Australian Athletics Hosts 2025 Women in Coaching Conference

Australian Athletics is set to host the 2025 Women in Coaching Conference on the Gold Coast from 2 to 3 August.

This two-day initiative is designed to strengthen professional networks and cultivate coaching excellence across all levels of the sport, with a particular emphasis on supporting female coaches and male allies. The event will take place at the Gold Coast Performance Centre.

The conference aims to directly address identified barriers to progression for women in coaching, drawing on insights from surveys and the experiences of established female coaches within the national system.

Highlighting the primary challenge, Australian Athletics coaching and officiating project coordinator, Nicolai Morris, said: “The largest barrier for women is networking, so having a conference where people can come together, learn off each other and form those casual networks was the driving force behind the idea.”

“That was at the forefront of planning, it’s almost a bit school camp-esque. It allows for that natural environment where people can come out of it with new connections or validation of their ideas and knowledge.

“We have tried to make sure that the coaches presenting and topics covered are valuable to everyone; from coaches of elite athletes for 30 years to those in their first year of coaching.

“We have a range of coaches signed up from the elite level Australian team coaches to brand new Level 1 and Level 2 coaches, which is really cool. It shows coaching through the development stages,” Morris said.

The program is structured as a comprehensive masterclass, covering a range of topics from training principles and personal philosophies to storytelling and contemporary research. It is designed to be relevant for coaches at all stages of their careers, from those with decades of elite experience to those in their first year of Level 1 or Level 2 coaching.

The speaker lineup includes prominent figures such as Vicky Huyton, founder of the Female Coaching Network, Michelle De Highden, senior lead of the Australian Institute of Sport’s High Performance Coach Development Team, and Australia’s own coaches, led by Sharon Hannon.

The conference explicitly welcomes male allies, signalling an inclusive approach to addressing gender disparity in coaching.

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