The Untapped Goldmine in Sport

Australia’s overflowing with fierce, talented women who light up the field. The real opportunity is supporting them to lead long after the whistle blows.

We’ve got a generation of women who can run, jump, tackle, and out-strategise half the nation… but somehow, when the game ends, their leadership careers do too.

Across sport, women make up 38% of administrators, 43% of team managers, but only 22% of CEOs and 25% of board chairs (Australian Sports Commission, 2024). Those numbers aren’t bad — but they’re not great.

By 2027, the Australian Government wants gender balance on sport boards. An amazing goal. But we won’t get there with the same old playbook. It’s time to start scouting talent from a place we already know breeds the best leaders: the sporting arena.

Athletes Don’t Retire. They Evolve.

There’s a myth that athletes “hang up the boots” and ride off into the sunset. Rubbish.

Athletes don’t lose their edge when the whistle blows, with the right support, they just redirect it. 

Research from EY’s Women Athletes Business Network found that 94% of women in executive roles played sport. That’s not a coincidence; it’s proof that the traits built through sport translate far beyond the field.

Discipline, teamwork, resilience, the ability to take feedback and act fast — these are leadership muscles, not just athletic ones.

The difference between a high-performing athlete and a high-performing leader isn’t skill, it’s context. The mindset that wins championships is the same one that drives innovation, culture, and progress inside organisations.

So why aren’t more athletes running companies, leading clubs, or shaping the future of sport?
Because we haven’t built the bridge yet, the one that turns on-field excellence into off-field influence.

The Transition Trap

Ask an athlete what’s next after their last game and watch the panic flicker.

That’s why the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) launched its Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement Program — to help athletes design life after the podium. It’s not about turning them into CEOs overnight; it’s about helping them keep that high-performance mindset alive in new spaces.

When we support athlete transitions well, we don’t just keep good people, we keep great leaders.

Five Leadership Skills Athletes Already Have (and CEOs Pay Consultants to Learn)

1️⃣ Pressure-Proof Decision-Making
Athletes make snap calls with thousands watching… and they still sleep at night. Imagine bringing that level of calm to your next strategy meeting.

2️⃣ Feedback Fluency
Athletes crave feedback. They chase it down because they see it as fuel, not failure. They don’t sulk — they adjust. Imagine a workplace where you could give honest, direct feedback without needing to sugarcoat it.

3️⃣ Team Intelligence
Sport teaches you to read people, energy, and timing. You learn when to lead, when to pass, and when to step back. That’s emotional intelligence — and it often takes leaders outside of sport decades (and a few consultants) to figure out.

4️⃣ Habits Over Hype
Athletes know the secret sauce isn’t motivation — it’s repetition. Show up. Do the work. Repeat. Every high-performing leader I’ve coached learns that consistency beats intensity every day of the week.

5️⃣ Purpose & Resilience
Athletes live purpose. It’s their oxygen. They fail publicly, recover quickly, and still show up with heart.They don’t just bounce back; they grow back.

“94% of women in the C-suite played sport.”
Translation: The boardroom is basically the new locker room — just with fewer shin guards and better catering.

What’s Getting in the Way (Besides Old Thinking)

1️⃣ Pathways that stop at participation
We’ve made incredible progress on providing women bigger stages to pay. Now we need to help them lead with meaningful careers in sport.

2️⃣ Development that’s too beige
Generic leadership training doesn’t hit the mark for athletes. They need programs that translate performance into influence, not PowerPoint into paralysis.

3️⃣ Coaching gaps that cost us talent
Women make up 36% of community coaches, but those numbers fall fast at elite level. If coaching is leadership (and it is), we need to fund it that way.

4️⃣ Same faces, same voices, same meetings
Diversity targets aren’t about quotas — they’re about quality. Fresh perspectives make stronger teams. This needs to be a priority for clubs from grassroots through to the elite level. 

5️⃣ Transition support that’s too late
Don’t wait until the final whistle to talk about careers. Build leadership readiness while they’re still in the game or even better before they turn pro.

Building Leadership Pathways — Together

We don’t need another working group or glossy strategy gathering dust on a shelf. What we do need is momentum — and a shared commitment to keeping great people in sport.

Because right now, too many talented women are walking off the field — and out of the system — long before they reach their leadership peak. Imagine the collective impact if we changed that story.

When sporting bodies, clubs, and facilitators work together, we can build leadership from the ground up: creating real pathways, shaping confident communicators, and helping women lead the way they play — with courage, clarity, and purpose. Here are some ways we can achieve this:

🏉 Spot the spark early
Identify current or former athletes who show leadership potential — not just in performance, but in influence, communication, and initiative.

🏉 Create real pathways, not token panels
Build short, targeted leadership programs or shadowing opportunities that give them experience inside governance, coaching, or admin roles.

🏉 Invest in transferable skills
Leadership doesn’t grow in a vacuum. Equip your emerging women leaders with the practical tools that translate sport performance into decision-making, communication, and strategic thinking.

🏉 Showcase their stories
Visibility matters. When you share success stories publicly — from athlete to coach, volunteer to board member — you show the next generation that leadership in sport looks like them.

🏉 Make it part of your culture
Leadership development isn’t an add-on. It’s the sustainability plan for your sport. The more you build leaders internally, the less you rely on external recruitment to fill gaps.

The Final Whistle

Australia doesn’t have a women’s leadership problem — we have a system opportunity.

Our athletes already know how to lead. They’ve been doing it in stadiums, locker rooms, and on training grounds their whole lives. What’s missing is the space, structure, and support to help that leadership shine beyond the field.

That’s where partnership matters. When sporting clubs, academies, and national bodies come together to back athlete-to-leader pathways, we don’t just retain talent, we strengthen the future of sport itself.

If that’s the vision your organisation shares, I’d love to collaborate. Together, we can turn high performance into high impact and build programs that don’t just tick boxes — they build legacies.