ASCA Podcast

Ben Norcott is an ASCA Level 3 Elite coach specialising in Human Performance. Ben's career spans various industries, including Rugby Union, League, Defence and Law Enforcement. He has worked with numerous organisations, including the Australian Federal Police, Royal Australian Air Force, Rugby Australia, ACT Brumbies, and Vikings Rugby. He is currently Head of Physical Performance for Specialist O...

Nathan Spencer is an innovative and passionate practitioner with over 10 years experience developing and coordinating cutting edge strength and conditioning, sports science support and end stage rehabilitation service to elite athletes across the world at the professional level. Currently the Strength & Power Coach at the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL, Nathan has worked extensively in bo...

Tim Suchomel has a PhD in Sport Physiology and Performance from East Tennessee State University. He is currently an associate professor of exercise science and the program director for the Sport Physiology and Performance Coaching graduate program at Carroll University. In addition to his teaching, Tim is the Director of the Carroll University Sport Performance Institute (CUSPI) and works as a hum...

Brendan Inkster obtained a Masters degree from the University of Technology – Sydney researching applied biomechanics and then went on to work with the Manly Sea Eagles (NRL) in rehabilitation and sports science. After a stint with the New Zealand Warriors (NRL), Brendan is now working for the Parramatta Eels (NRL) where he has gone from the rehabilitation space to heading up their pathways and wo...

Gavin Pratt is currently the Director of Strength & Conditioning for the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. He is an accredited ASCA Elite L3 coach and holds a Masters in Exercise Science (Strength & Conditioning) from Edith Cowan University. Prior to this role, he was the Performance Manager at EXOS in Shanghai, China. This involved working with multiple Olympic sports in preparation for the...

Dr Lachlan James is a Senior Lecturer, Sport Scientist, Course Coordinator of the Master of Strength and Conditioning degree at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, and an ASCA Professional L2 coach. He has published over 40 peer reviewed articles including 25 as first or senior author. Lachlan currently supervises 7 PhD students with research projects in the AFL, Super Rugby, Queensland Aca...

Mike McGurn is Head of Athletic Performance at Queens University in Belfast. He has a BSc in Sports Science from Temple University in Philadelphia, U.S.A. and an ASCA Professional L2 accreditation. Mike has worked for over 20 years in Professional Sports as a S+C coach preparing athletes and players for 3 World cups, 3 Olympics, EPL, Commonwealth Games, Boxing, and many other sports. In that time...

Leading a multidisciplinary team at the Australian institute of Sport, Ross has over 25 years strength and conditioning experience working across multiple sports and organisations. Since 2004 at the AIS working with development and elite athletes across sports including netball, boxing, taekwondo, judo, athletics, cycling, rowing, basketball, modern pentathlon, water polo, winter sports, gymnastic...

Sarah Hervert has a PhD in Sport and Exercise Science from James Cook University and is an ASCA Associate L2 Coach. She specialises in strength and conditioning for team sports, injury prevention and rehabilitation and has a keen interest in advocating for S&C in the wider community from adolescents through to older athletes. Following the completion of her PhD, Sarah co-founded Foundations Perfor...

Nathan Parnham is the Head of Performance Development at Brisbane Grammar School. His career spans over two decades having set up multiple school athletic development programs across the country, to working in professional sport in the NRL and the Rugby Australia Women’s 7s. Nathan is a bestselling author of The Sporting Parent - an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, and coaches alike in t...

Glenn Stewart is a physical and personal skills preparation specialist and manager. He has extensive experience as a S&C specialist and spent two decades developing Australia’s leading athletes and sporting teams professionals to international standards. He's a skilled researcher in physiology, biomechanics and team performance measurement. Glenn has published and presented in peer-reviewed journa...

Des is one of the leading youth coaches and performance managers in sport and a world-renowned practitioner and speaker in the field of youth athletic development. In joining Setanta College, Des contributes to the College’s mission to deliver industry defining Education, application and insight to communities at a local and global level. Des joined Setanta as Director of Coaching & Athletic Devel...

Professor Chris McLellan is the Vice President of Sports Performance at the Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Professor of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Southern Queensland. He is also the co-founder of Horyzen Performance LLC offering bespoke athlete profiling and strength and conditioning services to professional sporting teams and elite athletes around...

Gareth Webber is a Strength and Conditioning Coach from Cardiff in the U.K. He has a BSc in Sport & Exercise Science and MSc in Exercise Physiology from Loughborough University and is a ASCA level 3 PCAS Elite coach. He has been involved in high-performance, professional sport for over thirteen years and has worked in three national institutes and two professional team environments across ten spor...

James Wild is a research & development and speed consultant with Harlequins Rugby Club and as a Lecturer in Applied Sport Science at the University of Surrey. Using a blend of physical preparation and biomechanics techniques with skill acquisition and motor learning principles, James has worked with coaches and athletes across a full spectrum of abilities, including medal winning teams and athlete...

Dr. Chris Gaviglio has been involved with elite sport for over 20 years working across multiple Winter and Summer Olympic sports and professional football codes in both the northern (Bath Rugby) and southern hemisphere (Queensland "Maroons" Rugby League team, Wallabies – Australian National Rugby Union team and Gold Coast SUNS AFL). More recently, during the recent 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Chris was t...

Alex Calder is the Head of Sports Science with Houston Dynamo, competing in the Major League Soccer (MLS). He is an accredited Level 3-Elite Coach with the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (ASCA), as well as holding accreditations through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa). Having worked in...

Scott hails from Northern Ireland where he started his career as an S&C coach with the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland. Having worked with multiple sports, he ultimately became Physical Preparation Lead for British Swimming. He oversaw significant transformation of several swimmers through to Rio 2016, including multiple Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth Games Champions who broke many...

Stephen Smith is the Human Performance Optimisation Program Manager for the RAAF at Amberley and Townsville. In this role, he is responsible for the integration of performance enhancing projects across high risk roles within the organisation. Previously, Stephen worked for the New South Wales Institute of Sport for 11 years, finishing his time there as the National Lead for S&C for the Australian...

Paul Downes is the Head Of Athletic Performance and Pathways at Moana Pasifika Super Rugby Franchise in New Zealand. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh and is an accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach with the UKSCA and ASCA. Within his 18 years applied coaching experience he has worked with developmental and elite athletes in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. QUOTE...

Martin Buchheit is a very passionate strength and conditioning coach that progressively developed into an applied sport performance scientist, with a main emphasis on football (soccer). Martins (>200 publications) focused on intervention strategies and profiling assessments that may improve players’ physical and technical potential, using a scientific approach whenever possible. By using his backg...

Janina Strauts is currently the Lead Physical Preparation Coach for the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA). Based in NSW, she spends most of her time working with the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) at both their Sydney and Jindabyne facilities. In this role she oversees the S&C support for the winter national network spanning across multiple institutes. During her years with OWIA she has...

Dr. Mark Abel, is a Professor and Director of the First Responder Research Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Abel conducts research to improve the safety, health, occupational readiness of firefighters and law enforcement officers. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, authored book chapters, and presented internat...

Boyd Epley is one of the most decorated strength coaches in history and is the recipient of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN) Lifetime Achievement Award. Lindy’s National College Football magazine named him one of College Football’s Top 100 Most Important People of the Century after his training program helped produce five National Championships and 356 wins in 35 ye...

Ben Serpell is a strength and conditioning coach with the Geelong Cats, an adjunct associate professor at the University of Canberra and Senior Lecturer at University of New England. He completed his PhD through the medical school at the Australian National University, investigating musculotendinous stiffness and lower limb injury. He has since supervised several PhD's expanding on this work speci...