Podcasts

Cameron McKenzie-McHarg is a 2-time Olympic rower, winning Silver in Beijing. He is a 2-time World Champion, and former Australian Captain. The prodigious athlete was also a top-10 AFL Draft Pick, who went on to become Chair of Rowing Australia, forge a successful commerce career, and then found 776BC with wife, Kate. 776BC are now a global leader in performance apparel, as the official outfitter of Team USA Rowing, the Ivy League US Colleges, the Aussie Rowing team, and working with others like Major League Baseball teams and Cricket Australia. 776BC products also allow for unique motion-capture performance analysis through their patented technology. Cam takes us inside his cutting edge tech, global conquest, and we reflect on a magnificent sporting career.

Libby Owens has been a leading figure in Australian sport, business, media and law for more than a decade. Formerly a broadcast rights boss at Cricket Australia and the Indian Cricket Board, the BCCI, Libby was also a pivotal legal figure at Australia’s media watchdog, ACMA. Since April 2016, Libby has been CEO of the company that invented modern sports data in Australia, Champion Data. Champion are now a strong global player, operating out of the United States and Europe. Libby shares how sportstech innovation is driving sports data, and reflects on lessons learned from her prolific career.

Courtney Smith has been a prolific business and tech entrepreneur for the past quarter century. He has now founded the world’s first blockchain volunteering rewards platform, Firefly Initiative. This not-for-profit is on a mission to pump $25 million worth of direct social benefit into local communities, empowering local sport and local business. Most importantly, their goal is to honour the tireless work of Aussies all over the country who volunteer for their communities.

Gen Z (those born after 1996) are the first cohort of true digital natives, and are fast becoming one of the most influential age demographics. Forbes reports Gen Z purchasing power to be US$360 billion, and Brisbane 2032 Olympics Minister Sterling Hinchcliffe says he wants Gen Z advisors to help shape and organise the Games. Winning Gen Z is crucial to the future of any sport. Today we find out how it can be done, with Gen Z’r Justin Moskowitz- who is a US Game Developer and Sports Marketing College student at Syracuse University in New York.

Niall Hendry is an Emmy award-winning sports technologist who has been at the industry’s spear-tip for the past 15 years. Niall became a world-renowned figure during his time at ChyronHego, where he and his team won an Emmy in sports broadcasting for their TRACAB Player Tracker. The Englishman then jumped head-long in to Web3, when he joined MOVE Ai, to become Head of Product & Partnerships. MOVE Ai are a global-leader in AI computer vision and marker-less motion capture, working with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, Nike, EA Sports and UniSoft. Niall takes us behind the scenes at MOVE, and gives us cutting-edge industry insights.

The Australian Institute of Sport is a national treasure, a source of great Aussie pride, and international success. Stuart Morgan is a world-leading figure in AI and machine learning, and is at the helm of AIS innovation. Stuart’s original background is in psychophysiology, and he is uniquely placed to find the happy medium with technology- both embracing the power of the human mind, and the power of computer science. We go behind the scenes at the AIS, lifting the curtain on some of the world’s foremost tech, like swimming’s Sparta 2.

Brett Nicholas has been a high achiever from day one. His first job out of Uni was running Rip Curl’s ‘No Fear’ marketing campaign at the turn of the millennium. He then became Aussie brand manager for motorsport and board labels Fox and Shift. Brett then decided to backpack Europe, before he was headhunted by Fox, and made marketing boss of Fox Europe. Promotions and a highly successful career in the US followed, before returning home to become CEO of POD Active. POD Active are one of the world’s most revolutionary sports tech companies, designing and developing the use of composites, polymers, and urethane materials, to create joint protection products around natural human motion. ***AND we head live to New York, and catch-up with emerging App & Game Developer Justin Moskowitz, for his review of the new Meta Quest Pro Headset.

James Ellender has worked in health and fitness since he was a 15 year-old kid growing up in Sydney. From personal trainer, to group fitness instructor, then to sales, before becoming a gym manager, and then a state manager. James saw a problem, and is now finding the solution, as CEO of ActiveXchange. ActiveXchange uses tech and data to bridge the knowledge gap, and help all health and fitness stakeholders make informed, efficient decisions that benefit the individual, the community, and the bottom line!

Sam James, co-founder Laurie Malone, and first employee Chris Rowe, were sitting around a Brisbane sharehouse one day in 2015, when the idea of VALD was born. Seven years later, VALD are world-leaders in musculoskeletal technology for performance and allied health. They work with 20 EPL clubs, 25 NBA teams, 27 NFL teams, and are now focused on democratising their cutting edge tech, to enable access across the community. This is their story.

Sarah Cook is a two-time Olympic rower for Australia, and a dual international athlete, having also sailed for her nation, and won an Aussie championship. Sarah is now Chief Operating Officer of Rowing Australia, represents Oceania on the World Rowing Council, is lead commentator for World Rowing, works on the Australian Government’s National Sports Tribunal, and champions the cause of women in sport. Sarah tells us what makes her tick, and gives an insight into the way sportstech can take rowing to a whole new audience.

Jarod Pickering became a software engineer at the turn of the millennium, and built his career as a leading figure in our nation’s digital footprint. The former Digital Product Owner at Medibank, and Digital Boss at Cricket Australia, is now Head of Cricket at global tech titan, Sportradar. Jarod and his Sportradar team are the official data provider for the International Cricket Council, and for the current T20 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Jarod tells us the cutting edge tech that’s taking cricket to a new generation of fans.

Markus Deutsch is a PHD in Exercise Physiology, and a pioneer in sport and health data science. He worked with New Zealand Rugby as a Sports Scientist at the turn of the Millennium, before becoming an internationally renowned University Professor. In 2003, he started Fusion Sport, which is now a global leader in human performance solutions, used by elite sports all over the world, and now the US Military. This is the story of Markus and his Fusion team!

Felicity George is the Melbourne Renegades Marketing & Brand Boss. Felicity is an elite operator, having worked at FIFA in Zurich, Arsenal Football Club, along with Tennis Australia, St. Kilda and the Western Bulldogs. Craig Hill, a co-founder of ASTN, is a key architect and engineer of Australia’s $3billion sportstech industry. Together, they ran a start-up pitch opportunity, with one successful company ultimately chosen to work with the Renegades. This is the inside story of how you win a pitch, and how you win a big client.

Credited by the Australian Financial Review as a “Visionary” behind the creation of Australia’s Venture Capital industry, Bob Beaumont has worked in finance for nearly half a century. Bob made his name in United States finance, and is the original ‘Business Angel’ in Australia. He works hand-in-hand with UC Berkeley & UCLA, helping to foster next-gen businesses. Bob helped to create ASTN, and gives us a master class in winning capital investment.

Jess Corones is Swimming Australia’s Sportstech Boss, and is Head of Sports Science for Australia’s Olympic Swim Program. Jess gives us an incredible behind-the-curtain look at the high performance that goes into the world’s best swimmers. We hear about the revolutionary Sparta 2 technology, which debuted at the Tokyo Olympics, and the machine learning helping our Aussies build to Paris 2024. And Jess talks about the human touch that’s required when applying sports data to maximise outcomes for the athletes.

While the coaches at the AIS train promising athletes, Dr. Martin Schlegel and his team train promising sportstech start-ups. Martin, a globally renowned Chemical Engineer, joined ASTN in 2016, and is Program Lead at the Australian Sports Innovation Centre of Excellence. Having just been handed the ASTN baton by founder, James Demetriou, Martin gives us the keys to business success, and some razor-sharp industry forecasting.

Karma Armani is the Sport’s Cutting Edge International Correspondent, and works in New York City with mega sports agency Sportfive. Karma gives us a deep insight in to the latest in women’s sport and sportstech, including a recent study showing that women’s sport could be a better bet than men’s sport, when it comes to economic decision-making. Karma also shares strategies for females facing cyber-bullying.

European sport is world-renowned for its prestige and tradition. European sportstech is “old school and cautious”, which is a positive, that helps refine and sharpen decision-making, according to Sam Westberg. Sam is CEO of LaSource- a B2B sportstech agency based in Paris, helping to shape the future of sport and entertainment. Sam is clever, modest and speaks his mind- giving us a great insight into the state of sportstech in Europe.

The biggest week in Aussie sportstech kicks-off just days away in Olympic City, Brisbane on August 30. The Australian Sports Innovation Week includes a master class, start-up & investor day, field tours and partner workshops. The two headline acts are the Sports Tech World Series and the Australian New Zealand Sports Tech Awards. Johann Odou is co-founder of the Sports Tech World Series- the largest global sporstech conference series in the world. Johann joins us to preview the week, and reflect on his time in sportstech.

Rick Burton is the former marketing boss for the US Olympic Committee and Miller Lite, and has worked with the NHL, Nike, Visa and Fedex. He also ran Australia’s National Basketball League, and is a Professor at Syracuse University, in New York. Rick is now North America Chief for Playbk Sports- a company creating new digital information and engagement commodities for clubs and leagues. Rick gives us the game plan of how Australian sport can harness rapidly evolving technology to grow global brands.