Victorian Institute of Sport

🚀VIS Para Sport Unit launch day! Finding talent, creating champions🤝 The new VIS Para Sport Unit is part of the national #ParaUplift system aimed at accelerating Australia's future Paralympic champions and engaging more people with disability in sport⭐️ #VISParaSportUnit #ParaSport #Paralympics

With #Brisbane2032 on the horizon, the time is now to identify new talent within the Victorian community and support them from grassroots to greatness. ✨ Today we launched the VIS Para Sport Unit which will enable new and emerging Victorian athletes to begin or re-engage with sport, with the aim of adding a strong state contribution to the 2032 Paralympic Games and achieving our aim of Australia’s best ever Paralympic Games result. “While Para athletes continue to inspire, many face barriers to participation and progression that limit their potential and exclude them from community and elite sport systems,” said VIS CEO Nicole Livingstone OAM OLY. Delivered in partnership with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and Paralympics Australia (PA), the Unit will support a coordinated, national approach to reduce barriers for participation and talent identification, enhance performance pathways, and develop world-class Para sport coaches in a nurturing and supportive environment. “I accidentally fell into sport losing a bet with my brother, but quite quickly decided I wanted to play for Australia. For me, that took four years of hard work. If a unit like this had of existed, I think it would have been a lot easier to go from an athlete who plays for fun to someone who is a high-performance athlete,” said VIS wheelchair rugby athlete, Shae Graham. A special thank you to guest speakers Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, The Honourable Steve Dimopoulos MP, Paralympics Australia CEO, Cameron Murray and VIS scholarship athlete and dual Paralympian, Col Pearse. Thank you to all who joined us! Read more: https://lnkd.in/griEwzdK #VISParaSportUnit #ParaUplift #ParaSport #Paralympics

Today, after nearly 18 years of dedication and service to the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS), our beloved Research and Innovation Project Manager (just one of her many hats) Sylvie Withers, says farewell to the VIS family.   Sylvie first joined the VIS in 2007 as a Sport Science trainee, completing her Honours research in heat acclimation with rowing. Since then, she has worked across nearly every sport program, beginning with women’s hockey, water polo, and soccer, before focusing much of her career on aerial skiing, diving, and sailing.   Beyond athlete servicing, she has been a driving force in applied research and national sport science quality assurance standards. Sylvie also coordinated the sport science placement program and supervised many students who have gone on to forge successful sport science careers across the globe.   More recently though, Sylvie’s role as Project Manager saw her passion for research, innovation, inclusive workplace culture and environmental sustainability come to the fore – with incredible progress made by the VIS across all these projects.    Sylvie leaves an incredible legacy here at the VIS, through her guidance, vision and passion the organisation is a safe and inclusive place for all.    We will miss her expertise and warm, friendly personality, but are beyond excited for the ventures ahead of her.   Thank you, Sylvie 💙🧡

Exciting news from the Australian Institute Of Sport this morning, announcing 11 retired female athletes who will take part in the 2025 AIS Accelerate program, among them are VIS alumni Grace Brown OAM, Carol Cooke AM PLY, Georgina (Georgie) Howe and Lucy Stephan 👏 The program is designed to support career development and networking opportunities to accelerate former female athletes into roles within sport. Congratulations team!

The Vicsport Awards finalists for 2024 have been announced, including a huge 9 nominations from the VIS 👏 Kitty McEwan Award Finalists: Qian Yang OAM, Emily Petricola OAM PLY and Grace Brown OAM Frank Wilkes Award Finalists: Scotty James, Kelland O'Brien and Sam Williamson OLY Young Athlete of the Year: Brock Batty and Joshua Jolly Outstanding Media Coverage Award: The Moment Series, by our VIS marketing team. Winners will be announced on May 14 at the VicSport Awards evening. 💫 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/giaAvbe7 #VSA #VicSportAwards #SportAwards

𝐁𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐭. 𝐁𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 In 2024, School Sport Victoria and the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Be Fit. Be Well. program with a record 17,466 students engaged, from 340 schools, which was an 8% increase on the previous year. The Be Fit. Be Well. program sees VIS athletes visit Victorian schools where they highlight the importance of physical activity including sharing their inspirational stories of overcoming adversity, building resilience and, ultimately, personal triumph in sport and life. Watch Anne Marie Harrison (CEO, Victorian Institute of Sport) and Jamie Parsons (CEO, School Sport Victoria) speak about the importance of this program and the positive impact on Victorian students - https://lnkd.in/gmipHHff The Be Fit. Be Well. program is free for Victorian government schools and is supported by School Sport Victoria and the Department of Education; book now for 2025 https://lnkd.in/gFw9vgy   Anne Marie Harrison, Nicole Livingstone, Simon Gardam, Camilla Blands, Amy McMahon, Tess Lloyd OLY #SSV #PlayValueConnect #SuccessinSportandLife

Concluding nine years on the VIS Board of Directors and seven as Chair, the Victorian Institute of Sport congratulates Nataly Matijevic who has stepped down from her role on 15 March 2025, after significant leadership and strategic contributions to the organisation.   “It is with a great sense of pride that I leave this unique organisation and with a heart filled with memories of the incredible achievements that our athletes and staff have accomplished during my tenure,” said Matijevic.   CEO Nicole Livingstone OAM OLY acknowledged Ms. Matijevic's impact, stating, "Nataly’s leadership has helped position the VIS for a strong and sustainable future. We are grateful for her commitment and invaluable contributions over the past nine years."   The VIS Board, athletes and staff extend their thanks to Ms. Matijevic for her service and dedication to Victorian sport and wish her continued success in the future.   Read more ▶️ https://lnkd.in/garNAwvQ

We talk a lot about Win Well - Australia's High Performance 2032+ Sport Strategy. But what does winning well actually look like? As we gear up for International Women's Day 2025, we're shining a spotlight on how the Win Well strategy is levelling the playing field for women in coaching and leadership, ultimately, changing the face of sport for all Aussie athletes. Historically, there’s been a low percentage of women in Aussie coaching and leadership roles, which doesn’t match the high percentage of Aussie women kicking goals on the world stage. In the first of three "Stories from the Field" videos, Anne Marie Harrison, Matti Clements, and Kim Crane talk about the leadership equation. ▶️ Create a culture which supports pathways for women + Build a more diversified coaching population = Everyone feels valued, appreciated and has a role to play and this empowerment leads to peak performance. #WomenInLeadership #HighPerformance #WinWell #IWD2025 Victorian Institute of Sport - Paddle Australia

International Women’s Day (IWD), observed annually on March 8, serves as both a celebration and a reminder of the continuous pursuit of gender equality across the globe. This year’s theme ‘March forward for all women and girls’ - calls for action to "unlock equal rights, power, and opportunities for all," particularly highlighting the role of young women, who are seen as catalysts for lasting change. At the Victorian Institute of Sport, we recognise the responsibility of playing a part in closing gender gaps and increasing opportunities for females in high performance sport. A key action item in our Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP) 2022, was to improve the gender balance in the VIS Physical Preparation department. It's been a team effort, investigating the barriers and implementing strategies to drive change and attract more females into the VIS Physical Preparation Traineeship program, where traditionally applications have been male dominated, despite the even gender-split of university graduates. Now, two years on from implementing GEAP strategies, 3 of 7 trainees are female and our gender balance of applications is nearly 50% male – 50% female, more than doubling the submissions from female applicants compared to 2023. 💪 The intake of female trainees is the highest it’s ever been, but we recognise the ongoing work to be done with scope to see even more female trainees becoming staff and, across the course of their career, becoming industry leaders. 🏅 Read more: https://lnkd.in/gVvuTsEP

February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and at the VIS we want to help start conversations to increase awareness of the disease and its early symptoms. Each year in Australia around 1,815 women are diagnosed and in most cases the diagnosis is at an advanced stage where it’s very difficult to treat. Ovarian Cancer Australia was founded by people directly affected by ovarian cancer. This group included VIS CEO, Nicole Livingstone OAM OLY and her sister Karen Livingstone AM, who lost their mother and aunt to the disease.   To conclude the Awareness month, the VIS held a morning tea to help raise awareness around the risks and symptoms of ovarian cancer.    Thank you to Nicole for sharing her family’s experience and her work building Ovarian Cancer Australia and why it is so important to be aware of early symptoms.   Learn more about Ovarian Cancer Australia here: https://lnkd.in/gg9Zh5p