny Holdcroft (Head of Performance for Olympic gold medal-winning British Skeleton Program); and John Atkinson (Performance Director Swimming Canada).
• A panel on increasing diversity, including gender diversity, in high performance sport.

Image: Peter Conde.