Coach Development Strategy

Coaching plays a vital role in shaping athletes' attitude to our sport, developing their technical, mental, and physical attributes, creating a positive and inclusive club environment, and guiding athletes to achieve exceptional performances. The 2032 Coach Development Strategy is designed to create a comprehensive framework to empower Athletics coaches to foster the growth of their athletes and find personal success in their role.

This strategy has been created in consultation with the athletics coaching community, through a combination of surveys, focus groups, and community submissions. The strategy sets out a plan for how coaches can be developed and supported through to 2032, to grow participation in the sport and support international success at major Athletics championships. 

What is Our Vision?

Australian Track and Field coaches feel fully equipped to deliver outstanding experiences to athletes at all levels of the sport.

What is Our Mission?

  • To drive the uptake and retention of people interested in coaching athletics.

  • To provide coaches with the knowledge, skills, tools, and confidence to perform their role successfully. 

  • To recognise and celebrate the contribution of coaches to the sport.

  • To create, communicate, and enforce a coaching culture that produces optimal outcomes for athletes and coaches. 

What are Our Strategic Priorities? 

  • Transition from a compliance-based to a value-based education model by adopting a coach education framework that reflects best practices in adult education and sports development. 

  • Develop an inclusive coaching workforce equipped to manage the projected increase in participation driven by the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games and Paralympics and the launch of new community junior products. 

  • Publish, educate, and actively enforce a transparent code of conduct that drives a desirable coaching culture. 

  • Provide a membership proposition, which offers excellent value for money. 

What are the Current Issues?

The 2032 Coach Development Strategy has been designed in response to the following issues that have been identified as factors that limit coaches ability to "deliver outstanding experiences to athletes at all levels of the sport". 

*The numbers next to each item refer to which project in the list below will address this issue.

    • Unclear policy regarding coach requirements for Working with Children Checks / First Aid / CPR (14, 17, 18)

    • Coaches with no qualifications leading large groups of athletes (1, 17).

    • Poor awareness of the procedure for reporting coaching breaches of the code of conduct. (17)

    • Low awareness and compliance by coaches with the body composition guidelines. (2, 14)

    • Limited professional development opportunities for junior and club-level coaches. (1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13)

    • No formal coach mentoring or networking/community building program. (5, 8, 13)

    • Limited pathways for coaches to join the coaching framework at a point relevant to their personal motivation, experience, and skillset. (1)

    • No ongoing structured coach development pathways outside of the ‘level’ system (e.g. no recognition for coaches who choose to specialise in coaching athletes between 5-12 years of age). (1, 9, 10)

    • No regular major coaching conferences. (10)

    • Poor community awareness of available online coaching resources. (3, 12, 17)

    • Lack of clarity regarding High Performance coach development. (1, 11)

    • No pathway for coaches gaining their accreditation to practising in an affiliated club. (5)

    • No advocacy for accredited athletics coaches working in schools, fitness centres, and private coaching businesses. (8, 13)

    • Poor awareness of how to gain employment through Athletics Australia and State Associations in casual coaching roles. (13)

    • Lack of recognition for coaches outside of the High-Performance pathway. (7, 12, 15)

    • Poor awareness of what value is provided by coaching membership. (15, 17)

    • No coach well-being resources available for community coaches. (9)

    • Lack of recognition for coaches of junior athletes who transition to a senior coach. (4)

    • Poor coach awareness of the procedure for reporting conflicts between coaches and breaches of the code of conduct. (4, 17)

    • Lack of women in High Performance coaching roles and at higher levels of accreditation (Level 2 and Above) (8, 10, 19)

    • Coaching accreditation is not aligned to Athletics Australia’s Junior Sport Development Guidelines. (1)

How Will We Address These Issues?

Click on the links below to learn more about each project to be delivered in 2023 and 2024, when it is planned to be delivered, and which objectives it is designed to address.

Project Description Dates Current Status
1. Accredited Coach Framework Update Transition to a modern education framework that allows for greater flexibility for learners. promotes continuous formal and informal education, and better reflects the training environment of each coach. 2024-25 CPD model has been launched. Creation of a recommended development pathway for Youth Coach and Development Coach specialists.
2. Athlete Body Composition Assessment and Eating Disorder Guidelines Publish, promote, and enforce body composition assessment and eating disorder education for athletics coaches. 2023 All coaches have been educated on the contents of the policy and agreed to abide by the guidelines. Delivery of EDiS workshops for system-employed and High Performance coaches.
3. Changes to Regular Communication with Coaches Weekly updates to all accredited coaches and launch of an Athletics Australia coach-specific channel. 2023 CoachAthletics created with weekly EDM being distributed to coaches through MailChimp. News and resources posted on new channel.
4. Coach Transfer Policy Creation of a formal process for the transfer of athletes between coaches and a complaints process for when the policy has not been followed. 2023-24 Initial draft policy has been designed and will apply to employed High Performance coaches.
5. Coach-Club Connect Program Delivery of a structured mentoring program for new coaches joining an affiliated club to provide a better experience for coaches and larger and better equipped workforce for clubs. 2024 Program is currently being piloted and resources available for coaches or clubs who wish to trial it in their environment.
6. Coaching Business Support Resources for coaches who run their own coaching business, including information of becoming affiliated, business development resources, and business insurance. 2024 Payment guidelines updated in-line with industry standards.
7. Community Coach of the Month Offer recognition of a coach working at the community level of the sport each month through a new award. 2023 Award commenced in August 2023
8. Community Event Group Leads (Coach Developers) Appointment of community leaders for each event group, to support the development of new coaches coming through in their discipline. 2024 Initial online upskilling available and shared with targeted Coach Developers. Will integrate with the Coach-Club Connect Project.
9. Creation and Promotion of Relevant Online Education Delivery of 10 new online courses annually to provide greater access to athletics-specific coach education. 2023 Over 15 new free online courses available in 2023.
10. Delivery of an Annual Coaching Conference and Event Group Camps Alternating years, Athletics Australia will deliver a major coach education conference or event group coach development camps. 2024 Next conference scheduled for late September 2024
11. High Performance Coach Development Pilot a 12-month High Performance Coach accreditation program. 2023 Pilot due to end in December. 13 Coaches have successfully completed the program and associated online materials.
12. Improvements to Membership Portal and Website Integrate the Athletics Learning Centre and the Athletics Australia/State Association membership portals to allow a single sign-on across platforms. 2024 Integration between Athletics Learning Centre and Rev Sport set to launch November 2023. Requested changes to the Rev Spot Membership portal have been made. These include digital membership card that can be saved to Apple/Google Wallet and re-designed login page.
13. Kids' Athletics Workforce Development Upskill 100 coaches nationwide to be able to deliver the New Kids' Athletics program to support club and school athletics programs. 2024 New Kids' Athletics program and workforce education in development due to roll out from November 2023.
14. Mandatory Coaching Update Course Delivery of a mandatory Annual Update Course to be completed by all accredited coaches, addressing athlete safeguarding, coach education, and changes the National competition calendar and World Athletics rules 2023 Released to all coaches. Will be a requirement to access a Coaching Pass for Athletics Australia events.
15. Membership Value Project Partner with trusted third parties to offer greater value for your membership through discounts and promotions. 2024 Approaching suitable third party organisations
16. Target Talent Program Update Modernise the Target Talent Program coaching resources and structure to empower developing performance coaches to transition from club coaches to performance coaches. 2023 Content delivered online with access to relevant resources available to all accredited coaches.
17. Website Resources Developed A clear single source of information for coaches, athletes, and parents, including how to report a coaching breach of the code of conduct, finding an accredited coach, and minimum coach standards and qualifications. 2023-24 Guidelines pending approval from Coaching Advisory Group. Initial page created on the new Coaching Website.
18. Women in Coaching Delivery of programs to achieve greater representation of female coaches in community and High Performance programs. 2023-24 Successful delivery of the Women in High Performance Coaching. Development of tailored Community Coach Education programs for female coaches.
19. Working with Children Check Compliance Establish clear Working with Children Check requirements nationwide. 2023 Guidelines published and communicated to all coaches. Ongoing enforcement.

Submit Your Feedback

Use the field below to submit your feedback and suggestions on the Coach Development Strategy below.