Shooting Australia recently concluded its Inaugural Coach Development Program for 2026 with the final workshop held at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra from the 23-25 October.
Over the last 12-months, the Coach Development Program has provided learning opportunities to the coaches within, through online education sessions, one-on-one consultations and in-person coach development activities, this workshop marked the third and final in-person event of the 2026 program.
This event offered participants a chance to extend their learning beyond the shooting range, through coaching observation sessions with the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Centre of Excellence programs at the AIS.
Through these session, participants gained a unique insight into high-performance coaching in action and how principles from other sports could strengthen their own coaching practices. Whilst basketball and ISSF shooting differ considerably in their physical and competitive demands, participants identified and understood the common principles and shared training themes between the two sports.
One program participant explained the benefit of the observational sessions, highlighting that, “Being able to listen in on the coaches and assistants and understand what they were looking at in the athletes was eye opening. I really enjoyed it.”
As the final event on the 2026 Coach Development Program calendar, this workshop additionally offered participants the opportunity to put the last 12-months of learning into perspective and to acknowledge their growth throughout the program, as well as exploring how this year’s lessons could be translated into plans for 2027 and beyond.
Each participant was encouraged to develop and deliver a short presentation highlighting how the program had altered their coaching practices and shaped their priorities for future development.
The reflections from these presentations highlighted how the Coach Development Program has developed the participants’ approaches to coaching, enabling them to become more purposeful with their planning and making them more considerate of how mental performance skills could support their personal development, and the development of their athletes.
Reflecting on their experience over the last 12-months, one coach highlighted, “This program has taught me that being a good coach is about more than understanding the technical aspects of shooting. It’s about understanding the bigger picture of what makes an athlete successful and adapting my coaching to each individual athlete to get the best out of them.”
Speaking to the success of the program, Shooting Australia’s Coach Development Lead, Aurelie Gibson, said, “I’m incredibly pleased with the commitment each coach has brought to this inaugural program. Throughout the year, they’ve embraced learning, stretched themselves by experimenting with new ideas and adapted their learnings from the program to their own coaching environments.”
“The Coach Development Program has really been about creating an environment where coaches feel comfortable to question, experiment, share ideas and learn from each other. Seeing them take ownership of their development and build connections that will continue to support their learning has been particularly rewarding.”
Shooting Australia’s CEO, Adam Sachs, also reflected positively on the impact of the inaugural program, explaining “the Coach Development Program has worked to develop Shooting Australia’s relationship and connection with our sport’s coaching community, whilst also equipping its participants with the skills required to develop and progress their coaching practices. Programs like these directly contribute to the development of experienced coaches and indirectly support the development of talented future athletes, amplifying the success and longevity of shooting sports in Australia.
“Thank you to the Australian Sports Commission and for shooting’s Play Well investment, which made this Coach Development Program possible.”
