Danny Kevan, Ashleigh Meneses and Brooke Kemp embracing coach development opportunity as part of AIS National Generation 2032 Coach Program

The Western Australian Institute of Sport is pleased to be supporting Danny Kevan, Ashleigh Meneses and Brooke Kemp as part of the Australian Institute of Sport’s National Generation 2032 Coach Program (Gen32).

The program is a two-year intensive coach development program for aspiring pathway and early career high performance coaches. With the aim of the program to increase the number and diversity of high-performance coaches around Australia

Developing athletes and staff to fulfill their potential is one of the strategic pillars of Nurturing High Performance, the recently announced WAIS 2022-2032 Strategic Plan.

The program is a key component of the AIS High Performance Coach Development Strategy and is delivered in partnership with the National Institute Network and National Sporting Organisations.

Kevan, who is originally from Manchester in the UK, moved to Australia five years ago in pursuit of continuing his passion for coaching athletics. Already coaching several WAIS scholarship holders including Rhiannon Clarke and Ella Pardy, his new role as a Gen32 Coach will lead to improved development and teamwork for athletes and staff.

“For someone who wasn’t particularly quick, I got into coaching pretty quickly,” he said.

“I was Program Manager at Manchester Council for a long time in the athletics space, before I got asked to coach a para athlete over here in Australia. Then my coaching grew from there.”

Kevan who previously worked at Athletics West in a Pathway role, was also involved with a mentorship program within Athletics Australia. It was his mentor, and world-renowned para athletics coach Iryna Dvoskina, who put his name forward to be considered for the Gen32 program.

“Being at WAIS within the Gen32 program has been great, it has just made my coaching development so much easier as I’m around the daily training environment all the time.

“Coaching is now not just an afterthought, as I’m able to do it every day.

“The goal is international medals, more international medals and a world record holder as the end goal. I would love to stay at WAIS to achieve these results.”

One of programs youngest participants nationally, Meneses, comes from an elite sporting background. An international level diver, who retired when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and switched her focus to coaching.

Originally from Melbourne, she made the move to Perth to pursue her coaching ambitions.

“After retiring from diving, Tommy [Michael – WAIS Diving Head Coach] let me begin coaching his junior squad after he had moved to WAIS.

“I’m still studying at university, but once I had completed my Level 2 coaching accreditation, Tommy rang me up and said I should apply for the Gen32 Scholarship.

“I’m a very young coach to be coming in, however being a diver myself, has made the whole process of transitioning into coaching far more seamless.

“Considering I just moved out of home and interstate, everyone at WAIS has been really supportive. It’s been a big change, but I’ve learnt so much through my mentors and the coaches I’m surrounded by.

“The athletes that I’m coaching range from 8-16 years old, so getting them through to a national’s would be really good. I eventually want to get them into the pathway to where Tommy is and get them a scholarship with WAIS.”

“I also want to take out as many learnings and experiences as I can within the environment, especially while I’m so young.”

Kemp, an experienced swimmer herself, has immersed herself in all that the Gen32 program has to offer to further develop her high-performance coaching.

“My background in swimming includes state and national podium finishes, as well as competing in the Commonwealth Games swimming trials in 1994.

“I stepped away from the sport a long time ago, then got married and had children. Then got involved with swim teaching when the kids swim team needed a coach. So, I then started coaching a couple of times a week and one thing led to another and ten years later I’ve progressively been climbing the ladder.

“It’s really great to now be part of this opportunity with the inaugural en32 program.”

It was WAIS Performance Team Director Jo Richards and renowned Australian Team Coach Leigh Nugent who put her name forward.

“I started the program in July, working with a team consisting of WAIS Head Coach Ben Higson and Assistant Will Scott. We meet fortnightly to see what I’m learning with Gen32.”

“I’ve just come out of club level so high performance for me is a great way to learn your craft and not be distracted.

“I really want to continue to grow, learn and develop across the two years and beyond. I’d really like to continue being part of the WAIS performance team or a high-performance environment and really just immerse myself.

With full-time employment from WAIS, operating as part of the Performance Enhancement Team, ongoing support and guidance from the AIS including recently appointed WAIS Coach Development Lead Belinda Stowell, six Learning the Gen32 coaches are well placed to continue their develop as we enter an exciting decade of high performance sport in Australia.