RASi Launches World Class Training Coach Education Program

Written on the 11 August 2022 by RASi

The Regional Academies of Sport (RAS) which includes the South West Sydney Academy of Sport, this week launched an online training program for regional Academy coaching and support staff that promises to be yet another program of un-matched quality.

Having recently hosted a highly successful Regional Academies of Sport Coaches Conference on the Central Coast in May, the Regional Academy network has undertaken significant steps to introduce an extension program for its many dedicated volunteer coach and support staff.  "The extension program will host some of our very best coaches in monthly seminars designed to continue the essential professional development needed to upskill regional coaches as they continue to make important contributions to the athlete pathway," said Academy CEO Gerry Knights.

The program which commenced this week saw the highly regarded coach Rob 'Bevo' Beveridge open the forum as he addressed the topic of ‘Developing Elite Athletes’.  

'Bevo' is well known in Australian sport having over 30 years of professional basketball coaching behind his name, having risen through the ranks from local club and representative coaching, through the NSW Institute of Sport, Basketball NSW State teams, and through to leading National and International senior teams. Not to mention over 300 NBL Games across West Sydney, Perth and Illawarra. 

'Bevo' was inducted to the Basketball NSW Sporting Hall of Fame in 2019 and remains extremely active within coaching basketball, most recently for the Southland Sharks in NZ. 

Following Beveridge will be Scott Wisemantel, who is another coach on the rise in Australia.  Wisemantel is the current Australian Wallabies 'attack' coach, who has worked as a coaching consultant. Wisemantel is himself a former high-level player, and has gained decades of coaching experience along the way. 

Wisemantel will cover the topic of  ‘The realities and challenges of coaching and creating identity pieces’.

Following on from Wisemantel,  the Regional Academy network have secured the input of Scott Johnson, who most recently was the Director of Rugby for Rugby Australia. During his time working closely with the Wallabies during the Michael Cheika era. Johnson has significant international Rugby experience, having previously served as the Director of Rugby for Six-Nations up and coming powerhouse Scotland.  Johnson will address the often not spoken about topic of ‘What I learned from my mistakes’. 

"These upcoming sessions promise to provide another unique insight into the learnings from vocational coaches who have incredible history in their respective sports", said Knights, who urged all regional Academy coach and support staff to take the opportunity to upskill and learn from the best. 

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The Regional Academies of Sport Coach Extension program is proudly partnered by; The Steadfast Group, NSW Institute of Sport, and the NSW Office of Sport.