Australian delegation visit Pac12 USA

Early March saw a delegation of seven UniSport members visit California for a tour of universities and to attend the Pac12 Global Sports Summit which was being held in Las Vegas in conjunction with the Pac12 Basketball Championship finals. The tour was made possible by an agreement between UniSport and Pac12 which promotes collaboration between our two organisations, the sharing of knowledge and the provision of opportunities for each of our members.

The Australia delegation spent a week in Southern California and visited University of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles, USC Berkley, Saint Mary’s College, Stanford University and the University of Nevada. At each university, the delegation met with Directors of Sport & Recreation and learnt more about social sport, wellness programs, community engagement and elite athlete programs on campus. In addition, there was a visit to the Pac12 headquarters to get a behind the scenes look at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sport.

“At the University of Adelaide, we are currently doing research into more activations on campus for “time-poor” students that are easy and don’t need staff to monitor. In the US, it seemed they are already doing this as they have found more students don’t want to commit to competitions that take weeks for results, but would rather just join in when available. These pop up events don’t need significant numbers, and people can come and go as they please. They are also strong in the idea of having staff be able to join in on activity. For us having staff involved in pop up activities, it doesn’t just help staff stay active, but it also gets our brand out without having to put in significant resources. ” Thomas Sharpe – The University of Adelaide on one of (many) key takeaways from the visit.

The Pac12 Global Sports Summit attracted delegates from Australia, China, Japan, Korea, USA, Canada and Mexico. Australian delegates were able to learn more about engaging through sport, the global reach of US College sport, the international student experience and our own Sophie Curtis spoke about the university sport sector in Australia.

This tour was hosted in 2019 for the second consecutive year and it is anticipated that it will be available to members in 2020. For more details contact Donna Spethman – General Manager Member Services.