Optimising Athlete Development in NSW

NSW Athletics, in partnership with the University of Sydney, has launched the Grow to Gold project, which includes a full-time PhD focused on athlete development across the NSW athletics pathway.

This is the first time a PhD has been formally embedded within our performance and pathways framework. In the context of the recent announcement around the unification of Little Athletics Australia and Australian Athletics, along with the significant development work undertaken in NSW over the past twenty-four months, this project represents an important step in strengthening our pathway initiatives. It is aimed at creating clearer opportunities within the pathway and reinforcing the foundation of the sport by supporting participation, development, and progression at the base of the performance pyramid.

The research will be based within the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health and will focus on growth, maturation, and long-term athlete development in athletics. It acknowledges that athletes develop at different rates and that athletics is a late-developing sport, where broad movement skills and varied early activity experiences are central to sustained participation and progression across the pathway. Importantly, it also recognises that athletics events form the foundational movement base for many sports across the Australian sporting landscape, and that strong participation in athletics can play a key role in strengthening both our own sport and the development pathways of other sports.

The PhD candidate will work closely with NSW Athletics to ensure the research remains closely aligned to our pathway environment and the practical realities of athlete development in NSW.

Further information about the PhD opportunity is available via the link here and we encourage you to share this opportunity with anyone who may be interested.