Game Changer: Surviving To Thriving With Mental Toughness

Dr. Steve Harris
International Presenter
Business Leadership Consultant
Chief Executive Officer: ETA College

Dr. Harris is an international presenter and the CEO of eta College (a college specializing in coaching, exercise and sport management and wellness qualifications).

Dr. Harris builds his presentations and workshop sessions around the customer needs using the underpinning architecture of Mental Toughness. His MBA dissertation was on performance improvement and his PhD thesis was on mental toughness, using the Springboks and their stakeholder community as his research cohort. He is a former world champion in Surf lifesaving and the author of; Surviving to Thriving: Mental Toughness and the novel Impimpi; Black anger and White fear.

In this session, Dr. Harris will explain how to use the 7 steps of Mental Toughness to move from surviving to thriving.

COMFORTABLE IN CHAOS: DEVELOPING THE FUTURE ATHLETES OF TOMORROW

Dr. Des Ryan
HEAD OF ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE (ACADEMY)
Arsenal FC

Arsenal FC Academy is one of the most successful football factories globally. Some of it’s graduates include Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Cole, Jack Wilshire, Kieran Gibbs and Hector Bellerin, to name a few.

Dr. Ryan is the Head of Sport Medicine and Athletic Development at the Academy. Dr.Ryan has incredible athletic development experience having originally been involved in rugby, working for the IRFU and Connacht, as well as Ireland A and the senior team.

It appears to be a race to the bottom, where scouting children as young as 6 years old and offering them scholarships are the norm. Parents, media and the pressures of an aspiring professional footballer needs to be managed to perfection, so it’s hardly surprising to hear of teenagers becoming disillusioned with the game before they have even made a first-team appearance.

In this session, Dr Ryan will equip you with the tools to create an environment in which young athletes enjoy what they’re doing and gradually learn to manage the environment they’re in.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & TRANSFORMATION: CREATING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE

Kevin Clayton
HEAD: DIVERSITY, INCLUSION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (NBA)

The Cleveland Cavaliers (“Cavs”) compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Cavs have had some of the most impressive all time greats playing for them, including, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Larry Nauance, to name a few.

Kevin is the Head of Diversity, inclusion and Community Engagement for the Cavs, which is only one of four sports teams across all professional sports to have a dedicated Diversity and Inclusion department. As a former basketball player, Kevin started his career with Procter & Gamble and has had prominent roles within the likes of Bon Secours, Mercy Health, Russell Corp and the United States Tennis Association.

In this session, Kevin will be addressing what drives team dynamics and how diversity and Inclusion is imperative to team performance. He will provide you with solutions on how to break down the ‘‘barriers’’ to drive intrinsic inclusion and leadership competency at every level. This will include a discussion on community engagement and how this impacts the success of the team.

BEYOND PERFORMANCE: DEVELOPING TEAMWORK & LEADERSHIP IN ATHLETES

Karen Fuhrmeister
High Performance Consultant
Hogan Assessments

Founded in 1987, Hogan leads the world in personality assessment and leadership development. With products and services in 56 countries and 47 languages, what began as a small start-up has evolved into the industry leader serving more than half of the Fortune 500 businesses.

Fans, coaches and other stakeholders have long been interested in determining which athletes will be successful. This interest led to the development of training and selection programs for all levels of athletes. However, other areas of athlete development, such as teamwork and leadership are also important to develop in high-functioning sports teams.

In this session, Karen will discuss how sports became embedded in our culture, with an emphasis on South African sports and provide a review of current sports practices. In addition, this session will cover other important aspects of performance, such as leadership, decision making and teamwork, as well as how to leverage personality to measure and develop those characteristics to increase team and athlete performance.

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS: RECRUIT FOR CHARACTER & DEVELOP THE TALENT TO BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM

Jon Haines
General Manager: Football Operations
Gold Coast Suns (ALF)

The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian Rules football club in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based in the Gold Coast in Queensland.

Jon is the General Manager of Football Operations and his areas of passion and expertise include high-performance coaching, strategy development, creation of high-performance culture and the building of leadership capability.

In this session, Jon will discuss the critical challenge of identifying talent vs character and share a character development model, which supports the creation of a high performing and sustainable elite team environment.

TBC

Ilhaam Groenewald
CHIEF OF SPORT
UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH

The Coaching Evolution: How Belgium Went From 66 To Number 1 In The World Through Coach Education

Kris Van Der Haegen
DIRECTOR: COACH EDUCATION
BELGIUM FA

Kris van der Haegen is Director of Coach Education for the Royal Belgian Football Association. Kris is one of the top architects of Belgian football and has been involved in elevating players such as Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, Romeulu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyns to unheard-of levels of success.

In this session, Kris will equip you with the coach education toonecessary to build a solid foundation and structure that drivinnovation, education and success.

A Coaching Methodology: Building A Holistic High-Performance Environment

Prof. Pieter Kruger
HIGH PERFORMANCE CONSULTANT: MUNSTER RUGBY
DIRECTOR: CENTER FOR HEALTH & HUMAN PERFORMANCE
DIRECTOR: COGNASITY

1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem each year. In the United Kingdom, it is calculated that businesses could save up to £8 billion per year by tackling mental health issues.

Prof. Kruger has worked with teams such as the Springboks, Brumbies, Munster, Sharks, Lions and the Harlequins, not to mention BP, BDO and Octopus to name a few. In this session, Pieter will show you the trends of mental health challenges in elite teams, as well as provide you with a good understanding of mental health problems, and the impact they have on performance.

This will help you recognise these problems and deal with the issues at hand, to improve the player and team performance.

A Coaching Methodology: Building A Holistic High Performance Environment

Lisa Alexander
Head Coach: Australian Diamonds
Netball Australia

Lisa is the former Head Coach for the Australian National Netball Team, who retired in May 2020. The Diamonds dominance of international netball is incredible. Since netball's inclusion in the Commonwealth Games in 1998, the Diamonds have won three gold medals and their historical success has ensured being consistently raked number 1 in the INF World Rankings. They are currently number one in the world!

In this session, Lisa will share key components for building a holistic high-performance environment. Lisa will explain the importance of athlete wellbeing, preparation, accountability, performance psychology and culture to equip you with the framework and tools, to build a solid performance system to sustain success.