AO Press Release, January 11, 2018

The 2018 Grand Slam Coaches Conference kicks off on Thursday and is set to welcome more than 250 coaches from Australia and around the world.

Now in its eleventh year the annual Grand Slam Coaches Conference will include three days of seminars, demonstrations and workshops hosted by some of Australia and the world’s most prominent industry experts. The conference will run from Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 January.

Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley will welcome participants on day one and said the conference was a great opportunity to grow the coaching talent both in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

“The Grand Slam Coaches Conference is a fantastic opportunity to welcome coaches both from here in Australia, and around the world, working at all levels of the sport.

“It’s a priority for us to grow and develop our coaches at every level of the tennis pathway to ensure our players, whether they be ANZ Tennis Hot Shots participants or elite high performance athletes, have access to the best possible talent pool of coaches.

“Great coaches are the key to growing the sport.”

The impressive lineup of speakers includes:

John Ball, Google Australia and New Zealand Head of Small to Medium Businesses

Mike Barrell, Founder and CEO of evolve9

Carol Fox, former professional life-saver and women in leadership expert

Dr Ric Charlesworth, two-time gold medal coach of the Australian national hockey team and world-class speaker

Nicole Pratt, Tennis Australia’s Head of Women’s Tennis and Fed Cup Coach