Throughandthrough
05-11-2016, 11:56 AM
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/afl/afl-news/ais-to-become-centre-of-excellence-and-world-leader-in-leadership-and-coaching-20161104-gsicuy.html?platform=hootsuite
818
The Australian Institute of Sport wants to carve out a niche as a centre of excellence and world leader in leadership and coaching.
Part of that is through expanding on its course that played a small role in the Western Bulldogs' drought-breaking AFL premiership.
Fifteen assistant coaches from AFL clubs, including Michael Voss and Ryan O'Keefe, will descend on Canberra next week for a five-day development camp that will incorporate the annual World Class to World Best high performance conference, which will be attended by former All Blacks coach Graham Henry.
It's the brainchild of AIS head of performance coaching and leadership Darlene Harrison.
She's created a two-day course specifically tailored for the rigours of coaching in the AFL in conjunction with the AFL Coaches Association, then the coaches will spend a day with a military theme including a visit to the Australian War Memorial before joining the conference.
The AIS underwent a revamp under Australia's Winning Edge program, which was born in the wake of Australia's failure at the London Olympic Games in 2012.
It has meant fewer athletes based at the AIS on a permanent basis and it has instead become a camp for national programs to utilise throughout the year.
Harrison hoped to expand the AIS's role as a leader in sports science.
"It's more about the AIS becoming a niche centre of excellence in [not only] areas where's it's been known for its science and medicine in the past, but it can [also] be known for the quality of the work we do with coaches as well," she said on Friday.
"It can be a niche centre of excellence for coaching and leadership. That's what we're really aiming for and we think the approaches we're taking and the work we're doing is really world leading.
"So we think with time we'll have some pretty good outcomes with it."
It will be the fourth World Class to World Best conference, which draws more than 250 leaders and coaches from a variety of sports.
Harrison has added the AFL-specific camp on the front to develop the coaches on three fronts.
"First and foremost a leader of themselves, then a leader of others – athletes, sports staff, teams – and then how they lead in their sport," she said.
"[It's also] about how they lead in complexity. There's probably not too many sports systems that are as complex as the AFL, so we're using two days on complexity and how we need to adapt complexity in our leadership.
"A bit of theory, a bit of practice, it's highly experiential, the content's really driven by the coaches in the room, so they'll be bringing their real-life experiences."
Harrison was spotted in the Bulldogs coaches box at their game against Greater Western Sydney at Manuka Oval two years ago.
That was when Brendan McCartney was in charge of the Doggies, before Luke Beveridge took over the role and led them to this year's premiership to end a drought dating back to 1954.
But Bulldogs football general manager Graham Lowe has been working with Harrison in the AIS's Performance Coach and Performance Leaders program since 2014, along with Canberra Raiders football manager John Bonasera and Brumbies athletic performance director Ben Serpell.
Lowe has previously held a high-performance role with the All Blacks before joining the Bulldogs in 2012.
818
The Australian Institute of Sport wants to carve out a niche as a centre of excellence and world leader in leadership and coaching.
Part of that is through expanding on its course that played a small role in the Western Bulldogs' drought-breaking AFL premiership.
Fifteen assistant coaches from AFL clubs, including Michael Voss and Ryan O'Keefe, will descend on Canberra next week for a five-day development camp that will incorporate the annual World Class to World Best high performance conference, which will be attended by former All Blacks coach Graham Henry.
It's the brainchild of AIS head of performance coaching and leadership Darlene Harrison.
She's created a two-day course specifically tailored for the rigours of coaching in the AFL in conjunction with the AFL Coaches Association, then the coaches will spend a day with a military theme including a visit to the Australian War Memorial before joining the conference.
The AIS underwent a revamp under Australia's Winning Edge program, which was born in the wake of Australia's failure at the London Olympic Games in 2012.
It has meant fewer athletes based at the AIS on a permanent basis and it has instead become a camp for national programs to utilise throughout the year.
Harrison hoped to expand the AIS's role as a leader in sports science.
"It's more about the AIS becoming a niche centre of excellence in [not only] areas where's it's been known for its science and medicine in the past, but it can [also] be known for the quality of the work we do with coaches as well," she said on Friday.
"It can be a niche centre of excellence for coaching and leadership. That's what we're really aiming for and we think the approaches we're taking and the work we're doing is really world leading.
"So we think with time we'll have some pretty good outcomes with it."
It will be the fourth World Class to World Best conference, which draws more than 250 leaders and coaches from a variety of sports.
Harrison has added the AFL-specific camp on the front to develop the coaches on three fronts.
"First and foremost a leader of themselves, then a leader of others – athletes, sports staff, teams – and then how they lead in their sport," she said.
"[It's also] about how they lead in complexity. There's probably not too many sports systems that are as complex as the AFL, so we're using two days on complexity and how we need to adapt complexity in our leadership.
"A bit of theory, a bit of practice, it's highly experiential, the content's really driven by the coaches in the room, so they'll be bringing their real-life experiences."
Harrison was spotted in the Bulldogs coaches box at their game against Greater Western Sydney at Manuka Oval two years ago.
That was when Brendan McCartney was in charge of the Doggies, before Luke Beveridge took over the role and led them to this year's premiership to end a drought dating back to 1954.
But Bulldogs football general manager Graham Lowe has been working with Harrison in the AIS's Performance Coach and Performance Leaders program since 2014, along with Canberra Raiders football manager John Bonasera and Brumbies athletic performance director Ben Serpell.
Lowe has previously held a high-performance role with the All Blacks before joining the Bulldogs in 2012.