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The Australian Institute of Sport’s HP Women Coaching (WiHPC) Summit in Brisbane saw over 50 coaches, managers and industry experts share insights and recommendations to improve issues faced by women high performance coaches including parental leave, part-time talent pools and recruitment.

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is leading the world in its commitment to enhancing the experience and representation of women in high performance coaching (WiHPC) roles.

Since its establishment in 2021, over 300 people been involved in the AIS WiHPC Project, with representatives from across the sport sector continuing to work towards better outcomes for female high-performance (HP) coaches.

Forming part of the AIS Gender Diversity Project, Women in HP Coaching aims to increase the representation and experiences of women among Australian HP coaches and is central to the HP Coach Development strategy.

This long-term project is currently in its early phase where AIS are seeking to understand the experiences of women who are, want to be, or have been, in coaching roles within the HP sport system. This will inform the type and priority of interventions required to help improve the representation and experiences of women in coaching.

AIS HP Coach Development Bill Davoren notes “this project is gaining international recognition for its potential to improve athlete performance and organisational culture by providing a better experience for women HP coaches.

“There is an opportunity for Australia to lead the world in this space and make significant and sustainable change to our sport system.”

AIS HP Coach Development Senior Leader Michelle De Highden added “Right now, some of Australia’s best coaches are not being given opportunities.

“If we want the best HP performance outcomes, everyone needs to feel like they have a place and that they belong.

De Highden said the insights gained from the summit will inform the next steps of the project.

“We will collate information gathered by the working groups and pull together a report of recommendations. We will then build a dynamic and progressive action plan that can be used practically within the system,” she said.

Learn more about the WiHPC and other AIS high performance coach development programs.

Image top: Assistant Coach of the Australian Women’s Indoor Volleyball Team Nicole Hannan presenting at the forum

Video: Women in High Performance Coaching Project Forum in Brisbane. Credit :Australian Institute of Sport

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