2010 Keynote speakers
The 2010 Evolution of the Athlete Coach Education Conference is hosting an impressive selection of speakers, all to inspire, inform and grow delegates professionally and personally. Speakers are selected from a wide range of backgrounds and specialties to offer their perspectives on sport performance, coaching and athlete development.
Ewen mCKENZIE
Head Coach, QR QLD Reds Rugby Union Team
A former Wallaby prop, Ewen McKenzie took up coaching after retiring as a player in 1997 and was an assistant to both Rod Macqueen and Eddie Jones at Wallaby level before succeeding Bob Dwyer as Head Coach of the Waratahs in November, 2003.
He led the team to the 2005 Investec Super 12 final in just his second year at the helm, while the Waratahs were also semi-finalists in 2006 and finalists in 2008. He was also involved in a coaching capacity with the ACT for three seasons and was Australia A coach in 2005.
He was appointed Head Coach of French club Stade Francais for the 2008-9 season, taking them to the semi-finals of the Top 14 competition, and was five matches into the 2009-10 season when the two parted company after a disappointing start.As a player, Ewen McKenzie played 51 Tests across seven years for the Wallabies after first representing Australia in 1990 against France.
He was a member of Australia's victorious World Cup squad in 1991. At state level he was capped 37 times for NSW between 1987 and 1995 and another 36 times for the Brumbies (1996-97), also playing in the 1997 Super 12 final.
A product of Scotch College, Melbourne, he was the second Victorian born and bred to represent Australia after the great Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop. Ewen McKenzie was announced Head Coach of the QR Reds in October 2009 for the next three years.
Steve Moneghetti
Chef-de-Mission, Australian Team: 2010 Commonwealth Games & former Marathon Champion
Steve Moneghetti exemplifies what is to be achieved through training, perseverance, planning, goals and aspirations. From Australian Under 20 Cross Country Champion in 1982, Steve has become a world champion distance and marathon runner. He has been awarded as No. 1 World Road Racer; Australian Sports Star of the Year; and Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist.
Steve has competed in and won Marathon and Distance events from Berlin to Tokyo each year of his career. He has competed in 22 international marathons, and to prepare for each he trained twice a day, every day of the year, covering approximately 200km per week and totaling over 8,500km in a year.
Steve retired after the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games but is still heavily involved in sport – both as an athlete and manager. He was Mayor of the Village at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and in May 2009, he was appointed as Chef-de-Mission to the 2010 Australian Commonwealth Games Team where he will lead and manage Australia’s largest athlete contingent to a Commonwealth Games held overseas.
Professor Bruce Abernethy
Director – Institute of Human Performance, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Abernethy is the Director and inaugural Chair Professor of the Institute of Human Performance at Hong Kong University. Prior to this appointment in 2004, Bruce was Professor and Head of the School of Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland.
A first class Honors graduate and university medalist from the University of Queensland and a PhD graduate from the University of Otago, Prof. Abernethy is an International Fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education (since 1993) and a Fellow of the Australian Sports Medicine Federation (since 1997).
An inaugural board member of the Australian Association for Exercise and Sport Science, Prof. Abernethy is currently an editorial board member of Current Psychology of Cognition and an editorial advisory board member of the Journal of Sports Sciences.
Prof. Abernethy's research interests are in the control and learning of skilled movement; and discovering and understanding the processes and mechanisms underpinning the perception and production of whole body movement patterns.
John Quinn
Founder; Quinn Elite Sports
John Quinn is a leading high performance coach who has worked as a professional coach, consultant, and speaker in elite sport, both nationally and internationally for over 25 years. He has worked with many of Australia’s leading athletes and coaches across a number of sports including athletics, swimming, AFL, rugby league, tennis, cricket and soccer.
After holding positions with NSW Little Athletics, the Australian Institute of Sport and the Tasmanian Institute of Sport, John accepted a position with the Essendon Bombers AFL team as Head Fitness Coach, where he later became their High Performance and Training Service Manager. John oversaw Essendon through 6 finals appearances; 2 grand finals; 1 Premiership; and 1 Night Premiership.
John was a team coach for track and field at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where Cathy Freeman took gold in the 400m under his direction. He has also been the Australian fitness coach for two International Rules Series (AFL), traveled with the Socceroos in 2006 in the role of Head Conditioner in a friendly competition in Kuwait; and strength and conditioning coach for the Dhaka Warriors in the Indian Cricket League.
John is highly regarded in the sport and fitness and athletics industries and his expertise is regularly sought from sporting teams and business looking to find a unique insight into elite performance.
John’s career has now taken on a new challenge as he establishes a high performance and rehabilitation service for aspiring and serious sportspeople and as a consultant to the corporate sector.
Bo Hanson
Four-time Olympian and Coaching Consultant with Athlete Assessments
In 1992, Bo Hanson at 18 years old became the youngest ever rowing Olympian for Australia. Since his first Olympics, he has won bronze medals in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
Utilsing his learning experiences from the Olympics as well as formal university and training and development qualifications, Bo has founded and developed two businesses, Team 8 and Athlete Assessments. Both businesses are designed to enable people to achieve their best performances whatever their field of endeavour.
Athlete Assessments was the first global business specializing in online sports specific behavioural profiling tool for athletes, sports teams and coaches. Clients include some of the top USA Colleges, national and professional teams to local TAFEs and amateur sports clubs. It has now grown to include specialist services including sports program reviews, coach development workshops, team consultations and one-on-one sessions for coaches and athletes.
In the corporate world, through Team 8, Bo has been training and presenting to Australia’s largest companies for over a decade. These companies include the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Macquarie Bank, American Express, Bain Consulting, Insurance Australia Group, Telstra and many others. His expertise is leadership development and teamwork. Bo draws unique parallels between the world of elite sport and high performance business.
Bo is highly educated and accredited in the use and administration of the Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator, DISC Profiling and Emotional Intelligence (Emotional Competence Inventory 360). These tools are incorporated into the customized programs that Bo delivers.
In key note presentations, Bo regularly speaks about being an athlete-centred coach, leadership and teamwork and how to be the best you can be, when you need to be and whenever you need to produce a great performance for the times when it matters most. These are lessons Bo learnt during his Olympic career and they absolutely apply to our business and personal lives just as much as in sport.
Scott Griffin
Director – Etax Accountants; Director – Accounts Etcetera & Entrepreneur
As a teenager, Scott co-founded Etax Accountants with father, Don, and brother, Kent, in 1998. Today, it is the leading online accounting firm in Australia. He is The University of Queensland’s first triple-degree graduate in Commerce (Accounting), Science (Computer Science) and Law (Taxation). Griffin then went on to complete his MBA at the prestigious Harvard University.
Scott has also spent time working for the Boston Consulting Group (Sydney) as a Management Consultant and taught Business Strategy at the University of Queensland. He is Director of Accounts Etcetera as well as Director and Alumnus of The Australian Voices - Australia's premier acapella ensemble.
As a serial entrepreneur, Griffin has been involved as a Project Manager for Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation at Mossman Gorge, a National Board Member for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and a member of the Defence Reserves Support Council.
In his ‘spare time’ this year, Scott – who is only 30 years of age - successfully completed a six-day, 250km ultra marathon across the Kimberleys and cycled 3500km from Uluru to Brisbane to raise funds for mental health and contemporary Australian music.
