Brooke Kneebush [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the Modern Approach to Officiating webinar - Driving change to maximise impact. My name is Brooke Kneebush, and I'm the Senior Officiating Advisor in the Community Coaching and Officiating team at the Australian Sports Commission. And I'll be your emcee today. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today. And for me, today, that's the Ngunnawal people. And pay my respects to their elders, past and present. I'd also like to recognise the outstanding contribution that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make to society and sport in Australia, and to celebrate the power of sport, to promote reconciliation and to reduce inequality. Today we're directing our attention to community officiating. Officials play a vital role in facilitating environments for people from all walks of life to experience and enjoy sport that is safe, inclusive and a place where everyone feels welcome and is supported to achieve their goals. However, the sporting landscape has and is changing rapidly. Participant expectations, motivations and their relationship with sport has changed. Additionally, sports are facing new challenges to recruiting and retaining officials. Over the next 45 minutes we'll take a deep dive into the modern approach to officiating, which has been developed in collaboration with Australian national sporting organisations and national sporting organisations for people with disability will delve into the reasons behind introducing the modern approach, the potential for officials to positively impact the sporting experiences that participants have, what it means for sports officials and, of course participants. Later in this webinar, three panellists will share their perspectives on the need for a modern approach and how it translates to officiating in practice. To begin, we'll hear from our CEO at the Australian Sports Commission Kieren Perkins and ASC Director, Coaching and Officiating Cam Tradell who will set the scene for us to introduce the modern approach and share insights into why the approach is changing. It's my pleasure now to hand over to Kieren Perkins to give an official welcome and introduction.
Kieren Perkins [00:02:07] Thank you Brooke. Appreciate, appreciate the introduction. And I'd like to also acknowledge the traditional owners of the land. I'm also in Ngunnawal country today. Well, this is a, it's a fantastic opportunity to, to have this conversation because I think one of the things that is true is that there hasn't been very much that's changed in officiating education since around the year 2000. And the modern, the modern approach to officiating supports also the work that's been done around the modern approach to coaching which we launched in 2022. The modern approach to officiating supports the development, education and training of officials, really empowering them to facilitate safe, inclusive and enjoyable environments, in which all participants have that opportunity to achieve their, their own versions of success. You know, we know that officials play such a crucial role in sport and can have really immense impacts on the environments in which, people play. Thus influencing the experiences that those participants have. And you know, ultimately helping more people get involved in sport and staying involved for life. You know, it really is important that officials are equipped with the skills to meet the needs of today's participants and that officials are reinforcing, the modern coaching approach that, coaches are also taking, into their work. We want sport to better reflect the broader Australian population as well by engaging, empowering, and supporting, a more diverse officiating workforce who can who are capable of understanding the needs and motivations of all those diverse participants that, that we want to see involved in sport.
Brooke Kneebush [00:03:50] Thanks, Kieren. We're going to come back to you shortly. But first, Cam, in simple terms, can you explain what the modern officiating approach is and why is it so important for sport?
Cam Tradell [00:04:01] Yeah, fantastic Brooke. Look, I think it's really, really important for us to recognise that, that things have moved on and changed from over the last 30 to 40 years. I mean even, you know since 2000 when, when we, you know, really last did any work in this space. And it's moving quickly and evolving very, very quickly. Our ability to keep up with, with what we've got based on old knowledge or old information that we're working off becomes more difficult, and especially when we've got officials and coaches of course, that have got their own experiences, what sport used to look like. So they're trying to impart things that they used to do or things they used to love to society or participant these days who see different value and see different, reasons to be. And they've also got different abilities and relationships with sport. So, the modern approach is really about, helping others understand the different, the different ways people are engaging with sport these days. It's about the different relationships. It's about the different people and the changing demographic of Australia with regards to who they are and how they come into our sport. Understanding the needs, the wants and instead of saying to them, your role is just to, to officiate, it's just to apply the rules in one stock standard way and the way it looks at community at the entry level is the same as we want it in high performance to shifting that model to a more personal approach, to understanding people, to understanding what they’re there for, what they want to get out of the sporting environment and to supporting them to be better so they have a positive experience so that they do have a lifelong attachment to sport through the quality of the environments we provide. Aligning that, and I use the term of coaching and officiating are two sides of the same coin, ensuring that there's alignment between what the coach is providing and then how the official is creating the same environment is key to ensuring that those two parties are speaking to each other to ensure that they're there for the same reason, that they’re connecting and communicating really helps those other layers also create these positive environments. So, clarity on why we're there, how we're going to create the environment, what the positive experience looks like, and how we can all leave, making sure that sport is engaging and something we want to, we're intrinsically motivated to turn up next week, next year, and for the rest of our lives, based on the quality of what, the official can and the role that they can play in this experience.
Brooke Kneebush [00:07:00] Thanks, Cam. And I'm going to come back to you also, but I wanted to hear from Kieren now. Kieren, can you tell us about your experience as an athlete with officials, and how the environment they created might have influenced your own experience?
Kieren Perkins [00:07:16] Oh, look, you know, it's, it's an interesting thing to think back on because I think, like most of us, especially, our generation, you know, everyone just played sports. Like, I was reflecting on this recently with the engagement with children. And it's even the, the context of when I was a kid people would ask you what sports (plural) do you play? Whereas now kids would get asked, do you play sport? And, and it's a subtle change, but it's, you know, it is one of those significant things. And I think what came with that, of course, is, is a different engagement and introduction, and certainly volunteers were and are now and forever, so significant in the impact that I have. And I, you know, I played a lot of sport when I was young. But we can stick to the one that I ended up doing okay at, which of course, for me was swimming and the, the, the introduction into swimming for me was this environment where your own personal output and your achievement was what was celebrated. So it wasn't that competitive. You know, are you winning? Are you losing? Are you racing against people your same age, your same gender? And how do you compare to those? It was just to come and try, have fun, be involved and if you are improving because your time is being recorded, you know that was celebrated. And and that's what drew me in. That was that was my, my introduction to swimming. And you know what? I contemplate it now that some of the funny little things that happened along the way, like I clearly remember being around 11 or 12 at a club night one night and I came off the wall and did my stroke incorrectly. Something I'd been doing in practice, which my coach used to inform me was inappropriate. And I did it in this, this club night. And I remember getting out of the water and the referee pulled me over, and he just quietly said to me, “I saw that. I'm going to let you go this time. But if you do it again, I will have to disqualify you”. And it was just a moment. I mean, it put the fear of God on me. Don't worry. But it was a moment when you look at it was this moment of kindness. You know, he absolutely could have applied the rules, and it was appropriate to address the that rule at that moment in time. But just that simple, that small moment of kindness recognition. We're not playing for sheep stations here. This isn't something that's going to change anybody's dynamic of life. But hey, you know, be careful. But that that for me was, was I still remember that, you know, 40 almost years later to acknowledge that this was a simple little interaction. It was a momentary decision that that official made and it kept me involved in sport. And, you know, when you think about it, as we know from all the statistics that we've got, it's around that age that the participation rate starts to drop off dramatically. We see kids being graded. The pressure to train and compete more comes in. And unfortunately, the irony of that is that that's also that period when kids are entering puberty and entering that stage of life where actually we don't have the faintest idea what's going to happen next. Puberty can change the dynamic of the human being and how they’re physically built and how they actually are able to approach their sport in fundamental ways. And yet, you know, historically, we've put this immense amount of pressure around that time. And I guess, you know, I feel like I was fortunate that because of the environment that I was in, it didn't matter that at that age I was successful or not in the open context of winning or losing. But there was that focus on am I improving? Am I getting better, or am I taking accountability for how I'm going? And because of that, it enabled me to keep going. And in all honesty, it wasn't until, you know, I was 15 or 16, which for a swimmer is getting up, up in age, that I showed any kind of, you know, what people would call talent or likelihood of future success, which, you know, makes me, I guess, a good example of, of the importance of providing that great environment to help people through because you just don't know, given the right encouragement, the right support, and ultimately, the time to develop and make the right choices as an individual, when that person might find their sweet spot and, and do something more and, you know, that was, that was, that was where I landed, fortunately.
Brooke Kneebush [00:11:51] Thanks so much for sharing, Kieren. I hate to think what would have happened if that, that official had of addressed that situation differently. It could have changed a whole lot of things for, for your future in swimming. But, I'm going to move on now to Cam and talk about contextual relevance when it comes to the modern approach to officiating. So, for example, officiating sport in an inner-city location. I'm from Melbourne myself and officiating sport in a remote Australian town, for example, or a smaller community might have different requirements to ensure that all people are able to participate safely, inclusively and enjoy the environment. There might be adaptations required. Officials need to understand the needs and motivations of the participants. And, also officiating young children who are just starting out competing requires a different approach to officiating adults who might be experienced, and they might be competing, perhaps for social reasons. How does the modern approach support officials to officiate according to those various contexts that they might find themselves in?
Cam Tradell [00:13:07] Yeah. It's a it's a really interesting one Brooke. For, for a long time now, we've been really good at measuring how many officials we've got or how many coaches we've got, not how effective they are. So we, we sort of we've got this disconnect between how many we've got and what are they doing at the coalface and how how effective are they at playing a particular role? So, this contextual relevance becomes really important. So, the old methodologies where we had a level for scale, so some consistency across what we did, a level one had a certain amount of information in it that was the same in Brisbane as it is in Perth, which is the same in Cunnamulla, Quilpie and Thargomindah becomes difficult because you've got this one size fits all approach to something that's quite dynamic and needs different focus areas and support pieces. So, understanding what you need in the different areas, understanding your participant, understanding the motivations of the people to be there, becomes a really key factor in in what you need and what the tools are you need to then deliver on a really high quality environment. So, there's a there's a shift in the dynamic between trying to drive something out because we want to get something that's really scalable so that we can count things and and we can control it, to what are your considerations that you need to, to be aware of? How do you ascertain or pull out the information you need to then create the right environment? And then what are the educational development tools that you can draw upon to then help you be the best that you can be in your environment? So, it's a, it's a, it's a fundamental shift from one size fits all and try and fit into what we provide you, to: here's some foundational requirements that underpin everything you do and then provide the contextual relevance through the, the physical and geographical environment you're in, the tools you've got at your disposal and the participant, their requirements, needs and, and adaptations that you require to then inform what you do next with regards to your officiating journey. So, there's so many other factors, that I would say that now we're starting to really recognize, service and support. So, as we move forward, rather than asking how many officials do you have, how many coaches do you have, ask how effective are they at then supporting the different environments, supporting our different products, our different programs, our different competitions? How do we target them? And then think about the recruitment, rather than just having a one-dimensional recruitment strategy of: we need officials to support our game or our sport. What about the other people? What about people that are there who want to drive social inclusion and see this as a vehicle to how they can drive social inclusion? When you reflect on your sport in your environment, why doesn't it reflect the community you live in? And then how can you play a role in being a key driver in ensuring we can start to bring some authenticity to the “we're a sport for all” tag? How do we start to really play our roles and responsibilities in this through our education, training and development opportunities for officials and of course for coaches in at the coalface driving these key behaviours that make sport a really welcoming place that embraces and, celebrates everyone who's there for all reasons? And we can be there and end up at the top end standing on a, on a dias listening to our national anthem, which is a fantastic place to, to end up. But you know what? It's also fantastic that you end up in a lifelong enjoyment of multiple sports, having a fantastic time and seeing sport as not just something that we do to compete, but something we do to socialise, connect and give back. So this, this whole journey and approach is about really highlighting those key aspects of the role of a, of an official and how we start to support our sports in recognising that we need to measure differently and look at how we support differently.
Brooke Kneebush [00:18:04] Great, cam, thanks for that. And that leads really nicely. Slee onto, what we'll talk about with our first panellist. But first, at this stage, I'd like to thank Kieren for his contribution to the webinar today and say goodbye as he logs off and gets back onto his really busy day. Thanks again Kieren.
Kieren Perkins [00:18:20] No worries. Thanks Brooke. Thank you everybody.
Brooke Kneebush [00:18:24] So it's been a collaborative effort to develop the modern approach to officiating. We've engaged with NSOs NSODs in workshops and at the ASC Community Coaching Conference, Coaching and Officiating conference. We've also engaged extensively with the Australian Sports Commission internally integrating with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Participation, Volunteering and Coaching teams and also Sport Integrity Australia. This work is ongoing as the term modern suggests, to keep up with change, will continue to stay closely connected with all of our stakeholders, and we encourage sports to engage with the ASC Community Coaching and Officiating team advisors for support to implement the modern approach. We accept that each sport faces different challenges. They're at different levels of maturity. They may have paid or volunteer workforces or likely a combination of both. Sports may be team sports, individual sports with different types of officials, including dynamic stationary, criteria based or race officials. It's not a one size fits all approach, as Cam said, but support is available. So, I'm really pleased to introduce our panel members now. Tess Gilbertson, Head of Capability at Cricket Australia, welcome, Rochelle Eime Professor of Sport Science at Federation University. Thank you for joining us, Rochelle. And Deepali Mistry International Judo Referee who's actually coming to us from Budapest today, so at 3:00 in the morning. So, thank you to Deepali. Our panellists are going to talk about why we need change, the changes that sports are beginning to introduce to modernise the approach to officiating, strategic reasoning for the changes. So, we're going to start off with Tess to begin with. Tess, Cricket Australia has been working closely with the ASC over the last 12 months and has made some big changes in the coaching space and is beginning to introduce change in officiating. Can you talk us through the reason, first of all, for needing to make a change?
Tess Gilbertson [00:20:30] Thanks Brooke and thank you so much for having me part of today's panel. I think this is such an important initiative in around how we collectively come together to shape amazing participation experiences across all sports. And from a cricket perspective, we're really passionate about ensuring cricket is a sport for all and that we're really honing in on what are the the roles that we need our officials and coaches to play in actually bringing that to life. They are so crucial in creating those moments that matter for our participants and players across the pathway. And I think this is just a great, you know, step change in how we can actually do that as a, as a collective. From a cricket perspective, sort of looking back on the journey that we've been on and over a number of years, I think Cam you spoke to it really nicely before is that, you know, we've got to fundamentally start to shift the way that we sort of support and I guess service, service the games that we are all leading. And in that, from a cricket perspective, we recognise that it is a really complex sport, but we really want to be able to demystify the role and the important role that that umpires are playing. And in that thinking about that, well, if if we are to think about the role that Mum, Dad volunteers can play in, I guess in a world where all sports are not necessarily competing for officials, but, absolutely having to work really hard at bringing more officials into the game, how do we make it as easy as possible for them and support them along that that journey? So, cricket for some time has had a really a formal accreditation process around the way that we support umpire development. And in that we recognised probably 12, 18 months ago that it was time to refresh and really reinvigorate what those opportunities are to, I guess, make it more of a compelling opportunity for someone to get involved not only from their, you know, starting their officiating or umpiring journey in cricket, but also then thinking about the opportunities they had to give back and playing into that role that it's more than just, you know, turning up to, to make the decisions or the calls in cricket. It's actually around the impact that you have with the community. So, over the last sort of 12, 18 months, we've been working as a collective across Australian Cricket to really rethink what is the opportunity that we have in this space to dial up how we can create and reshape some exceptional umpiring experiences across the board. And, you know, we're very much at the start line of our journey, Brooke, but there's a long and there's a long way to go in what we want to do. But over, in the last 12 months, have really started to focus in on those junior cricket experiences and the environments that we need to be able to create for participants. And Cam, I think you spoke so nicely to it before around that context specific, learning and the role that people play. So, from a, a junior cricket perspective, we recognise that you don't need to be an expert of the laws of cricket. And, you know, thinking about the the role that you need to play in creating safe, inclusive welcoming environments, that's paramount. And upholding the spirit of cricket, absolutely. But the role that you play as an official at that level is really around facilitating. And I think Kieren story really brought that to life as well, in terms of that. It's not the right in the wrong, but it's how do you actually help kids and participants develop that lifelong love of the game. So, from a development opportunity perspective, one of the first steps and changes we've made is to really think about our offerings in that space. And really, the first sort of cab off the rank has been the introduction of a new junior cricket umpiring development program. And it's in its infancy, but the idea is that we've tried to really simplify the role that Mum, Dad, you know, player can take on in showing up and taking on the umpiring role at a junior cricket match and breaking down what it, what it looks like for them. So, it's not overwhelming, but it's there. This is the information that you need to know. This is the role that you'll play. But most importantly, how do we help you be authentic self out there when you're on the pitch, working with kids? So that I think is paramount in terms of helping to create those positive experiences. But also, then what does that look like across our sort of umpiring pathway? And we're very much in the process of reimagining some of those development opportunities and experiences and thinking about the role that we play in, in creating, I guess, a world where it is more accessible because people understand what, what it takes to get involved. I think within that, umpiring cricket is a way of connecting and staying close to the game. And for the most part, parents are there because kids, kids are playing or there's an opportunity to potentially move away from, from playing into either a coaching or an umpiring role. And that's one thing that we really want to dial up is the support that we have in that space as well, to make it more accessible, to transition across because the stories that we hear are phenomenal in terms of the impact around giving back to community, but staying close to the to the club and being part of something bigger, where you get to see the joy and the satisfaction of people, kids and participants progressing. So that's that's something that we'll look to really, I guess, dial up and explore further. Over the last 12 months. We have, we sort of refocused, I guess, some of our storytelling and, repositioning ever so slightly. But, it's a really positive step change in how we actually build a narrative around what it takes to be an amazing umpire and honing in on some of those intrinsic motivators. Because I think, Cam you started to touch on some of that as well, is that “what's in it for me as an umpire”? Not only that, the role that you play in getting out there, but it's actually thinking about those lifelong skills that you can develop by stepping into the role. So, we really want to hone in on that and use that as an opportunity to think about: it's not just getting out there and making, as I said earlier, the top call of just, you know, calling out the, the decisions that you need to make. There's, there's more to it. It's around building communication skills. It's negotiating through complex decisions and all that sort of stuff. But, how we support and build that capability as part of our development opportunities is going to be really important as well.
Brooke Kneebush [00:26:23] Thanks Tess. That's fantastic to hear. And so much of that resonates with, as you said, what what Cam had to say. And I know, what Rochelle's going to talk about. And also to Deepali in her role, you know, as an official on the ground in the community. Tess it is early days, but are you able to gauge how the the change this, this new approach is being, accepted and and felt and lived?
Tess Gilbertson [00:26:49] Yes. So very, very, very early days. So it's probably had to, I think, to your call that can really measure the impact. But I think from a conversation perspective, we are starting to shift away from, you know, it's not just about the numbers, but it is about the impact and the experience. And, from a participation perspective, making sure that we can support players coming through junior cricket, into, you know, other sort of cricketing pathways is going to be really critical and that will help to gauge success. But it's also around the, I guess, the momentum that we've got from an Australian Cricket network as well, that that's a critical part of this journey that we're on that you know, we need to be in it as a collective and really working through the how do we best support our, our, you know, participants, but associations in driving some of this forward? And there is a long way to go. But I have to say that, there's some real energy around the the opportunity that we have to to continue to shape the way forward and think differently, not only from a formal development perspective, but really leaning into what some of our, sort of reinvigorated recruitment, sort of retention, opportunities are as well. So, small steps, but really positively, received to date. And looking forward to, to continuing the journey over the next, you know, 18 months, two years as it, as we continue to to lean into it.
Brooke Kneebush [00:28:06] Watch this space. Thank you, Tess. So we're going to turn now to Rochelle. Rochelle, people's motivations to participate in sport have changed over time or perhaps even been misunderstood in the past. And modern participants want to participate in different ways beyond traditional competition formats. With a modern approach, how could people participate in new ways that are aligned with their motivations?
Rochelle Eime [00:28:35] Yeah. Hi Brooke. Many people do enjoy the traditional competitive, sport model with training during the week and inter-club competitions on the weekends, but that doesn't suit everyone. Not everyone's really good at sport and some want a less competitive focus. Many individuals are motivated to play sport just to have fun and to be with their friends. Many don't also want to commit to a full season or half a day on the weekend for competition. And traditionally we see a drop off during adolescence, when their lives get busy. Their social lives, their academic lives, their work lives and also in parallel when sport gets quite serious for those on talent development pathways. However in recent years we're actually seeing, quite a decline in participation for those aged 10 to 14 years, which is a real concern because that's the biggest peak generally in participation. And since 2017 to 2 to now, we're seeing quite a decline. And that's going to impact not just community sport, but elite talent development sport pathways as well. So we do need a modern approach. Traditional sport suits those that are very good at sport and dedicated. But we don't generally offer another option of organised participation for children and youth that is more flexible, more individual, person centred approach. And a concept that we've, we've called and published called Sport For Me it's it's still sport. It's still organised sport, just done differently. It's a more flexible approach, with a specific focus on, you know, fun, friends, skill development and play, in a safe and inclusive environment, just not so structured and committed and formal, formalised and with such a focus on winning in competitions.
Brooke Kneebush [00:30:18] Wow. That's the modern approach all over, isn't it? And so importantly for us, what role can officials play in fostering this type of environment, one that promotes participation in sport for life?
Rochelle Eime [00:30:32] Yeah, focusing on the participants enjoyment and I resonate with the other speakers today too. It can't be about numbers on a spreadsheet. We've got to get away from sport policy of increasing your numbers. We should have a focus on retention, of of individuals. And if they have a good experience and they have a good time in sport and enjoy it, they're going to come back. So, I'd love to see a KPI on retention, rather than an increase in numbers. And if we can have a good environment and a good experience, they will return and they'll bring their families and friends. We need to make people feel like they belong. And, you know, sometimes we structure sport to fit into schedules, to fit into rules, to fit into all these structures that us as adults, sort of make up. But we don't focus on the enjoyment of the children. And I'm glad Kieren, spoke about a really good experience he has had. But I remember, my son, playing in a tennis tournament in Ballarat in the middle of winter. I think he was about 8 or 9. And we're all rugged up in, you know, several layers of Kathmandu, you know, and, he, he had just an Adidas hoodie on. He didn't have the hood on and was warming up to play tennis and just a, a tennis tournament, you know, under 10s or 12s or something. And, it got to the end of the warm up and the official came over and said, “look, Jared, you've got to take your jumper off. It's not, TA policy or approved, you know, uniform”. And the poor kid was just frozen. He just was there to play tennis, and he didn't really he didn't understand at all. And, he wouldn't even understand what, what what they were talking about, and, and, and I resonate with what Kieren said about having a conversation and then putting yourself in the perspective of that individual. It's just a little kid wanting to play tennis. It's, it's it's not a Grand Slam. And so I think we really need to be, yes, we do need rules. But we need to think about the experience of the individuals and, sometimes be a little bit flexible and make sure that those rules are in accordance with the, the, the level of the play that they are.
Brooke Kneebush [00:32:41] Fantastic. Rochelle. And I think, flexibility really is key to that. And we're going to… Thank you Rochelle. We're going to move on to, to Deepali. And, I know that she's got, more to add to that and how how it happens in the community on, on the ground officiating and how you can have that flexibility while still maintaining the integrity of sport and and the game and making it fair and equitable for everyone. So so Deepali, over to you and thank you again for joining us. What does the modern approach mean for community, sport and competitions?
Deepali Mistry [00:33:22] And I again, thank you very much for having me here today. And, fantastic discussion so far. And I totally, resonate with what's been discussed around the flexibility, having inclusive having, environment, which is safe. The community sports environment, it's all about creating enjoyable, respectful and more importantly, safe for everyone involved. Like novice, less experienced players, anxious parents, passionate coaches who participate in these events. So it's all together, and especially at this level, the modern approach at the community level, focus not only on applying the rules by the book, but more educational. Making sport accessible for everyone, being sensitive to the needs, of those who want we want to be involved like the players, coaches, parents, volunteers, everyone. And, I think we've heard few examples where you can create a good or bad experience, depending on how you react, to, that particular situation. It's, it's about nurturing that safety and developing that love for the sports and have and make encouraging to having a go. So for example, we have novice divisions where new starters can compete, and at the same level, rather than getting defeated by the experienced player and not wanting to come back. Or you can see a new player starting to cry because of the newfound pressure they've seen, and that time you need to pause and give them that chance to, calm down and on their terms, come back and join the sport again. You know, we don't have to kind of start with the watch and say, oh, time is up. At the community sport level is all about embracing diversity as well. So we are trying to give everyone entered a chance. So, by continuing we're trying to combining divisions, trying to relax mandatory uniform rules, trying to make custom rules for young cadets. And especially we spoke about the teens and puberty years. And that is the time when in judo, a lot of like technical introduction happens. You can do a lot of technical more technicality. And I think having that safe environment to be able to make mistakes without having to regret the mistake you have made, is very important and, encouraging involvement, achieving all version of success, as you mentioned earlier, and also at that level is important to kind of introduce that progressive pathway I feel is not only about encouraging but also introduction to that. You can go volunteers. You can achieve a lot by doing here. So we are not just focusing on social aspect, but we are also nurturing the future of our sport.
Brooke Kneebush [00:36:17] Thank you Deepali. Now Deepali. I recall that, in judo you have a way of enabling newer, younger participants to ensure that they get a certain number of bouts rather than if they get knocked out in their first one, that’s it and they've travelled all this way to go to go to a competition, but they got knocked out. Can you explain how how you how you modify the format to enable that?
Deepali Mistry [00:36:45] Absolutely. So, we as I mentioned, we try to give everyone who is participated to go. So if you don't have anyone in your division, we'll create combined divisions. If you have only three people and only one person can get, you know, win or lose, we try to do a double repechage where they get at least two, two fights with each other and try to get more experience and that's what they're there for. And this way, by relaxing a little bit more rigid structure of having that sport, we start getting more inclusion. And it becomes for parents as well. They’re, there there is lot of effort, money, flexible goes in it. And I think, creating that kind of flexibility is very important.
Brooke Kneebush [00:37:29] Yeah, great. And talking about inclusion, can you tell us about the No Limits competition and how judo's judo officials can adapt and create safe and inclusive environments in that No Limits?
Deepali Mistry [00:37:43] Yeah. Sure, sure. I think this is a subject of, very close to my heart. And, we started this journey a few years ago, when it was really in infancy. And we are expanding that community, participating in No Limits competitions now. And, getting a range of players in this category with special needs, starting from minor ADHD, autism, partial blindness, or deafness, complete blindness. So we have range of special needs. And we have a comprehensive No Limit program to ensure, sports is for everyone to enjoy. And we have few specialised clubs who are focusing on No Limits training now. We’re, they are creating pathways for IBSA Games or Paralympics, but there are clubs which are running parallel programs alongside regular training, and everyone is practising as one and being mindful of what each other's needs are. And that fundamentally at the community level is very positive from a whole community perspective. And it is based on the same skills, movements and tactics, and respect of the sports. And athletes truly rely on their senses and instinct to overcome the opponent in No Limits. So, we, we give them that chance and, give them that time to use their instincts and, react to what is needed rather than, again, applying the rules and being by the book. You know, I think that is the one thing we really are trying to move away from, and especially at community level. You know, so, for example, but, we may be officiating one match, but for the No Limits athlete, it might be life, it might be enjoyment of most important undertaking or, appreciating possibility, giving happiness. Like, there is so much in there for No Limits, which you can see on their faces and sometime, we see a player competing in open division and winning and, kind of happiness they achieve is, incredible. And it's very satisfying. As a referee, we need to be adaptive, sensitive and vigilant, and fair, to what the needs are. So to both, open divisions and, to No Limits, at some times they are together and we educate ourselves with the associated protocols, adaptive rules, ensuring the sports, it's, for everyone to enjoy, as I mentioned. And, also not overcompensate and strike that balance, you know, because sometimes we try to be overcompensating and trying to be more caring than it should be because they want to have a fair go and they want to win by their own, you know, skill set. And that's what I feel that, it is, we are building this, today's and tomorrow's, community, which is all inclusive and diverse.
Brooke Kneebush [00:40:44] Fabulous, Deepali. Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing your insights there. I'm going to hand to Cam now to, respond to our panellists.
Cam Tradell [00:40:56] Yeah, I'll just sort of sum up with, with what was spoken of in some really, key, takeouts there where Tess spoke of the importance of demystifying some of the sports or the, the, you know, the traditional intricacies of the sport and making it as easy as possible for people to engage and also to to play a role and see themselves in that role. How to give back, to the, to the community and how to give back to your sport. But importantly, what's in it for me and how to turn up and be your authentic self? And I think that's really key, is that there's got to be personality in in our officials and being able to turn up and, turn up and accurately and authentically represent yourself is a key component in this. Rochelle spoke of, everyone's need to be provided an opportunity to participate. And, and but have those environments facilitated so to be to be valued so that, people are putting a focus on not just the competitive levels. And of course, the competitive levels are extremely important, but also, just putting equal value on the others and making sure that others can align to that and support those environments, because that may be their driver too. She spoke of, the sport being a ‘sport for me’, having this, very ‘me’ focussed approach on how we provide these environments and focusing on the enjoyment and making retention a key component of, of how we sort of measure success. Not how many more can we get in the front door, but it's how many is staying inside the house that becomes really important to us. Deepali spoke about the flexibility, enjoyment, but importantly, respectful ways that we provide our sport and how we can provide that. That is through interactions and through creating these environments, these respectful, interactions that that make people believe and feel valued, becomes key. Making sure that we make sport accessible, providing opportunities for everyone, but not to the detriment of safety and also the integrity of the sport. So, understand there's some underpinning, philosophical pieces that we hold true to. So that was a really key piece of of the three speakers of, of of what we sort of, are looking to drive. So, keeping that in mind, if we look at the retention conversation, sport understanding their churn rate and the value to reducing churn, to actually then adding numbers to their, to their recruitment pieces. You don’t have to work so hard to recruit if your retention strategies are working harder. Not confusing competition and competitiveness. People are competing at their own levels at all time, and officials play a key role in making sure that people compete, keeping in mind there's a car ride home for those participants. So, how do the officials play a role in making sure that these environments are communicated well? And, and, are showcased for what they are. Officials play a key role in this. And I'm not saying that it's been undervalued before, but we're certainly not undervaluing the role that an official plays now and the quality of support that we are providing now. Giving and empowering officials to play a key role in this environment and showcasing them as leaders in the environment of sport becomes a really key driver to people enjoying their sporting, experience. So that's why the modern approach to officiating is so important. That's why we're putting so much emphasis on it, why we're working with so many sports. And of course, as we said before, why we're aligning it to our, modern approach to coaching to ensure that we've got alignment and people on the same page with regards to what these quality environments look like. Thanks, Brooke.
Brooke Kneebush [00:45:06] Thanks, Cam. So, I want to say thank you to all of our panel members for sharing your time and insights today, and for your ongoing support as we embed the modern approach to officiating in in the way that we do sport in Australia and to bring it to life for all of our participants. To sustain the change to a modern approach it takes collaboration and, contribution of sport officials, coaches and participants. And after hearing from our panellists today, I'm sure you'll all agree that we're off to a great start. So thanks again for joining us and have a great day.