
The Industry Currency Conference for 2021 is now over!
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- Learn from six Sport and Recreation Industry Professionals
- Engage with VET in Schools Education Specialists
- Get fresh, new ideas and contemporary teaching methods
- Get ahead of the game with new teaching strategies for 2022
We are excited to announce the VCE VET Sport and Recreation Industry Currency Conference 2021!
You will hear from an amazing panel of speakers across Sport and Recreation and Vocational Education. They will be sharing their expert insights and knowledge to help you get new ideas and contemporary practices you can embed in your teaching.
You will go into 2022 up to date and ready to deliver current and industry-relevant learning for your students.
Hosted by Casey Helman
CEO of VET Lab for Schools
VET Education Expert
Casey Helman is the CEO of the VET Lab for Schools and a trusted expert in Vocational Education in Australia. Casey is dedicated to building better learners through an innovative approach to delivering VET in Schools. Her passion is building an RTO that partners with schools to deliver a quality service that they can trust
Casey is an experienced educator, RTO Owner, consultant and Quality Auditor with over 15 years’ experience.
Casey has organised an amazing group of Sport and Recreation Industry Professionals and excellent VET Educators to help you get you Industry Currency up to date.

Featuring six amazing Industry Speakers
We are thrilled to have six speakers who are Professional Coaches, Teachers and Sports Administrators with extensive and diverse experience from elite sporting clubs to childhood and community sport and recreation.

Anthony Alsop
General Manager - Marketing and Communications at Melbourne Rebels
Guest Speaker: Social Media Tools for Sport Engagement
Anthony is a marketing and communications professional who has worked in the sports industry both locally and abroad over the past decade.
Having started his own consultancy focusing on the intersection of sport and social media, he then moved into the AFL industry where he spent a large portion of the next 10 years. Other stops included working for the NBA in New York and as Head of Digital for 7Sport. He currently works for the Melbourne Rebels, where he is General Manager of Marketing and Communications.
Andrew Sturgess
Senior Coach at Coburg Football Club
Guest Speaker: Coaching Fundamentals and Managing Groups
Andrew is the current Senior Men’s Coach of the Coburg Football Club in the Victorian Football League after being appointed to the position in August 2019.
Andrew is a teacher by trade with a unique educational background, having worked at Parkville College for most of his professional career. Parkville College is unique because it is the only school that operates with the Juvenile Justice Centres here in Victoria, servicing both the Parkville and Malmsbury campuses.
While football coaching is Andrew’s passion, his experiences at Parkville College have helped shape who he is, how he treats people and how he leads.
Andrew is passionate about building relationships, being part of a team, leading others, challenges and coaching. He loves seeing others succeed and grow, personally and professionally.
“I look forward to sharing my journey with you and some of my philosophies around leadership, coaching and education.”


Tamara Mason
Sports Specialist
Guest Speaker: The Important of Non-Instructional Sport
Tamara Mason is a sports specialist with more than 16 years experience gained in many sectors of the Australian sports industry.
Working for both national and state organisations, Tamara enjoyed understanding the desires of national goals and strategies and designing resources to implement them at the grass roots level. Moving across into local government provided Tamara with the opportunity to gain further experience working with the community, where her focus is on creating opportunities for women and girls to play sport.

Melanie Pratt
Sports Development Officer at Cardinia Shire Council
Guest Speaker: The Important of Non-Instructional Sport
Melanie Pratt has spent the last 15 years in the sports, participation and club development space and was one of the first council officers employed in sports development (non facility role) within local government. Melanie is recognised by industry peers as a Local Government Sports and Club Development “guru” and shares her knowledge of the space through mentoring, networking, presentations and education.
She has a genuine passion and is dedicated to community development and club and volunteer capacity building as well as looking at industry trends and innovative ways to support participation in sport and physical activity at local community level. Melanie thrives on partnerships and collaboration in working to create inclusive and sustainable community and club environments.

Jessica Adkins-Barber
Owner, operator and teacher of swimming and water safety, The Little Swim School
Guest Speaker: Coaching Essentials in Foundation Athletes
Jessica has always been a passionate swimmer and lover of water safety. During her school years she was active in Junior Lifeguard clubs and squad swimming training. The natural progression was to complete her Pool Lifeguard course and gain employment. Jessica started as a Birthday party leader, Lifeguard and Swim teacher at Dandenong Oasis in 1999. What she thought was a hobby turned out to be her lifelong passion.
Being a Swim teacher and Lifeguard Jessica was able to follow the summers and work in Australia and the USA for 5 years. Once she decided to stay in the land of Aus, she developed her skillset and moved into aquatic facility management, working for local government, and management groups.
In 2015 Jessica decided it was time to leave big centres and create her own swim centre. In April 2019 her dream became a reality; she built and funded her own swim centre – The Little Swim School – starting out with 0 students, and Jessica herself as the only teacher. She worked her butt off to deliver passionate and personalised service. With the help of the team The Little Swim School has have grown to 650 students, and a staff team of 20!

Hal Marsden
Head of Strength and Power Coach at Western Force
Guest Speaker: The Key Concepts of Strength and Conditioning Coaching
Hal is originally from Northern England and even though he has been in the country since 2012 his accent is as strong as his back squat.
Hal is humble as he is knowledgeable. After working as a Strength and Conditioning coach for rugby clubs in the UK, Hal became the Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Melbourne Storm for the five years. He was then Head of Performance at Edge Training, an elite training gym in Melbourne, before moving to Perth to join Western Force Rugby Club as Head of Strength and Power Coach.
Our program is useful, contemporary, and relevant.
The day is packed with real-life experience, case studies and practical tools you can implement in your teaching strategies immediately.
Coaching Fundamentals and Managing Groups
Senior VFL Coach and Teacher
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Get up to date on coaching philosophies and strategies
- Different coaching philosophies
- Strategies for managing groups with competing expectations and preferences
- Insights into the psychology behind people and performance.
The Importance of Non-Instructional Sport
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Understand the role that non-instructional sport has in our communities
- Take a deeper look into non-traditional sports facilities in local government areas
- Learn how to enhance our teaching and engagement in learning about sport and its role in developing local communities.
Social Media Tools for Sport Engagement
GM Marketing and Communications, Melbourne Rebels
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Get a deeper understanding of the impact of social media on sport
- Hear real-life case studies from elite sporting clubs
- Insights into the tools sporting clubs use for fan engagement
- How social media and digital communications impact the club's financial performance.
Coaching Essentials in Foundation Athletes
Owner, The Little Swim School
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A practical guide on how to coach foundation athletes
- Critical communication skills
- The importance of demonstration
- Tips, tools and guidelines for coaching .
The Key Concepts of Strength and Conditioning Coaching
Strength and Performance Coach
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Current tools that are delivering strength and conditiong coaching results
- The tools your students can use for Strength & Conditioning Programs
- The Dos and Don'ts of delivering Strength & Conditioning to Secondary School Students
Who should attend?
The VCE VET Sport and Recreation Industry Currency Conference is ideal for:
- High school teachers who deliver VET in School programs
- Educators delivering Certificate III Sport and Recreation
- RTO Administrators who want confidence in the currency of their learning and assessment materials
- Anyone who contributes to the Learning and Assessment resources in your RTO