Inside the ASTN’s new sportstech partnership with Gold Coast City Council and what it could mean for the region

A deal has been struck with the Gold Coast to create a leading global hub for sportstech. Find out where and why the advances are being pursued.

Australian Sports Technologies (ASTN) networking event on the Gold Coast, which featured a panel discussion between Martin Schlegel, David Martin and Lydia O'Donnell. Picture: C 4 Creativity.

A new partnership between the Gold Coast and a promoter of cutting edge sportstech aims to make the Glitter Strip Australia’s next Silicon Valley for sports technology innovation.

The Gold Coast City Council has partnered with the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) to establish the ‘Sportstech Gold Coast Growth Plan’.

ASTN chief operating officer Amy Crosland said: “The idea is we have lots of smart people with great ideas who love sport (on the Gold Coast).

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to create a great industry out of that and reap the economic benefits of that.”

The ASTN is a not-for-profit established to create a viable sportstech industry within Australia., whilst sportstech is an umbrella term for technological advancements within sport; from fan experiences to officiating, athlete recovery and more.

Australian Sports Technologies (ASTN) inaugural networking event on the Gold Coast. Picture: C 4 Creativity.

“There’s a lot of people out there with fantastic ideas, we help them commercialise those ideas and turn them from a start-up to an export business that can go worldwide, but still maintain economic benefits here in Australia,” Ms Crosland said.

The initial objectives of the council-ASTN partnership is a sportstech action plan by 2025, and a full-time staffer on the Gold Coast to foster industry growth.

There are plans to host multiple events and programs in the coming 12 months to showcase the sportstech industry and promote the Gold Coast as an ideal destination.

Councillor Bob La Castra said sportstech was a “rapidly evolving industry” that “only scratched the surface of where everything’s going”: “We want to bring people in from outside the region and make them want to come to the Gold Coast.”

The viewing experience for sports fans had already turned on its head in recent times, he said.

“We’re incredibly serious about where the industry’s headed,” he said.

Australian Sports Technologies (ASTN) inaugural networking event on the Gold Coast. Picture: C 4 Creativity.

A new sportstech hub will be at the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct at the Cohort Innovation Space.

Ms Crosland said it would within reach of the academia, research and athletes of Griffith University, Southport Sharks, plus health-tech, biotech and med-tech industries.

“All of these things connected in helps to build the ecosystem of sports technology,” she said.

Industry expert David Martin, who spent 21 years working at the Australian Institute of Sport as director of performance and a chief scientist at a Silicon Valley start-up, said the Gold Coast had the potential to emulate the famous American region.

“One of the real advantages Australian sports scientists had was a lot of us were very close to the elite athletes but also researchers.

“Ideas were coming out of universities and new technologies we could refine quickly with very elite athletes.”

He has worked globally, including with NBA outfit the Philadelphia 76ers, and said such processes were far from commonplace abroad, where feedback from elite athletes on new technology was rare and delayed. Many technologies developed aren’t practical or never see the light of day.

Ms Crosland said the 2032 Olympics could be a springboard for sportstech to explode on the Gold Coast.

“Being able to turn ideas into solutions that can help our athletes and help make that event (the Olympics) be the best ever.”

Originally published as Inside the ASTN’s new sportstech partnership with Gold Coast City Council and what it could mean for the region