Australasian Leisure Management issue 152 2022

Aquatopia Waterpark, Prairiewood, NSW

Cockburn Aquatic & Recreation Centre, Cockburn Central, WA

Splash Aqua Park and Leisure Centre, Craigieburn, VIC

Dubbo Aquatic Centre, Dubbo, NSW

North Star Holiday Resort, Hastings Point, NSW

BIG4 Gold Coast Holiday Park, Gold Coast, QLD

Oak Park Sports And Aquatic Precinct, Pascoe Vale, VIC

The Big Banana Fun Park, Coffs Harbour, NSW

42nd Battalion Memorial Pool, Rockhampton, QLD

Raging Waters, Sydney, NSW

Dreamworld - Whitewater World, Gold Coast, QLD

Tattersalls Hobart Aquatic Centre, TAS

Splash, Bullsbrook, WA

Australasian Leisure Management is saddened to report on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, Queen Regnant of Australia and New Zealand and Head of the Commonwealth.

The death of the Queen, who died at the age of 96, led to an ongoing output of tributes and 10 days of mourning during which people around the world paid respects for her 70 years on the throne.

Through her 70 year reign, Queen Elizabeth was a high profile supporter of the arts and sport, as a patron of numerous organisations and in opening many venues and attending and supporting many events.

She opened the Sydney Opera House on 20th October 1973, observing at the time “the Sydney Opera House has captured the imagination of the world, though I understand that its construction has not been totally without problems” commenting on Jørn Utzon’s concept and its construction.

She added “the human spirit must sometimes take wings or sails, and create something that is not just utilitarian or commonplace.”

Brisbane’s Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Sports Centre was named in her honour in 1977, before being renamed ANZ Stadium in 1993 and later renamed as the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre. The Queen attended the venue as she opened the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

1982 also saw Queen Elizabeth open the Australian National Gallery (now the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra) at an ‘Event of National importance’. In the presence of 850 guests, the occasion was televised and broadcast to an audience of nearly two million Australians.

Queen Elizabeth also opened Expo 88 in Brisbane on 30th April 1988.

In New Zealand, the arts council, first established in 1960, was renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council in her honour three years later during a visit she was making to the country.

In 1974, she attended the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch and also opened Parliament while in 1990, the Queen closed the Commonwealth Games in Auckland and again opened Parliament.

Tributes

Among many tributes, Dame Louise Martin, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, stated “it is with profound sorrow that we learn of the passing of our patron, Her Majesty The Queen.

“Throughout her long life and reign, her extraordinary dedication and service to the Commonwealth has been an inspiration to so many, including all our Commonwealth Games athletes and officials.

“Her Majesty’s vision for the Commonwealth as a diverse and united family of nations will continue to inspire us - and will remain our mission and duty for the benefit of all athletes and communities, through the power of sport.”

Julia Simpson, President and Chief Executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council, commented “WTTC, its members, and the global travel and tourism community are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

“The Queen has been the most incredible force for good. She won the hearts and respect of people and nations around the world.

“Our sincere condolences to the Royal Family and our heartfelt tribute to Her Majesty the Queen for a lifetime of devotion and dedicated service.”

Two Months in Leisure

Some of the industry headlines over recent months. Daily industry news can be read at www.ausleisure.com.au

Play Australia launches new campaign to promote value of children’s outside play Play Australia has launched their new national campaign ‘Play Today’ which highlights the vital need for children to increase their access to freedom, time and space to play outside for improved mental health and wellbeing.

Barb Champion, Executive Director at Play Australia notes “we all have a responsibility to protect the rights of children to play and if you’re a parent or caregiver, that means providing your children with freedom, time and space to get outside and play freely every day.”

Rising drowning toll prompts AUSTSWIM to emphasise importance of educating new swimming teachers

Figures showing that Australia recorded its highest drowning toll in more than 25 years during the year from July 2021 to June 2022 has prompted AUSTSWIM to advise of the vital role its more than 33,000 licensed teachers play in teaching skills for life.

Among a range of concerning findings, the Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2022 shows that during the last year 32 drowning deaths occurred in children aged 0-14 years and 28% of drownings occurring in people over 65 years of age.

Swim schools across the country are operating at capacity and with not enough accredited and licensed teachers, many are being forced to turn away families.

Play Today is supported by a number of launch partners including Imagination Play, Lark Industries, Forpark Australia and Playgroup Australia.

Loss of confidence sees mass cancellation of F45 franchise sales

Australian-founded fitness franchise group F45 has advised that more than 300 franchise outlet sales in the USA have been cancelled following the company’s recent loss of external financing.

Having revealed in July, a more than 50% drop in projected income for the last financial year (which nonetheless still indicated US$120 to US$130 million in revenue), the company’s co-founder and Chief Executive Adam Gilchrist stepped down while 110 employees were laid off and expansion plans were slashed significantly.

The now Texas, USA-based company’s guidance assumed that US$250 million of growth capital provided by two previously announced franchise financing facilities, which F45 had arranged so that franchisees could open additional studios, would now not be available despite strong demand from franchisees.

Metung Hot Springs to officially open on Melbourne Cup long weekend Metung Hot Springs has opened, offering guests the opportunity to visit, bathe and stay in East Gippsland’s mineral rich waters.

The bathing experiences offers lush geothermal water bathing pools, massaging showers, architecturally designed sauna experiences, reflexology walk, bathing barrels with picturesque cliff top views of Lake King, nutritious all-day café service, comforting guest amenities and welcoming gift shop.

New Zealand Courts advance bankruptcy proceedings against

Ticket Rocket owner Matt Davey Matt Davey, the one-time owner of collapsed New Zealand ticketing company Fortress Information Systems, is reported to be embroiled in a contracted legal battle over his bankruptcy.

Davey, formerly based in Dunedin, owned Fortress Information Systems, which traded as Ticket Rocket and which was previously known as TicketDirect, before the businesses were placed under receivership and liquidated in 2020.

Affiliated companies - Dash Group and Dash Tickets New Zealand - were also placed under receivership.

TrailScapes to deliver new multi-day hiking experience in Southern Flinders Ranges South Australian company, TrailScapes has been awarded the contract for the design and construction of the Gorges Walk Trail, a multi-day hiking experience through the spectacular Southern Flinders Ranges located less than three hours drive from Adelaide. The trail will connect gorges through the Wapma Thura Southern Flinders Ranges National Park including the three-day hike through the Telowie and Nelshaby gorges.

Wheelchair Rugby Australia finalises separation from Disability Sports Australia

Disability Sports Australia (DSA) has announced an historic sports governance change for the sport of wheelchair rugby, having successfully developed and transitioned Wheelchair Rugby Australia (WRA) organisation through the support of its pioneering Sports Incubator program to become a stand-alone organisation.

The DSA Sports Incubator was developed to support and provide expertise to national sporting organisations and recreation program providers to initiate, develop and grow new sport and social active recreation opportunities for people with a disability.

With the aim of being Australia’s leading provider of sport and entertainment venues and precincts, VenuesWest has released its ‘Strategic Plan 2022-2027: Vibrant precincts’ connecting people to world class sport and entertainment experiences.

Setting out VenuesWest’s vision over the next five years, the strategy identifies the ambitions of the statutory authority, which owns and manages 13 sport and entertainment venues on behalf of the Western Australia Government, including Perth’s RAC Arena and Optus Stadium.

Viva Leisure financial results show income exceeding previous guidance in last half year Financial results for the 2021/22 financial year released by leading fitness club owner and operator Viva Leisure shows that its facilities have rebounded strongly as gyms opened again after COVID lockdowns, with revenue of $56.8 million for the last half year exceeding its previous guidance of $54 to $56 million.

Overall, the ASX-listed company recorded revenue of $90.8 million for the full year, up 8.5% from the 2020/21 year income of $83.7 million.

The company also reported a record monthly Revenue Run Rate (MRRR) of $10.2 million in June.

With the group continuing to expand, the Viva Leisure network of wholly-owned and franchised clubs, including the Club Lime, Plus Fitness and HIIT republic brands, increased to 334 locations as of 30th June 2022 with its own club locations increasing to 151 at the end of the financial year.

Memberships across the network saw a significant rise of 7.3% to reach 320,161 with corporate membership numbers standing at 159,546 as of 30th June 2022, up 26.6%.

Looking to deliver ‘vibrant precincts connecting people’ VenuesWest launches five-year strategic plan

200 franchisees attended Viva Leisure brand Plus Fitness’ annual conference at Sydney’s Accor Stadium in September.

for all the latest industry news

Sporting Club of Sydney’s new aquatic, fitness and wellbeing centre opened at Allianz Stadium

Rebuilt as part of the wider development of the new Allianz Stadium, the Sporting Club of Sydney has opened its new aquatic, fitness and wellbeing centre.

Located at Allianz Stadium’s Gate 8, on the venue’s south western corner, the new premium facility replaces the former UTS Stadium Club.

Already described as “the most exclusive in Sydney” with memberships having joining fees of as much as $22,000, the new facility is spread across three levels - featuring two squash courts, weights and cardio training floors, group training rooms for yoga and cycle classes, fitness assessment rooms, a virtual golf studio, an indoor heated 25 metre pool and an outdoor 50 metre heated pool with bookable cabanas on its deck. The Club also provides childminding services and a café with indoor and outdoor dining.

Featherdale Wildlife Park marks 50th anniversary

The Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park has marked its 50th year of operating since it first officially opened in 1972.

Originally founded on the site of a family-owned poultry farm, in its 50-year history Featherdale has grown to proudly now care for the largest collection of Australian animals in the world, with over 2000 Australian native animals across 260 species.

The wildlife park has been a champion for Australian wildlife throughout its history, playing an important role in breeding and conserving many endangered Australian species from the koala, to brush tailed rock wallabies, the regent honey eater and many more vulnerable species.

Pollstar rankings show resurgence of Australian live entertainment in first half of 2022

US-based publication Pollstar’s latest industry ranking show that Australia’s live entertainment is rebounding with encouraging performance figures.

After a slow start to the year due to extended pandemic restrictions, Pollstar’s mid-year rankings show that promoter TEG and acts including Guy Sebastian and Midnight Oil have performed strongly in recent months.

Looking forward to an ongoing resurgence in the sector, with more international tours on their way in the next four months, Live Nation Australia President, Roger Field told Pollstar “we will be finishing on an extremely busy, and strong note.”

New ASM Global partnership looks to create

‘the most sustainable venues in the world’

Demonstrating its continuing recognition that sustainability has become a critical contributor to venue management and operations in the live event industry, international facility management company and event producer ASM Global has announced a partnership with leading sustainability consulting firm Honeycomb Strategies.

The partnership will see ASM Global facility owners and operators leverage Honeycomb Strategies’ extensive experience and comprehensive understanding of eventsrelated sustainability best practices to make fully informed strategic decisions on major sustainability investments while delivering sustainable solutions for its portfolio of venues in the live entertainment, trade show event, hospitality stadium and sports spaces.

Funds from new broadcast deal to boost community-level AFL

The announcement of the new television rights deal between the AFL with Foxtel and Seven West Media is to provide a massive input of funds for the grassroots game, with the AFL Commission agreeing to commit 10% of gross League revenue to the sport at community-level, with a heavy focus on growth in the female game.

Worth $4.5 billion over seven years from 2025, the proportion of income from the television and digital rights deal will be committed across school-based programs, facilities and funded development officers.

Committing to “developing a new oval per week, every week for five years to cater for the game’s growth”, the sport also plans major investments in female-friendly changing rooms.

New Council-owned entity to run renamed Sutherland Entertainment Centre

Sutherland Shire Council has voted to have an independent not-for-profit company run its upgraded Sutherland Entertainment Centre - and that the venue will be renamed The Pavilion Performing Arts Centre as of its reopening in 2023.

The Council-owned company will also operate the boutique Sutherland Arts Theatre in the 1921 Sutherland Memorial School of Arts, which is also being upgraded.

Similar complexes with this structure in NSW include the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Art House Wyong and The Joan in Penrith.

Rising cost of public liability insurance now impacting entertainment venues

The rising cost of public liability insurance, which has already impacted other industry sectors, is currently seeing hundreds of music and entertainment venues across Australia facing steep increases in the cost of their premiums.

Still impacted by the legacy of lockdowns, the Australian Live Music Business Council (ALMBC) says venues across the country are at risk as a result of massive premium increases while some venues have been denied coverage all together.

Citing one venue as having been invoiced nearly 10 times by their previous insurance premium, ALMBC Chair, Stephen Wade explained “this isn’t just three or four venues - this is hundreds of venues around Australia.

“When they’ve gone to get their public liability insurance renewed, they’ve been faced with huge increases - sometimes up to 1,000% above what they would normally do, and there are some venues that just haven’t been able to get it at all.”

With extreme weather events, financial market conditions and scarce capital having created a ‘hard’ global market for insurers, with many shedding more risky prospects from their books, Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) General Manager of Public Affairs, Mathew Jones, said live music venues were an unfortunate casualty.

Jones stated “the activities we’re talking about are inherently riskier than other types of leisure activities.

“There’s alcohol involved, large numbers of people in tightly packed venues, activities taking place at night rather than the day.”

European Commission move to restrict microplastic use set to impact infill used in synthetic turf systems

The use of recycled rubber and plastic as an infill for artificial turf systems may well be impacted by recommendations from the European Commission (EC) to introduce restrictions for the placing of intentionally added microplastics.

The EC’s recommendations for restrictions for the placing of intentionally added microplastics onto the European market (Annex XVII REACH1) recommend a ban on the future sale of microplastic infill (most commonly end of life tyre shred) for synthetic turf systems, as the most effective way to reduce microplastic emissions.

Music industry stakeholders unite to call for federal music development agency 18 industry bodies have united to call for the creation of a new national development agency to oversee strategic investment and policy development for the Australian music industry.

The call centrepiece of a music industry proposal has been put to the Australian Government’s National Cultural Policy consultation by the Association of Artist Managers, Australian Festival Association, Australian Guild of Screen Composers, Australian Independent Record Labels Association, Australian Live Music Business Council, Australian Music Centre, Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN), AMPAL, APRA AMCOS, ARIA, PPCA, CrewCare, Live Music Office, Live Performance Australia, National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Music Office, Sounds Australia, Support Act, The Push Inc.

A combined statement from the groups advises that “with the advent of the next digital revolution and as the global appetite for music continues to grow, the vision for the Australian contemporary music industry is to move from a music nation to a global music powerhouse that can fully realise the cultural, social and economic benefits of a vibrant, healthy and sustainable music industry accessible to all Australians.”

APOLA President Bruce Hopkins gains support for adoption of Float to Survive initiative

Committed to developing simple messages on safety in ocean water, Bruce ‘Hoppo’ Hopkins, President of both Surf Educators International (SEI) and the Australian Pool and Ocean Lifeguard Association (APOLA), has been generating support for having SEI’s Float to Survive program adopted as a national drowning prevention message.

Developed by Hopkins, who has an international profile as a result of his appearing on television’s Bondi Rescue, and SEI co-founder and surf educator Craig Riddington (the former Ironman who has been described as “the greatest ocean swimmer of all time”), ‘Float to Survive’ calls for immediate change in how swimmers are advised to act when caught in an ocean rip by advocating floating, which minimises drowning risks by conserving energy and placing a person in a better position to breathe.

$20 million funding takes Queensland Music Trails to outback regions

The Queensland Government 2022/23 Budget allocates $20 million in Queensland Music Trails over three years.

Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe advised “our investment in Music Trails is designed to put Outback Queensland on the world map as a music festival destination.

“Since the launch of the Queensland Music Trails program local Mayors have been calling in to nominate their region for a place on the trail map.”

Genesis Health and Fitness celebrates 25 years

Having opened its first site in Ringwood Victoria in 1997, Genesis Health and Fitness is this month celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Genesis Chief Executive Ian Jensen-Muir notes that it is a significant milestone that encapsulates many memories and achievements, both at an organisational level and an individual level, for members and staff.

Jensen-Muir advises “a quarter of a century helping people achieve their wellness goals – we are proud and very honoured to reach this milestone. Wrapped up in these 25 years are countless stories of members building confidence, overcoming health challenges, regaining their strength and finding happiness and we are so lucky to have been part of those journeys.”

Water World Ocean Park Hong Kong becomes Asia’s first Autism-Certified Water Park Water World Ocean Park Hong Kong has been certified by the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) as a Certified Autism CenterTM (CAC).

The certification sees Water World Ocean Park Hong Kong become Asia’s first Autism-Certified Water Park – offering an inclusive, accessible, and sensory-friendly facility for adventurers with autism or other sensory sensitivities.

The Park had partnered with non-governmental organisations to invite over 200 guests, including autistic individuals and their caregivers, to enjoy Water World last month to share this exceptional achievement.

Latest installa on at the City of Sydney’s Gunyama Park Aqua c and Recrea on Centre

ICC Sydney acknowledge innovation and communication as driving increased event attendance

International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), managed by ASM Global has acknowledged strong leadership, a culture of innovation and a focus on sustainability as contributors in driving increased event attendance and economic returns to the community during the 2022 financial year, with the venue projecting a sooner than expected return to FY 2019 figures.

ICC Sydney has reported that its event visitor attendance and visitor spend in the community have doubled since the previous financial year following the release of its 2021/22 Annual Performance Review.

Australian Sports Commission outlines strategies in their 2022-2026 Corporate Plan

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has released their 2022-2026 Corporate Plan which outlines their strategic pillars and objectives for the next four years.

Each year the ASC produces a rolling four-year Corporate Plan that details the key activities, targets and measures upon which they are held accountable.

The ASC is committed to increasing participation in organised sport and helping the sector achieve international sporting success.

ASC Chair Josephine Sukkar recognised this is a pivotal time for the ASC to lead, support and grow Australian sport at all levels and notes “on behalf of the Australian Government, we aim to ensure that every single person involved in sport, regardless of their role, has the best possible experience.

“The decade ahead holds incredible opportunity. We are now embarking on a green and gold runway of major events towards the Brisbane 2032 Games and it is our chance to showcase the value and benefits of sport to all Australians.”

Concerns as cost estimate for new Bundaberg Aquatic Centre

rises to more than $80 million

Bundaberg Regional Council has advised that the cost of its planned new Bundaberg Regional Aquatic Centre has risen from an originally estimated $45 million to more than $83 million with Council having to borrow another $30 million to cover those costs.

National parks in Far North returned to Traditional Owners

Fitstop continues expansion with opening of additional New Zealand locations

Fitstop, one of the fastest-growing functional fitness franchises, is expanding with two additional locations opening in New Zealand.

Fitstop Riccarton, Christchurch opened on 10th September and Fitstop New Plymouth opened 24th September.

Having boosted membership growth by over 70% through the evidence-based Fitstop Formula, the brand has inspired and educated over 19,000 members and continues to grow.

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The Queensland Government has handed back more than 362,000 hectares of land on Australia’s Cape York Peninsula to the Gudang/ Yadhaykenu, Atambaya and Angkamuthi (Seven Rivers) peoples.

Made up of 319,300 hectares of national park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal land) (CYPAL) and 42,799 hectares of Aboriginal freehold land –equivalent to 676,000 football fields - it included land formerly known as Jardine River National Park, Denham Group National Park, part of Heathlands Reserve and Jardine River Reserve; and two offshore islands.

Queensland’s new Apudthama National Park (CYPAL) area represents the largest continuous area of heathlands on Cape York Peninsula and includes other diverse landscapes such as grasslands, perched lakes, open woodlands, cloud forests, wetlands and mangroves that connect with islands within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area.

Latest club opening part of Planet Fitness’ goal to ‘democratise’ fitness

Having recently opened its latest club in the outer Sydney suburb of Campbelltown, Planet Fitness has now grown to 10 locations in Australia.

Covering 2,000 metre2, the group-owned club offers low cost memberships - with memberships costing as little as $5 a week with no locked in contracts - aimed at reaching new demographics who are likely to have not previously been members of a fitness club. Planet Fitness offers a Black Card membership at $9.95 per week which includes free spray tanning and red light therapy booths, the ability to bring your guest with each visit and use of any Planet Fitness globally.

Work commences on transformation of Melbourne Arts Precinct

Work has officially commenced on transforming the Melbourne Arts Precinct - considered to become Australia’s largest arts and culture infrastructure project.

With the Victorian Government investing $1.7 billion, the project includes the new art and design gallery The Fox: NGV Contemporary (concept pictured), an extensive refurbishment of Victoria’s heritage State Theatre, and 18,000 metres2 of new public parklands in the heart of Melbourne.

Sport fans want their teams to lead on environment, sustainability and inclusion issues

A new survey from YouGov has revealed that sport fans in 2022 have a concern about environmental, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues with 47% of fans around the world considering whether brands are socially and environmentally responsible when making purchases.

The study, ‘Global Sports 2022: Uncovering the Socially Responsible Sports Fan’, from YouGov Sport, reveals that sport fans also believe there should be more DEI in sport (68%) and that DEI should be considered when putting on events (65%).

Aiming to improve understanding of sport fans and what they want from sporting brands, teams, leagues and organisations, and aid rights holders and how their sponsors engage with them, the study advises that 76% of the adult population follow sport.

Artesian Hospitality and Major Events Gold Coast announce inaugural festival partnership

Artesian Hospitality - a Gold Coast hospitality group behind Cali Beach Club, Surfers Pavilion and Bedroom Nightclub - is continuing its expansion into strategic markets by making its move on the city’s evolving festival space.

Artesian Hospitality has announced its partnership with Major Events Gold Coast’s (MEGC) new free music festival, SPRINGTIME, in what it says will be the first of many experiential activations.

Artesian has been progressively diversifying its business model to include off-premise partnerships that bring the venue brands to life collaboratively with key events across music, lifestyle and brand activations.

BUILT WITH

Australian Mass Participation Sporting Events Alliance to stage first conference in November

The Australian Mass Participation Sporting Events Alliance (AMPSEA) has announced that its inaugural conference will be held in Sydney on 22nd November.

With the mass participation sector starting to recover after events were halted during the pandemic, AMPSEA is looking for its conference to address the biggest challenges facing the industry.

For details see the advertisement on page 53.

Melbourne’s AAMI Park will receive more than $25 million in upgrades ahead of next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Hospitality firm The Comiskey Group has revealed plans for a new $35 million music venue, capable of holding up to 2,500 people, as a focal point of the master planned green-star rated Stockland Aura estate on the Sunshine Coast.

Cricket in NSW has a new home following the official opening of Cricket Central, Cricket NSW’s new state-of-the-art $60 million Centre of Excellence at Sydney Olympic Park.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has revealed that the new aquatic and recreation facility planned to replace the ageing Adelaide Aquatic Centre will be built immediately to the south of the existing complex on park lands at North Adelaide.

A $20 million investment from the Victorian Government has seen upgrades at Melbourne’s IKON Park to support Carlton Football Club and its AFLW team.

Telstra unveils Australian-first 5G innovation

for visually impaired AFL fans at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium has joined with commercial partner Telstra and the AFL to trial new technology which aims to enhance the game-day experience for fans who are visually impaired.

An Australian first, the 5G Touch and Track prototype was developed working in partnership with Field of Vision, a technology start-up dedicated to transforming the way in which people who are blind or visually impaired enjoy sports.

The 5G-enabled tablet device translates live sports into a haptic (touch-based) experience, allowing fans who are visually impaired to track the on-field action by using their fingertips on a physical tablet device. Using a magnet that moves inside the body of the device, as the ball is kicked and handballed around the pitch, a steel ring on the surface moves precisely to show the location of the ball.

New Snow Play and Activity Hub

for Mount Hotham

Mount Hotham will receive a new Snow Play and Activity Hub secured through a $4.5 million investment from the Victorian Government’s Regional Tourism Investment Fund with the hub aiming to attract more visitors to Mount Hotham and benefit businesses across the region.

The Hub features a day centre and amphitheatre that will serve as an ideal meeting spot for visitors and create a versatile space to host events and live entertainment.

The new $10 million Oatlands Aquatic Centre in the Tasmanian Midlands has opened, featuring a 25m x 12m six lane pool, a 12m x 5m indoor children’s pool and community activities. It replaces an outdoor pool that had only opened during the summer months.

Perth’s Outback Splash has announced that work is currently underway on a large resort style pool, called ‘The Lagoon’, which will be the newest addition to the waterpark.

New entertainment precinct unveiled at Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre

Chadstone - The Fashion Capital, the largest shopping centre in Australia, has unveiled concepts for a new entertainment and dining precinct that it will open this summer.

Featuring six new dining retailers and four new entertainment brands, The Social Quarter at Chadstone will offer a collection of 18 attraction and F&B experiences.

Entertainment offerings to complement Chadstone’s existing Legoland Discovery Centre and Hoyts cinema complex, include Funlab brands Archie Brothers Cirque Electrique, Strike Bowling and Holey Moley, alongside a new iteration of Hijinx Hotel - Funlab’s vibrant ‘challenge room hotel’ concept, which debuted in Sydney earlier this year.

Partnership will see concerts staged at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium

A newly agreed Major Events Partnership between the City of Newcastle and Venues NSW will see international music star Elton John, perform at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium early next year.

With the two organisations ready to work together to attract major and international events to McDonald Jones Stadium and the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, this first event will see the British star perform on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour itinerary in January.

Initially scheduled to play a single concert at the Broadmeadow venue on 10th January, “overwhelming demand in pre-sales” has seen Frontier Touring promoter Michael Chugg add a second show on 8th January.

Sport Minister Anika Wells:

‘sport will help achieve many objectives of the Australian Government’

Addressing the recent National Sports and Physical Activity Convention (NSC) in Melbourne, Federal Minister for Sport, Anika Wells set out her thoughts on the new Federal Government’s agenda for the next decade and the focus of major events and local participation.

Minister Wells explained that “sport will help achieve many objectives of the Australian Government”, stating “this is a unique period for sport in Australia, and we want to make the most of it.

“Our priorities in government will include improving the physical health and wellbeing for Australians through increased physical activity.”

With Australia set to host a mass of sporting events over the next decade, Minister Wells advised “we know that before and after these major sporting events, there will be increased sports participation, so we’ll support sustainable infrastructure investments to support this growth.”

Melbourne to host IAKS

Southern Hemisphere Congress in 2024

The organisers of the National Sports and Physical Activity Convention (NSC) have advised that, together with support from the Melbourne Convention Bureau, it has secured the rights to host the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS)

Southern Hemisphere Congress in 2024.

The Congress will be the first time the Association has held a Congress scale event outside of Europe.

The leading international non-profit organisation for the design and operation of aquatic, recreation and sport facilities, for nearly six decades, IAKS has enabled international networking for the exchange of planning, design and operational management for over 120 countries and across all continents of the world.

Sleeman Sports Complex

renews swim school partnership agreement with Aquatic Achievers

The Brisbane Aquatic Centre at Sleeman Sports Complex (SSC) has renewed its agreement with Aquatic Achievers, resulting in one of the longest running partnerships for a learnto-swim program across Australia.

Perhaps best known as a training facility for Olympic swimmers, SSC is also a location where many young Queenslanders get their first start in the pool.

The Aquatic Achievers program, which delivers more than 17,000 lessons per week nationally and has been teaching children from three months old to 12 years old to swim at SSC for more than 30 years, has a strong focus on safety, progress and confidence around the water.

Specialist whale stranding training conducted by Sea World team

Coinciding with the annual Humpback Whale migration period, the Gold Coast theme park Sea World team conducted whale stranding exercises as part of ongoing specialist rescue training.

The training simulated a beach stranding with the team covering various training techniques on a purpose-built training whale including conducting health and wellbeing checks, correct use of equipment and how to attach a specially designed towing harness.

Sea World Head of Marine Sciences, Wayne Phillips said these training exercises are vital to ensure rescue teams are equipped and prepared for whale strandings and entanglements.

Bringing the Fun Back

Following the impacts of the COVID pandemic, natural disasters and staff shortages over the last three years, Gwen Luscombe examines how the industry is finally getting fun back

To say the last few years have been challenging is a vast understatement but as COVID restrictions have eased, people are keen to get out and enjoy themselves again.

Given that delivering fun and enjoyment is a significant part of what this industry is about, reversing the (at times) impossible slog for the industry is now seeing operators investing in fun again.

At Raging Waters Sydney (the former Wet’n’Wild Sydney), General Manager Ros Pullen sees that, despite the past few years being stark, there’s a pent-up demand for fun and

leisure experiences and the ability to deliver a premium guest experience is back on the agenda.

Pollen, recently elected as Director of the Australian Amusement, Leisure and Recreation Association (AALARA), explains “we know there will be a strong demand for fun this summer and we are gearing up for our best season yet.

“Our team have been preparing the park and are excited to welcome back larger groups including the education sector, exclusive corporate days and exciting partnership opportunities. This season will also have some new events launched including lots of school holiday activities for families.”

Aware that guests are seeking safer outdoor entertainment options to have fun with their friends and family, Pullen is encouraged that in the lead up to its 1st October opening “we saw a lot of interest coming through our call centre with guests eager to purchase season passes. Already in the works are multiple education days and the return of buyout exclusive days.”

Likewise, entertainment and hospitality provider Funlab has also seen the demand return for fun.

Since launching in 2002 with their first brand Strike Bowling on Melbourne’s Chapel Street, they’ve since evolved into a portfolio of eight Funlab brands including mini golf with Holey Moley Golf Club, arcade fun with Archie Brothers Cirque Electriq and B. Lucky & Sons as well as their newly launched La Di Darts and Hijinx Hotel in Sydney.

Funlab’s Hijinx Hotel. Credit: Zennieshia Butts.

Raging

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David Brown | d.brown@teamaxess.com

Outlining its offerings, Blaise Witnish, Funlab’s Chief Growth and Innovation Officer, advises “our brands are hinged on combining nostalgic activities and concepts with an amazing food and drinks offering to deliver all-around game-changing experiences through whole new worlds of fun.”

Like many businesses in leisure, Funlab says that COVID lockdowns and restrictions were a really tough time for both guests and staff. However, they’ve further invested in brands dedicated to bringing back a quirky level of fun to the young and young at heart with the launch of their new brands.

Witnish notes “this year we have launched three new venues including two new brands in Sydney, La Di Darts and Hijinx Hotel which have already been extremely successful and incredibly popular with guests.”

La Di Darts is a 2022 rendition of the classic pub activity. A gamified darts experience that’s accessible gives Sydneysiders the ability to hit their bullseyes in style with their own Gatsby-themed private booth and a bespoke cocktail menu.

Commenting on Funlab’s latest Brand, Witnish declares “we are stoked to bring La Di Darts to Sydney’s entertainment scene, adding our signature Funlab twist to such a classic and iconic pub-friendly game that everyone can enjoy.

“We wanted to create an epic space for social gatherings, and given the glamorous theme and eclectic ‘insta-worthy’ cocktail offering, next to Darlinghurst’s Holey Moley location seemed to be the perfect spot to roll out the gameplay.

“While Sydney gets the first taste at La Di Darts, we are pumped at the prospect of launching this concept throughout other locations Australia-wide in the future.”

Additionally, Funlab has invested in a second new offering for Sydney siders, which recently opened in June. The Hijinx Hotel is a leisure-tainment wonderland where guests ‘play not stay’.

Featuring a faux hotel lobby, a lift, three cocktail bars and 15 quick-play challenge rooms, guests will call upon skill, cooperation, coordination and a little bit of luck to claim victory in the completely interactive and immersive challenges. Guests can purchase a 30-minute game session in teams of 2-6 players. Sessions include a ‘course’ of five challenge rooms at four minutes per room and lasting 20 minutes in total, with 10 minutes to move between rooms.

Witnish adds “Hijinx Hotel is like nothing we’ve ever done, or that the world has ever seen before. Not only are we stoked to be giving the precinct this brand new and exciting concept, we think the addition of our biggest ever Holey Moley venue will add even more fun factor to Alexandria, and the existing Archie Brothers Cirque Electriq venue, and further establish it as the perfect place for an epic day or night out.

“There are so many curated details to make every aspect of the precinct memorable, and of course, a blast to experience. The team has let their imaginations run wild and we are thrilled to finally open the doors on Hijinx Hotel.”

Funlab says that since the lifting of COVID restrictions they’ve seen many guests returning to their venues to experience the tactile social experiences that cannot be replicated from home or digitally.

With guests excited following two very dire years, Funlab has seen them trying new activities with friends, families and work colleagues and in particular, the business experienced a big upturn for the end of the financial year and during school

Raging Waters Sydney.

La Di Darts. Credit: Zennieshia Butts.

Funlab’s Hijinx Hotel. Credit: Zennieshia Butts.Fright Nights have returned to Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast.

holiday periods with an increase in pre-booked functions.

Special events are also a relatively low-cost way to generate excitement, with theme parks having developed themed events throughout their calendar.

With Halloween events a global phenomena over the last decade, Village Roadshow Theme Parks’ Fright Nights events at Warner Bros. Movie World are returning this year and will be key to driving new visits in advance of new on the ground attractions at the park as well as the soon-to-open New Atlantis precinct at Sea World.

Village Roadshow Theme Parks Head of Entertainment, Michael Croaker advised “the beauty of Fright Nights is that the whole park transforms and guests find themselves immersed wherever they venture.”

Climbing as a fun activity is growing in popularity with rising interest spurred by the sport featured in the Tokyo Olympics.

As a leading supplier, the Highgate Group have designed and installed climbing walls, ninja courses, ropes courses and other associated facilities across Australia for over 35 years.

New to the market is the TRUBLUE IQ Auto Belay Device that Highgate distribute in Australia. Belaying is a technique climbers use to create friction within a climbing system, particularly on a climbing rope, so that a falling climber does not fall very far.

Highgate Group Head of Sales, Todd Austin explains “the TRUBLUE™ iQ Auto Belay is the next generation of indoor and outdoor climbing wall auto belays.

“Thousands of TRUBLUEs are now in use around the world in climbing gyms, ropes courses, family entertainment centres and other venues. Its self-regulating magnetic braking system is the result of years of research, development, and testing. What it’s brought to the climbing industry though is that it’s not just a life-safety device. It’s a climbing partner, which allows climbers to rest and project routes anytime. It’s proving a real game-changer.”

Another fascinating introduction not just to the climbing industry but the trampolining sector is Valo Motion “Valo League”; the first-ever Active eSports League for mixed-reality trampoline and climbing walls.

Austin adds “players of all skill levels can exercise and play across various games on ValoJump for trampolines and ValoClimb for climbing walls.

“The technology merges digital and physical sports with an added competitive play element as participants are able to compete against other trampoliners and climbers around the world. The platforms include real-time leaderboards and tournaments as well as seasonal events which are having a massive impact on boosting customer excitement and generating repeat visits.”

Gwen Luscombe with Nigel Benton. Gwen Luscombe is Director of the Ideas Library and a frequent contributor to Australasian Leisure Management on tourism, business events, technology and hospitality.

The TRUBLUE™ iQ Auto Belay, the next generation of indoor and outdoor climbing wall auto belays (above) and the ValoJump (below). Both are available form The Highgate Group.

DESIGNED WITH NATURE AND NURTURE IN MIND.

Adaptable, Flexible and Efficient

Alex Head and Jason Quinn explain the game changing implications for aquatic facilities of the Passivhaus standard

What is Passivhaus?

The German word Passivhaus (Passive House) is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency in all kinds of buildings that reduces the building’s ecological footprint, resulting in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling.

Seen as “the world’s leading standard in energy efficient design”, the Passivhaus Standard is a rigorous, scientifically based, performance standard applied in an extensive variety of Passivhaus certified buildings around the world: detached houses, apartment blocks, schools, offices, churches, civic buildings, archives, museums, laboratories, fire stations, as well as leisure centres and swimming pools.

Aquatic and recreation facilities are known for their extremely high cost of ownership, a result of their significant staffing and extremely high energy usage - the highest energy use intensity of any public building.

So how do we design resilient these facilities to be adaptable, flexible and efficient to own and operate - not just over the next 10 to 15 years but over the next 50 and more years, and how does an aquatic asset owner and operator realise maximum value across the facility’s whole of life?

Exeter St Sidwell’s Point Leisure Centre

One facility which has recently gained worldwide attention is the St Sidwell’s Point Leisure Centre in the UK city of Exeter which opened in April 2022.

At a cost of £44 million (US$50 million, AU$75 million, NZ$84 million) the facility provides a range of activities for the community of Exeter including four pools (25m competition pool with eight lanes, 20m learner pool, confidence splash pool for toddlers, and a hydropool); a 150-station gym, two fitness studios; Spin studios; health suite with spa facilities, including hydropool; café; creche and administration offices.

As a Passivhaus certified aquatic facility, St Sidwell’s marks a surge in the popularity of the Passivhaus standard and, with four other Passivhaus swimming pools in construction or in the design stage in the UK, is this the model framework for a resilient aquatic facility?

In addition to setting out the technical requirements of energy efficient design, the Passivhaus Standard also provides guidelines for occupant comfort and for quality assurance.

Passivhaus has largely been a voluntary standard since its inception in the early 1990s. However, many municipalities and jurisdictions around the world have been adopting Passivhaus as a means of compliance with building code energy efficiency requirements. This is particularly the case in cities and regions that have declared a climate emergency.

At a global scale, the United Nations has endorsed Passivhaus as a way to achieve multiple Sustainable Development Goals and proposed that member states should adopt its metrics for building code energy efficiency.

In New Zealand, the Passive House Institute NZ and the NZ Green Building Council have been advocating for several years to have Passive House mainstream or part of the building code. This is starting to happen: The Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019 provides a heating exemption for homes certified to the Passivhaus standard and the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) Building for Climate Change programme has proposed a thermal performance cap set at the same level.

St Sidwell’s Point Leisure Centre in the UK city of Exeter (above and below) is seen as a state-of-the-art Passivhaus facility.

Explaining the Council’s approach, Emma Osmundsen, Managing Director of Exeter City Council’s Exeter City Living (Group) Ltd, stated in 2020 that “we either adopt Passivhaus or we fail … to meet our net zero promise by 2030.”

However, Passivhaus offered more than just a way to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint, offering a way for it to deliver and operate a community leisure facility with significantly reduced operating costs which, combined with the revenue generated by the café and fitness centre, enables the facility to operate at breakeven point, with no impact on rate payers. As well as being resilient financially, the facility is also climate resilient with the facility’s planned 80-year lifespan being informed by modelled climate change data.

Our team benchmarked the energy use intensity of St Sidwell’s against some recent New Zealand aquatic facilities and the results were startling: the minor incremental improvements we’d been making in efficient aquatic centre design paled in comparison to the opportunities the Passivhaus standard offered.

Financial Resilience

Encouraged by the financial reporting from St Sidwell’s, Architecture HDT undertook a concept feasibility study for a large new regional aquatic facility in the North Island of New Zealand. This was carried out in collaboration with Powell Fenwick Consultants, Visitor Solutions and Sustainable Engineering in collaboration with Elrond Burrell with a financial feasibility study undertaken by consultants Deloitte.

The study compared the whole of life cost of owning and operating a Passivhaus aquatic facility against a business as usual 5 Green Star aquatic facility design. The building size, layout and form was the same for both options. The differences, driven by Passivhaus requirements, lay in optimisation of the plant location, selections and the big levers of water versus air temperature, airtightness, thermal envelope and glazing optimisation.

The Passivhaus aquatic concept was financially modelled over 50 years (from 2023 to 2073). It considered staffing, energy, maintenance and replacement as well as depreciation costs. The report identified a significant saving compared to the 5 Green Star baseline concept. The results were quantified in terms of net present value and the likely impact on rates graphed as below. The results surprised even the economists and shed some light on why this is being so readily adopted across the UK.

Our key conclusion for this project was that in today’s dollars (net present value) the Passivhaus option provided $6.9 million greater value compared to the 5 Green Star option. In the context of this project this equated to 10% of the total project cost.

Carbon

Of course, the benefits extended beyond the purely financial. The significant energy savings allowed the team to use the MBIE mixed renewables carbon intensity of the electrical grid to quantify the leisure centre carbon emissions in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent tonne CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent).

Under these scenarios the energy savings of Passivhaus results in a total reduction of 20,000 tonnes of operational CO2e emissions reduction over the period of 2022 to 2050, the point at which New Zealand is committed to be net zero carbon as a country.

Big Levers

Achieving such a paradigm shift in energy performance requires action across a range of different areas with Passivhaus modelling for the facility identifying through sensitivity analysis the big levers that would realise the greatest energy gains for our facility for our new regional aquatic facility.

The key Passivhaus big levers for our site were:

1. Thermal zoning of spaces

Heat losses not only occur through the external envelope but also across internal space conditions - as seen between the pool hall and the foyer or pool hall and the gym - as a result of the different mechanical conditioning requirements. Losses would be minimised by planning to stagger the different thermal requirements of spaces, separating the warm pool hall volumes from the cooling dominated fitness centre spaces.

In addition, these cooling dominated spaces ideally would be located on the south side of the building where solar heat gains are minimised while pools on the north to maximise gains.

2. Simple form factor (External surface area to useful floor area of the thermal envelope)

The building’s form was simplified and unnecessary complexity removed. This minimised the surface area of the building, reducing cost and reducing the heat losses through the reduced thermal envelope area.

Compounding benefits of simplifying the buildings plan and form is that it is easier and more economical to build, standardising structure and details, which helps to offset the premium associated with higher performing systems and products.

3. High level of insulation

The benefit of a simple form is it allows super insulating the envelope to be achieved in a simple and cost-effective manner. However, aquatic facilities often overlook the in-ground component of the insulation with the myriad of pool pipework and complex pool tanks often left uninsulated.

For the Passivhaus scheme it was critical to ensure the

Comparative Energy User Intensity (EUI) for St. Sidwell’s versus conventioanl pools and other public facilities. EUI is a measure of how many kW hours of energy is used per square metre of building per annum.

Recruiting

insulation was completely contiguous so a fully insulated service undercroft zone between the pool tanks was created to allow all pool pipework to be run within the thermal envelope. In addition, all pool water and balance tanks were fully insulated.

4. Glazing/window optimisation

Different glazing options were explored with the best balance for the building identified to be using very high-performance double glazing for the fitness and front of house thermal zones and high-performance triple glazing for the warmer pool halls.

Heat gain into the pool spaces was identified as beneficial for our site so north-facing glazing and clear storey skylights were maximised to these areas.

Triple glazing in these orientations gains more heat annually than is lost, while south facing windows were omitted where possible. Heat gain through the gym windows was unwanted so these were reduced in size and overhangs provided to cut out unwanted solar gains. Window and skylight systems to the pool hall spaces were specified as triple glazed European window suites to achieve the necessary high performance thermal requirements.

5. Eliminate cold bridges

Structural connections between different thermal zones or inside to outside were designed as timber and proprietary thermal insulation breaks proposed where steel beams extended through the thermal envelope. Unnecessary complexity in the façade was removed eliminating the need for many thermal bridges.

6. Airtight building enclosure

Air and vapour tightness, achieved through correct location and detailing of air and vapour barriers is often discussed during Aquatic centre design. The critical requirement to contain the warm and humid air and the corrosive chloramines within the pool hall is well understood however it is rarely verified during construction.

Air and vapour leakage and cold bridges are leading contributors to accelerated corrosion in aquatic facilities and we often see this in poorly detailed facilities. The Passivhaus standard requires a blower door test to verify that the specified level of airtightness has been achieved which ensures that the facility performs as expected.

7. Mechanical plant inside the thermal envelope

Mechanical plant was located within an internal plant room inside the thermal envelope which minimised the length of the mechanical supply and return ductwork.

This reduces fan energy and extends the life of the plant, provided a safer environment for servicing, and ensured any heat was captured within the buildings thermal envelope.

The team discovered that the number of air handling units could be reduced in quantity as a result of the improved efficiency and reduced losses associated with the Passivhaus concept. Eight air handling units were required under the

Green Star concept, whereas only five units were required under the Passivhaus concept. This allowed the plant room to almost halve in size reducing the capital cost and the maintenance and replacement cost implications.

8. Pool plant inside the thermal envelope Pool plant pumps and filtration was located immediately adjacent to the pools in a service undercroft. This drastically reduced pipe lengths, pipe heat losses, pumping energy and increased service life.

Reduction of heat loss area with the undercroft is significant as the pool water pipework is now inside the thermal envelope and the surface area of the undercroft is much less than the original pool walls/bottom and pipework. The filtration system was changed to membrane cells from classic sand filters to reduce water and energy demand and significantly reduce the size required for these systems.

9. Waterslides within thermal envelope

Required to provide a hydroslide/waterslide within the facility, traditionally in New Zealand slides are external to the facility. However, this provides a very large external surface area and it was identified that heat energy losses could be reduced by 90% by insulating the slide and shifting half of its length to inside the thermal envelope - achievable without adversely affecting usable floor area within the facility.

10. Air temperatures 2C above water temperatures

One of the largest energy users is as a result of evaporation from the pools. This occurs when the pool hall air temperature is lower than the water temperature. In the UK, Sport England and PWTAG require air temperatures a minimum 1 degree C above water temperature.

For Passivhaus a 2 degree C difference is recommended. This is for the comfort of users and to reduce pool water heat losses. This minimises the amount of pool water evaporation and therefore heat loss within the space (and water use) and maximises user (children and supervising parents in the water) comfort by eliminating the evaporative cooling effect that is commonplace in New Zealand leisure pools across the country.

This was quite the paradigm shift for New Zealand operators and required additional mechanical design measures such as providing ducted air and fans to spectator seating areas and key lifeguard stations to manage clothed patron comfort levels.

Of all the measures suggested to save energy this was the most controversial by far. We would have been in a much better position if we had more confidence that air temperature 2 degree C above water temperature was comfortable for New Zealand aquatic centre users. For this study we sized equipment to the higher evaporative loads of the 1 degree C above water temperature which limited cost savings.

Holistic Resilience

While energy efficiency is just one factor contributing towards the design and operation of a resilient facility, other key considerations include the following.

-Network planning: This includes consideration of future transport modes, demographics and population growth, or decline, in site selection. Aquatic facilities in the Netherlands, for example, are often planned with minimal car parking, intentionally prioritising cycle parking immediately adjacent to the front door.

-Masterplanning: The need for each space to serve multiple functions, to adapt to yet unforeseen uses is now well recognised. The hub’ing (grouping together) of multiple complimentary functions under one roof to create destination facilities must be balanced with the need for ease of access and connections to the local community. Masterplanning the site early to allow space for future expansion is critical.

-Flexibility: Swimming pools themselves are hard to change so consideration of the different wellness and sporting trends

Aquatic facilities in the Netherlands, such as this centre in Maastricht, are often planned with minimal car parking, intentionally prioritising cycle parking.

is critical. Examples include understanding how emerging fitness trends fit within the proposed pool water spaces, allowing for flexibility within the pool heating system to meeting changing temperatures over time, and providing moveable floors to adapt to changing needs.

-Structure: Increasingly we are seeing a rediscovery of the benefits of using timber structures in aquatic facilities. These inherently provide a more durable long term solution, as well as their carbon storage capacity. This makes even more sense in Aotearoa, with the need to support local industries and supply chains becoming increasingly important. -Staffing: Hub’ing of functions provides the ability to share administration costs and maximise revenue through the integration of complementary wellness activities, allied health consulting, fitness centres and café’s with aquatic functions. -Design for lifeguarding: Consideration of sightlines, design to minimise glare and avoid hidden spots.

Looking forward

Consultants AECOM recently published a report examining the cost of Passivhaus illustrating that if buildings are simplified then Passivhaus need not cost anymore.

Our recent work carrying on the Passivhaus aquatic facility in the North Island revealed that there was an estimated 5% capital cost uplift to deliver a Passivhaus Certified facility over the standard 5 Green Star design - largely due to the Passivhaus designed facility requiring higher performance systems and materials.

However, we learnt that the Passivhaus products and systems required for the building envelope were all readily available within New Zealand and Australia with the specialist heat recovery air handling units - sourced from overseas - all available during the usual procurement processes sourced.

As demonstrated by the financial analysis the capital cost investment was more than compensated for by the whole of life savings which in net present value terms equated to savings over the 50-year life of the facility equating to 10% of the capital cost budget.

Our key conclusion is that New Zealand has the expertise, the products and systems to design and deliver a Passivhaus aquatic facility now. The barriers to adoption are minimal and, when considered through a 50 year whole of life lens, the cost benefit to an aquatic facility asset owner and operator really is clearly demonstrated.

Alex Head is an Associate at Christchurch-based Architecture HDT. Jason Quinn is the founding Director of Wanganui-based Passivhaus experts Sustainable Engineering Ltd.

St Sidwell’s Point Leisure Centre in the UK city of Exeter.

Driving down Operational Expenditure

Aquatic centres are often the highest energy-consuming assets for local councils, with the heating and cooling needs for large pools and aquatic centres representing a huge cost to councils, schools and other private operators - as well as a major source of emissions.

Energy is consumed in heating water for the pool and for showers; heating and cooling the indoor areas to maintain a comfortable temperature; lighting for indoor and outdoor areas; and powering pool filtration pumps, electrical appliances and equipment. In addition, enormous amounts of hot humid air leaves buildings which is then replaced by outdoor air that must be heated or cooled.

This need to reduce costs, and indeed have some semblance of stability, along with the growing need to provide sustainable solutions has been the main driving force behind design and innovation across virtually all suppliers to the commercial aquatic industry.

It was a major focus for Supreme Heating, Australia’s leading provider of commercial aquatic heating solutions and the answer came at the Piscine aquatic conference in France in 2017, where the Supreme directors came across a groundbreaking commercial solar heating system - DualSun.

Becoming the sole distributor for DualSun in Australia shortly thereafter, Supreme Heating Commercial Manager, Anthony Denahy explains “it was apparent that DualSun was not only one of the most efficient solutions for the heating of commercial pools, but what excited us most was that it went far beyond pool heating in that the product also promised to substantially reduce operating costs across an entire facility.

“DualSun’s panels are particularly well-adapted for pool heating because they have better thermal performance at low heating temperatures. They optimise roof space by producing heated water and maintain the temperature of the pools using a plate heat exchanger, with a backup boiler during winter months (if required) and preheat the hot water system using a second plate heat exchanger and a solar hot water tank.

“Heatseeker DualSun is a multi-energy hybrid solar panel, that consolidates two technologies into one panel. The DualSun technology delivers electricity and heated water, without changing the size or design of a standard photovoltaic panel.

“But the key is that the electricity generated can be used directly in the building during the day, and any surplus electricity can be returned to the grid. It’s this that has had a dramatic impact on reducing operating costs of aquatic venues

in Europe and is now having a significant impact on facilities across Australia.”

In simple terms the DualSun product simultaneously produces electricity and heating for pools and other hot water applications – technology that has secured a range of awards for sustainability, including receiving SPASA Australia’s Product of the Year Award along with SPASA South Australia and SPASA Victoria’s Gold Award for sustainability in 2018.

Supreme’s recent project at the University of Queensland had 326 DualSun panels installed, providing electricity for their buildings whilst also heating their three pools. The system has provided the university with an initial 90% offset of all associated heating.

The DualSun product was taken up a further level in 2021 with the unveiling of DualSun’s photovoltaic-thermal panel based on shingle solar cells. Shingle solar cells are solar cells which are cut into typically five or six strips. These strips can be overlaid, like shingles on a roof, to form the electrical connections. The strips of solar cells are joined together using an electrically conductive adhesive (ECA) that allows for conductivity and flexibility.

The photovoltaic-thermal panel has been the most powerful device developed by the company to date. The shingle cells allowing the panel to reach a power of 375 W as opposed to a previous maximum of 315 W. Apart from the efficiency, the product is highly durable as shingle cells are less affected by micro-cracks so the decrease in yield over time is considerably lower.

It is not just its ability to reduce operating costs however that is seeing DualSun being embraced by the commercial aquatic sector but the fact that the solution fits the socio-demographic drivers of today’s communities. Both aquatic centres and communities themselves require sustainable solutions. Indeed, sustainability is no longer an optional extra, but a fundamental aspect of functional design.

As Denahy adds “great design creates ongoing value for people and communities while minimising costs over time.

“With its ability to provide sustainable and renewable solar energy, in the form of electricity and thermally heated water in one panel, the DualSun technology helps to drive down the operational expenditure of Aquatic Centres, allowing budget to be placed back into community programs, extending the value of the centre.”

James Croll is Partnerships Manager at Australasian Leisure Management.

James Croll looks at a French solar heating innovation that reduces energy costs and substantially reduces facility operating costs

Installation of DualSun panels at the UQ Sport Aquatic Centre on the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus.

Aquatic game-changer

James Croll discovers how H2Oasis, Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast’s new aquatic play zone, has not only taken the design and architecture of splash parks to a whole new level but is also inspiring active adult interaction

Few destinations in Australia got hit harder by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent border closures and travel restrictions than the Gold Coast.

Prior to the pandemic, Destination Gold Coast advise that in 2019 the tourism industry welcomed 14.2 million guests annually, contributing $5.9 billion into the local economy and being responsible for more than 44,000 jobs across more than 4,600 tourism businesses.

However, in 2020 the pandemic resulted in the loss of 5.5 million visitors and $3 billion in expenditure.

The impact was devastating but in a highly strategic move Village Roadshow, Australia’s largest theme park operator, used the closure of its attractions during the pandemic to their advantage, investing $70 million in a bid to revive tourism once borders reopened.

A substantial part of this investment was at the Wet’n’Wild waterpark on an initiative sought to diversify from its abundance of huge thrill-seeking features and waterslides, all of which catered to older users. Management recognised the need to have an attraction in a new section of the park that catered more specifically for families and toddlers.

The Village Roadshow team had a vision for an aquatic play zone which would sit next to Australia’s tallest water park slide tower and would include activities for all ages, with picnic facilities available for families who wanted to take some relaxing time out during the day.

Wanting something that would prove truly breathtaking and game-changing, the team engaged Atlantis Liquid Dynamics, a company that has for some time been building a reputation for taking water features and play spaces to a whole new level.

The appointment of Atlantis Liquid Dynamics resulted in Wet’n’Wild’s H2Oasis splash park and what many are calling a breathtaking game-changer in the water theme park space.

Bringing water’s sensory experience to all facets of placemaking

Brisbane-based Atlantis Liquid Dynamics was born from the desire to reintroduce water elements to the public realm in endlessly innovative ways.

Atlantis Managing Director, Marcel Veraart explains “our aim is to elevate water features from functional or playable pieces to elements of stunning architecture.

“By integrating aesthetics with the latest sustainable technologies, the result is a sense of grand scale and opulence coupled with water’s power to soothe and calm the senses in an immersive experience that is completely customisable to the spaces we work with.”

Atlantis work across all genres of recreation and leisure, from urban plazas to retail environments as well as more traditional recreational spaces such as splash parks. The products have been created as sculptural features to engage people of all ages, cultures and abilities in any recreational

The H2Oasis design team conceptualised an undersea wonderland of epic proportions, where children can play among huge, imagined sea creatures and let their imaginations run wild. Image shows Atlantis Liquid Dynamics equipment and Life Floor surfacing.

setting with the results ranging from beautiful indoor features to breathtaking urban plazas and retail environments, as well as highly innovative and grand aquatic splash parks. Designs are stylish, modern, timeless, and classic in style while being bold and innovative.

Veraart notes “most of the equipment previously available for aquatic play spaces has been designed and targeted at younger children.

“Our goal at Atlantis is to span a broader demographic, with the ability to straddle both architecture and play functions and become a multi-generational, multi-functional piece.”

The sheer scale of the products in the Atlantis range is staggering, with some features standing up to eight metres high. These have been designed for active adult interaction while also appealing to children. Spherical forms, fluid lines and fantastical creations are the hallmarks of the collection. The products are more than just play equipment. They are highly versatile with design sculptures ranging from oversized jellyfish to sinuous seahorses and interactive water blasters.

Sustainable and Australian made

In addition to using the best quality materials, the products are also Australian made. With the pandemic causing havoc with supply in many sectors, it is also interesting that Atlantis have a secured local supply chain. Delivery across Australia is also supported by specification and installation documentation. All measurements are in metric units and flow rates provided in litres per minute, making it easier to work within design software and marry into construction infrastructure on the job site.

Atlantis have also been cautious about overusing resources such as water and power. An innovative use of plantroom equipment and proprietary smart controllers with remote telemetry reduce overall energy and water use, ensuring ongoing cost and resource savings for the asset owner.

Activation systems and wind sensors are also available, so features are only in use during peak periods or when the audience is available, saving water and electricity. Materials have been chosen that meet the demands of the environments in which they have to function while leaving as light a footprint as possible on the natural environment.

The products are fabricated in an array of materials ranging from stainless steel, copper and brass to heat formed acrylics, fibreglass, manufactured stone and medium and high-density Polyethylene. Essentially the range is built to thrive within the Australian climate while the use of recyclable and durable materials assists in ensuring longevity for projects, as well as lowering maintenance and replacement costs.

Wet’n’Wild – a wonderland of epic proportions

With a tight project delivery lead time, the Project Managers of the H2Oasis project wanted to collaborate with an Australian business that could circumvent any potentially supply chain or shipping issues and Atlantis’ track record and reputation for meeting deadlines appealed immensely. The vision that the design team conceptualised also ticked all the right boxes, as it promised an undersea wonderland of epic proportions, where children could play among huge, imagined sea creatures and let their imaginations run wild.

Towering jellyfish are the focus on the north-west side of the splash pad, an impressive counterpoint to the slide tower behind it. The jelly fish are supported by architecturally curved tentacles and an open plan design at ground level. Differing slightly in orientation, the jelly fish appear to be swimming away from each other.

A huge tipping bucket and palm trees at the centre of the splash pad meanwhile have been placed to create pockets of intense water flows, where hundreds of litres of water are dumped onto thrilled participants below. Despite the significant

volume of water in play, the entire splash park has been designed as zero depth and single level, making it accessible for people of all ages and abilities. Wheelchair accessible fish ball water blasters carry on the under-the-sea theming, their directional spray allowing users to interact and socialise with others on the splash pad.

Duelling water archways create an immersive spray and misting experience, conceptualised, and coloured as sea grasses and coral gracing the sea floor. There are endless ways children can travel through, under and around the archways, enabling them to engage in a multitude of ways with each other and create their own games.

Adjacent to the included seating options, giant seahorses stand sentinel on the edge of the splash pad, delineating the space between rest and play. Each seahorse features an acrylic panel that diffuses light and colour as the sun moves through the day, the surface reflections delighting people of all ages. Around the splash pad meanwhile, a multitude of water sprays and flooding water features, which have been designed to increase interactivity, extend the play experience even for the youngest users.

Finally, the whole splash park is complemented by a huge custom shade structure and surrounded by shaded seating and picnic tables, making it a delightful aquatic sanctuary and place of rest for parents who might want to relax and simply watch their children at play safely shaded from the sun.

H2Oasis has already begun to make its mark with Wet ‘n’ Wild visitors with Village Roadshow Chief Executive, Clark Kirby stating that the concept has created some wonderful joy and memories for guests, commenting “this new attraction has been a game-changer for Wet’n’Wild providing plenty of new thrills and spills for our guests and the tallest waterslide tower in Australia featuring three slides has been extremely popular.

“The H2Oasis splash zone has also been welcomed as the perfect precinct for families visiting with younger guests and ideally provides something on offer for the whole family.” James Croll is Partnerships Manager at Australasian Leisure Management. With thanks to Dani Eastbrook, Sales and Marketing Manager at Atlantis Liquid Dynamics.

Sound People

Steve Drury explains how the last 12 months has been a massive period for Sydney-based, Tier 1 AV integrator, The P.A. People

Beyond marking its 50th anniversary of operations as of July 2021, the Company has been through a period of ongoing expansion of its teams and product capability.

What started back in the early 1960s as Christian Sound was first incorporated on 2nd July 1971, growing to become one of just a handful of leading event communications specialists world-wide and one of the most well respected and diverse professional audio and AV solution providers in the industry.

Born to meet the needs of local community events, the company was created at a time when professional audio was in its infancy and had to manufacture many of the products it needed, ranging from multichannel mixing consoles and amplifiers, through to the now iconic range of PEM selfpowered portable loudspeakers.

Concert Production

In 1985, The P.A. People secured the contract to provide the sound systems for Carols in the Domain and the Sydney Festival Concert Series including the Australian Opera and the Symphony under the Stars, a contract it held for the next 10 years.

In 1990, The P.A. People ventured into the world of Concert Touring systems with the purchase of a significant Turbosound TMS3 system powered with custom designed Australian Monitor amplifiers. The system was selected for their Australian Tours by the world’s elite artists including Gloria Estefan, Diana Ross and James Taylor.

However, the company later chose to exit the touring space and concert production arena in 1995.

Product Development

The late 1980s saw the product manufacturing arm of the business develop into a separate but wholly owned entity named Creative Audio.

Based in Brisbane, the business initially continued the production of mixer amplifiers and portable loudspeakers and then moved into the development of digital message storage and the ConcertCom range of intercom products.

Creative Audio also became adept at creating custom audio solutions for significant clients, two examples being the development of audio teaching systems for the Schools of Distance Education (Schools of the Air) in Queensland, and the replacement of the Stage Management Systems for the Sydney Opera House.

The Company went on to create the Control Matrix audio paging system which achieved significant international success in the early 2000s. Control Matrix was the predecessor of the paging product now known as Vocia with the Creative Audio business eventually sold to Biamp Systems in 2008.

Systems Integration

The 1990s also saw The P.A. People move into larger scale systems integration activities with the securing of contracts to deliver loose equipment and control room infrastructure for the new Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and the expansion of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Sydney 2000 Olympics

In 1997, The P.A. People successfully tendered for the supply and installation of the sound system for the then new Sydney Olympic Stadium in Homebush, under what The P.A. People Managing Director, Chris Dodds looks back on as “the watchful eye of the US consultants” - developing and designing the venue’s AV to suit Australian conditions.

Commissioning the system prior to the opening of the venue in 1999, Dodds recalls “we are extremely proud of the fact that since that time we have operated the system for every event at the Stadium, upgraded the system on three major occasions, and serviced and maintained the systems throughout their life”.

Event Communications

The P.A People’s involvement in the Sydney 2000 Olympics

The Adelaide Oval is among venues equipped by The P.A. People (above) while Sydney’s Carols in the Domain where an earlier client (below).

- the ‘best games ever’ - also included sound systems installations for the Aquatic Centre, the Sydney Showgrounds and the Velodrome; the site-wide PA systems across Sydney Olympic Park; the contract to deliver the entire temporary AV package for the ‘non-competition’ Venues; along with the Communication Systems for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and the majority of the Sports Venues.

Dodds advises “what we had expected would be a one off event has now become a very significant part of our business.

“Out of the remnants of our Concert Productions business quickly rose what is now known as our Event Communications department. With five Olympic Games and countless other national and international events behind us, The P.A. People’s Event Comms team are known as one of the significant providers of large-scale Production Communications systems on the world stage.”

Innovation

The Company continues to be an innovator in the provision of venue infrastructure across Australia having worked many of the country’s major sports venues and countless theatres and performing arts spaces, designing and installing audio systems, production communications, stage lighting, IPTV systems, LED screens and video production equipment.

Into the Future

With events emerging from the pandemic, The P.A. People has gone through a focused period of expansion in both its Venue Engineering and Event Communications departments.

Earlier this year, the company established its new Venue Engineering team and acquired TheatreQuip, a company with a 30-year history in the Australian staging market.

Under the leadership of industry stalwart Peter Grisard, the new team has hit the ground running with several significant projects in the pipeline including a full counterweight system at Sutherland Entertainment Centre; drapes, tracks and lighting bars for the new Bondi Pavilion; and a full theatrical fit-out including an adjustable acoustic shell and a motorised fly tower for a new multi purpose complex in South Australia.

Dodds notes “with recent developments in the local staging industry, the timing is perfect and we believe the market is ready for something fresh.

“With an experienced team providing innovative and standards-compliant solutions and our own products designed and built in Australia, it is a significant new offering.”

TheatreQuip

The P.A. People felt that the consolidation in the Australian staging market might be an opportunity to use their experience and engineering approach to create a new team with a focus on innovative and standards compliant solutions, proven products from around the world, and the very best in Australian design and manufacturing.

The acquisition of TheatreQuip has seen the launch of a unique range of motorised hoists. These hoists are designed to span a range of applications, from a simple bar in a school auditorium through to the most demanding professional theatre installation.

Known as ‘Reference’, each product has been meticulously designed and independently certified to comply with Australian Standards and with the new EN17206 Standard ‘Entertainment Technology - Machinery for stages and other production areas’.

The P.A. People has also been appointed as exclusive distributor of Movecat Motion Control - Germany’s number one supplier of specialist entertainment hoists products - in Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.

This follows The P.A. People having worked with Movecat products on a number of hoisting projects over the past

2022 has already seen The P.A. People provide the audio and radio systems for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

The UNSW Roundhouse is among venues equipped by The P.A. People.

three years, including the design and supply of the 10-tonne motorised Gondola supporting four LED screens at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.

The company has also become the authorised system integrator and installer of SERAPID Rigid Chain Technology in Australia and New Zealand.

As Dodds notes “one of the core elements of many stage machinery projects is the horizontal and vertical movement of heavy loads for applications such as orchestra platforms for musicians, adjustable seating systems and complex stage structures.

“Designed using a simple mechanical principle making it possible to transfer loads required for stage machinery, SERAPID elevation and transfer systems meet venue’s functional requirements and architectural constraints.”

And the link with SERAPID results from the business’ Venue Engineering team having been searching for the best actuator technology for its projects since its establishment.

Bringing Back Events

Recent years have also seen the company re-enter the audio production market with the acquisition of a significant inventory of Bose ShowMatch cabinets and Linea Research amplification. The systems have been deployed for corporate events at the International Convention Centre Sydney and for the opening of the Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup, as well as providing regular support of the Sydney Kings basketball and Sydney FC football teams.

2022 has already seen The P.A. People deliver a number of significant projects - the Communications Package for the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks, the Audio and Radio systems for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, and the VIVID Sydney 2022 communications network.

This followed the company having ended 2021 providing the celebration communications package for the UAE 50th National Day Celebration in Dubai on 2nd December last year, as part of a large team delivering a spectacular show staged on Hatta Dam – all while Sydney was in lockdown.

Managing Growth

Behind this expansion, Dodds explains “we are basically operating four divisions these days – first, installed systems, the installation of audio visual and professional audio aligning systems in theatres and large venues.

“Secondly, Event Communications, which is fundamentally our rental operation which covers communication systems which form the backbone for public events - and this includes large scale audio at all types of large events.

“Our Service and Maintenance division catering for the needs of hundreds of venues, organisations and public infrastructure from transport hubs and ferries, to sporting, education, local and State government facilities to simple audio and comms repairs back at our service desk.

“And then our newest venue engineering venture is what we would call the other half of the theatre fit out.

“Previously we’ve done all the electronic systems - whether they be lighting, sound and stage management systems - but we now have a team that’s dedicated to the more mechanical aspects such as lighting bars, hoist curtains, drapes, orchestra lifts, all the counterweight systems and all the, bits that go to make theatres operate from a mechanical point of view.

“So we are now providing a full circle fit out capability covering both the technical systems and the mechanical systems.”

The P.A. People is now positioned to provide a comprehensive and ever-growing range of support services to the events industry, the venue engineering sector, installations for audio, AV and performance lighting, and service and maintenance operations for a broad range of venues.

Steve Drury manages Marketing Communications for The P.A. People.

The P.A. People provided the celebration communications package for the UAE 50th National Day Celebration in Dubai on 2nd December last year. Credit: Nicolas Chavance Groupe.

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 opening ceremony at the Sydney Showground was another The P.A. People client.

Expressions of Interest

New jewel in the crown - the Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology Hub

Blacktown City Council issues multiple site development opportunities expressions of interest

When completed in 2023, the $100 million Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology (BEST) Hub and Lodge will be the stunning centrepiece of a bold ambition to transform the Blacktown International Sportspark into Australia’s most innovative and integrated sports, health and education precinct.

Exciting new era as Sportspark is re-imagined

The 60 hectare Blacktown International Sportspark in the centre of ‘global Sydney’ that began life as a Sydney 2000 Olympic Games training and competition venue, is now being reimagined from the grassroots up.

In recognising the importance of being a healthy, active and sporting city, and the motivational power of physical activity to change lives for the better, Blacktown City Council saw a unique opportunity to shape a bold and inclusive future for the Sportspark.

Game changing investments

When complete in 2023, the Blacktown Exercise, Sports and Technology hub (BEST) will bring together allied health, sports medicine, rehabilitation services and training facilities to push the boundaries of health care, education and sporting performance. The services will be underpinned by practise informed research and higher education.

As the Mayor of Blacktown, Tony Bleasdale OAM, recently noted, “BEST will deliver world class facilities and will take community health and sport innovation to a new level. These transformational projects are a source of much excitement in our city.”

Neil Gibson, Precinct Director Blacktown International Sportspark, added “our partners share our vision for the project and continue to push the project team to deliver a building that

is transformational not just in its design but in how it delivers healthcare for the community.”

Innovation will be led by the BEST partners, Blacktown City Council, the Australian Catholic University (ACU), Sydney West Sports Medicine and WentWest, along with the teams and organisations that call the Sportspark home.

Australian Catholic University will conduct teaching and research activities within the BEST hub principally focusing on sport and exercise science. Their facilities include Physiology and Biomechanics laboratories, an environmental chamber and a 60 metre gait analysis track.

Sydney West Sports Medicine will operate a sports medicine clinic within the BEST hub offering a range of services including exercise physiology, physiotherapy and occupational therapy within a bespoke clinic space.

WentWest are the Western Sydney primary healthcare network and in the BEST hub will deliver a neighbourhood health hub providing a range of services and initiatives around public health and medicine.

As WentWest Chief Executive, Ray Messom explains “BEST is really a beacon on the hill. It provides access to new models of care, new research, and innovations that Blacktown City just wouldn’t have otherwise. One of the ambitions that WentWest has for Western Sydney is that it is internationally known for being a centre of excellence.”

AFL as a partner in the BEST Hub, and one of the primary sports codes at the Blacktown International Sportspark, sees significant upside for the sport.

Tiffany Robinson, Head of AFL, NSW and ACT, commented “we welcome the Council’s significant investment into the Sportspark as it will benefit our AFL community from our youngest Auskickers through to our talent pathway athletes.”

Dr Dean McNamara, Director Sydney West Sports Medicine advises “our practice is a sports medicine inspired model of health care where we link physiotherapists, exercise physiologists all the way through to sports doctors. At the BEST Hub, we see ourselves fitting right in the middle of WentWest and ACU as a place where we can provide community health, all the way through to professional sport research and development with ACU.”

Facilities within the Sydney West Sports Medicine include:

• Multi-disciplinary treatment rooms

• Biomechanics and Physiology laboratories

• Strength and conditioning gym

• Aquatic recovery centre

• Environmental chamber

• Meeting rooms

• Auditorium and function space

New amenities and access for all Blacktown City Council will operate the strength and conditioning gym, aquatic recovery centre, meeting rooms and auditorium. Outdoor facilities include a rectangular synthetic pitch and large-scale physical literacy area, a space where people of all ages can benefit from being physically active within a safe environment. The new cafe will be the perfect place for a pre- or post-game catch up with friends, a pit-stop on a family cycle or walking adventure and will offer a healthy mix of snacks, meals and drinks. A new shared user path will connect the Sportspark to Rooty Hill in the west and Charlie Bali reserve in the east. The shared user path will create a 1.3km trail through the Sportspark for cyclists and pedestrians creating a new route for the Great West Walk.

Unique investment and development opportunities

Expressions of Interest (EOI) now open for BEST Stage 2.

With BEST Hub Stage 1 fully leased, Blacktown City Council is now inviting expressions of interest for multiple BEST Stage 2 development areas. There are three developable areas available within the Sportspark with adjacencies to BEST and Eastern Road and range in size from 9445 sqm to 22805 sqm.

The EOI for BEST Hub Stage 2 is a call for complementary opportunities in research and development, medical facilities, health and aged care services, sports technology and gaming, ergonomics, mobility, consumer products, indoor and outdoor sport recreation, entertainment facilities, and retail. BEST Hub Stage 2 will add further synergistic opportunities to bring together sport, health, and education into the one place.

Why invest in BEST Hub Stage 2 and the transformation of the Blacktown International Sportspark?

BEST Hub Stage 2 presents an exciting opportunity to: •Leverages growth in sport, health, and education sectors; •Access a fast growing and culturally diverse population in Western Sydney, with Blacktown also being a catchment area for the Hills District;

•Co-locate with major partners and sporting codes already invested into the fully occupied BEST Hub Stage 1 and the Sportspark;

The Lodge

Athletes, coaches, friends and family that already come to the Sportspark in their thousands from all over New South Wales and Australia will now have purpose built, affordable and dedicated academy style accommodation with thirty-seven rooms, and a one hundred bed capacity.

$15 million Disability Sports Centre of Excellence

Delivering purpose built multi-sports competition and training facilities for disabled athletes is another cornerstone investment in opening the Sportspark to new user groups. The development is a partnership with Disability Sport Australia and will deliver training facilities for a number of disability sporting organisations. The centre, construction for which is scheduled to start in 2023, is being developed with funding from the New South Wales Office of Sport and will be built next to the existing athletics stadium to the west of the Sportspark.

•Leverage the investment in BEST Hub Stage 1, which is under construction and scheduled for completion in 2023; •Access Eastern Road frontage, which is visible to high numbers of passing traffic;

•Access the large visitor and spectator numbers at the Sportspark;

• Be close to both Blacktown and Mt Druitt Hospitals; and •Have close proximity, approximately 700m shared path to heavy rail.

EOI participants will be able to inform the precinct development and there will be flexible terms and conditions for development.

To express your interest to invest in BEST Hub Stage 2 at the Blacktown International Sportspark go to: Blacktown.nsw.gov.au/BEST

EOI closes 26th October 2022.

Bouncing Back

Nigel Benton draws together an array of recent research and opinions on the performance of and future prospects for fitness clubs

Highlighting that the performance of Australian fitness facilities over the past five years has been “volatile” - and not entirely due to the pandemic - a series of reports from market research group IBISWorld has charted a steady rise in health consciousness as supporting the fitness industry’s growth over the period from 2017.

IBISWorld’s Bound to work out: Gyms and Fitness Centres in Australia study explains how the proliferation of budget 24/7 gyms has taken significant market share away from traditional full-service gyms, particularly from major players Fitness First and Jetts Fitness during the last half decade.

The study shows the resilience of chains such Anytime Fitness and Snap Fitness and their continued expansion across all states and territories, consolidating their marketleading positions.

IBISWorld Industry Analyst, Darcy Gannon explains “while the increased accessibility of 24-hour gyms is attractive to many consumers, their affordability has been the main factor driving their popularity.”

However, repeating predictions made by IBISWorld in both 2018 and 2019, Gannon cautions that “the budget gym market has become increasingly saturated, with growth in membership numbers slowing and strong price-based competition pressuring operators in this segment.”

Approaching Market Saturation?

Providing insights on location openings and closures, GapMaps annual Health & Fitness report tracked location openings and closures among 22 fitness brands over 3,424 exercise locations for the year ending 30th June 2022 - with 159 facilities opening and 49 closing.

Among the brands reported on, Body Fit Training Australia (BFT) added 38 centres, followed by Anytime Fitness (25),

Tickets

Fitstop Australia (24), Studio Pilates (15) and Snap Fitness (13).

Looking at closures, Jetts Fitness accounted for 11, followed by Curves with nine, Anytime Fitness with five and EFM Health Clubs with four. The remainder were spread across 12 other brands.

The final quarter of the 2021/22 financial year saw 30 centres open and eight closures with openings during this period led by Anytime Fitness with seven and Fitstop Australia with five.

A 3:1 ratio of gym openings to closures suggests an industry in good health.

While overall membership numbers across the industry are hard to ascertain, Viva Leisure’s most recent bi-monthly presentation shows ongoing growth, from 321,000 in June and July to 325,000 in August.

At the end of the 2019/20 financial year Viva Leisure had 94,000 members, before its Plus Fitness acquisition saw it reach 298,000 members at the end of the 2020/21 financial year.

IBISWorld also points to Viva Leisure’s emergence “as a major player”, stating that its acquisition of “the Plus Fitness brand in August 2020, substantially increased its number of locations, members and overall market share.”

Franchising

Key to the sector’s performance has been franchising.

With Australians embracing franchising across fashion, fast food and retail (IBISWorld estimate the industry as a whole is worth over $180 billion in annual revenue) - much of the fitness industry’s growth has been driven by franchising.

9Round, Anytime Fitness, BFT, EFM Health Clubs, F45, Fitstop, Jetts, Plus Fitness, Snap Fitness and World Gym are among the leading fitness franchises.

With confidence that the sector will continue to thrive, Chris Caldwell, APAC Chief Executive for 9Round and Snap

Fitness franchisor Lift Brands, notes “franchising is gaining popularity, so much so that we are expecting a 25% increase in franchises from December 2021 by the end of 2025.

“Franchising offers a support network, existing brand reputation, resources and so much more than if you were to start a completely new business from scratch.

“Through COVID and now in the face of inflation and much financial uncertainty, franchising can provide more security and seems to be the more appealing option for many young people wanting to try their hand at business ownership.”

International Success and … While Australia, like much of the world, has traditionally looked to the USA for leads in fitness, Fitstop, F45 and BFT have reversed that trend in recent years by exporting fitness, ‘Oz-style’.

At the end of last year, BFT secured a $60 million cash upfront financial injection from Xponential Fitness for its intellectual property, with US-based Xponential, now the Master Franchisors for the brand in the USA and Canada while BFT’s APAC team are now focusing their energy on more launches in Australia, Asia, Europe and the UK.

In July, Fitstop announced it would also be expanding in the USA, backed by a $3.3 million investment from Lift Brands with the capital injection following on from the company securing a 30% stake in Brisbane-based franchisor early last year.

If writing in the first half of the year, an account of F45 would be very different from the Sydney-founded franchisor’s current status.

From its creation in 2013 (offering 45-minute high-intensity group workout), growth to 1900 franchises sold across 40 countries at the end of 2020, attracting Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg (pictured right) among its investors and listing on the New York Stock Exchange

in July 2021 at a value of around $2 billion ($US1.46 billion), the business’ trajectory had only been up.

Having been one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with a target of opening 1,000 new studios in 2022, as of July the company revealed it would not attain this growth.

Instead, it reduced its income projections by more than half, announced that it was cutting staff and experienced an 88% fall in its share price.

What happens next is uncertain. With its costs now lower and its projections more realistic, F45 executives seem confident the group will come out the other end, and are reported as being ready to take F45 private again.

However, by comparison with its years of growth, it is now facing far more competition and faces the risk of losing customers and franchisees departing.

Nonetheless, Wahlberg, who apparently still owns 26% of the company, has recently shown his ongoing support for the brand, calling it “the best workout on the planet.”

Membership, Spending and Attendance

Key to industry growth has been an increase in real household discretionary income over the period, which Gannon says “has facilitated consumer expenditure on high-value added gyms and fitness centre services.

“The rise in consumer sentiment over the same period has encouraged spending on premium and functional training gym memberships (so) while budget gyms have captured many casual gym attendees, premium gym establishments have successfully targeted fitness enthusiast markets.

“As a result, consumers have become more willing to spend on high-value industry services.”

Willingness to spend has been supported, Gannon says “by a steady rise in health consciousness based on greater awareness about the health risks of sedentary lifestyles, including increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and osteoarthritis.

“Furthermore, the increase in the

Plus Fitness team members celebrate at the business’ 2022 awards.

level of obesity over the same period has underpinned demand for industry services as people have sought to assuage their health concerns. For many, use of gyms and fitness centres is seen as a leisure activity and heightened working hours have constrained the amount of time individuals have been willing to allocate to industry services.”

IBISWorld also caution that “COVID-19 has severely limited industry revenue and profitability”, advising that “industry revenue is expected to decline at an annualised 5.5% over the five years through 2021/22, to $2.2 billion.”

It also advises that “lingering unfavourable trading conditions stemming from the pandemic have hampered industry recovery.”

However, within this growth, IBISWorld Senior Industry Analyst Suzy Oo has identified that a notable number of Australians are falling off the fitness wagon, referring to findings that while one-third of the Australian population have a gym membership, roughly half of members visit their gym less than once per week.

Oo explains “the dominant reason behind this contradiction can be attributed to a lack of sufficient time or having too many commitments. Approximately 55% of the adult population do not meet the recommended physical recreation guidelines.”

Technology and the Hybrid Fitness World Findings from a recent survey commissioned by digital agency Accedo show that 87.5% of fitness providers list new technologies, like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) as being important to their operations.

Accedo Solutions Director, Shawn Zeng sees this acceptance as being part of “the very nature of working out” explaining “fitness classes are popular because consumers get that interaction with an instructor, as well as other participants, and get real-time and valuable feedback on how to improve.

“VR and AR are key to helping providers replicate that online.”

Although impacted by gym closures

Encouraging Activity: Awarding Excellence

Having evolved from Fitness Australia at the end of last year, AUSactive’s most significant rebrand ever has seen it powered up for a post pandemic future, giving according to AUSactive Chief Executive Barrie Elvish (pictured), “a renewed focus on what it is our association represents, stands for and advocates for (with) a strategic plan that ensures we remain on the right trajectory for our members as well as the broader health and wellbeing sector.”

Advocacy

One of AUSactive’s most significant steps forward, Elvish explains “has been in government advocacy and the preventative health space, which will see us meet soon with the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney to discuss the importance of physical activity and exercise in preventative health care.

“This follows a productive meeting with Dr Mike Freelander MP, who is the Chair of the Australian Government’s Standing Committee for Health, Aged Care and Sport.

“Support from all levels of government for our future public awareness campaigns will ensure we can reach all corners of the community, raise greater awareness and create a lasting legacy.”

AUSactive recently set out the strategic priorities it aims to achieve in its government advocacy based on priorities to have exercise, physical activity and fitness considered integral components of Australia’s preventative health thinking and policies.

Key among AUSactive’s objective is a national public health campaign funded over at least a five-year period encouraging greater participation in exercise and physical activity.

Elvish explains that this “will save the government significant costs in the health budget via less incidences of many physical ailments, stroke, diabetes, heart and kidney disease and the like as well as mental health problems.

“Such a campaign is not only desirable, it is essential for the nation’s health and wellbeing and to fulfil the 2018 commitment to the international campaign to encourage physical activity.

“Australia committed to a 15% increase in Australians participating in some form of physical activity by 2030 (and) time is running out.”

National Awards Program

For the first time, AUSactive hosted state events to celebrate local success and achievements. In total 54 individuals and businesses were crowned at a State and/ or Territory level.

The culmination of the 2022 National Awards Program will be the National Gala on 21st October at the Ivy Ballroom Sydney where winners across 28 categories will receive their awards.

Significantly, this will be the first national event of its size AUSactive has held in almost three years.

AUSactive Awards Senior Management Summit

In another first for AUSactive, it will be hosting a Senior Management Summit (SMS) on the day of the National Awards Gala.

The success of business roundtables during regional and state award events during September, presented by leading industry consultant Justin Tamsett of Active Management, prompted AUSactive to add the Summit in advance of the Awards Gala.

This inaugural Summit will be a day of tailored content carefully crafted exclusively for anyone in the health and exercise industry who is passionate about what they do and is looking to accelerate their learning and knowledge for the future.

It’s an exciting opportunity for business owners, corporate staff, key operating personnel and marketing professionals in the sector to come together, featuring keynote speakers, expert panels and international addresses.

AUSactive’s upcoming Senior Management Summit will show how it is putting its strategic plan into play with latest events and initiatives

due to the pandemic, Zeng notes that “some players have actually benefited from the fact that consumers were forced to stay at home” seeing that “the virtual boom” may continue with VR and AR having a role in a post-COVID fitness landscape.

Another report, A changing fitness consumer, published earlier this year by global management consultancy McKinsey & Company, found that postpandemic, wellness is a top priority in everyday life for 50% of all consumers. The report revealed that these findings are even more powerful among consumers with hybrid fitness routines - among this group, 61% now prioritise wellness more than they did pre-pandemic.

Reinforcing the importance of facilities, McKinsey found that fitness consumers now see digital offerings as complementary to, rather than a replacement for, the gym: even during the pandemic, only 17% considered livestreamed content a substitute for the gym, while only 15% and 21% respectively saw free and paid apps as gym substitutes.

Yet as McKinsey observes, “people’s

fitness routines have evolved meaningfully” as consumers around the world have adopted “a more hybrid routine”. Gyms very much remain in the mix, but fitness consumers have quickly showed a willingness to embrace new digital habits within the norm of their wellness routines.

Indeed, today’s reality brings to bear the predictions of lockdown, when fitness consumers told McKinsey they planned to adopt more diverse, hybrid workout routines once fitness facilities reopenedroutines that would incorporate digital and at-home alongside traditional facility visits.

Boutique Gyms

Looking at the American College of Sports Medicine’s most recent Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends, Davin Sgargetta, founder of Melbournebased Hook Media, has suggested that “there is an anticipation that boutique fitness facilities will also continue to see a sharp rise in the market”, pointing out that “boutique fitness facilities often outperform regular gyms in terms of retention.”

Australians identified in the ACSM study, also indicated that functional fitness, group exercise training, strength training with free weights, fitness programs for older adults and training with a registered exercise professional are their priorities.

Women’s Gyms

Another IBISWorld report Out of breath: Women’s Gyms in Australia, identifies that revenue in the female-only gym market has contracted over the past five years, primarily due to growing competition and a highly saturated fitness market, as well as reduced demand in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It identifies that “requirements for more flexible exercise time, and mixed consumer sentiment have driven many members to migrate to more cost-effective 24-hour gyms that provide cheaper memberships (while) the growing presence of ladies-only training areas in some full-service gyms has also negatively affected women’s gyms, providing greater opportunities for consumers to find a comfortable workout environment.”

Nonetheless, IBISWorld predicts that market conditions will improve over the next five years with “changing population demographics, including a projected increase in the number of older and overweight women, set to support the industry while positive consumer sentiment and increases in household discretionary income are anticipated to benefit industry operators.”

Staff, Inflation and Pricing

Among other challenges Justin Tamsett, Managing Director of leading consultancy Active Management, cites staffing issues and consumers’ inflation fears as chief concerns.

Quoted in the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association’s mid-year State of the Health Club Industry 2022 report, Tamsett advised “there’s also a hesitation among owners to do anything with prices to cover the increased costs.

“(Owners think) if I haven’t got leads at my current price, then if I raise my price, I’m going to get even less leads, less sales. It’s not going to work for me.”

He notes that this isn’t the case elsewhere, adding “in the United States, they’re raising prices anywhere from 5% to 20%, but in Australia, they’re only raising their prices about two dollars.” Nigel Benton is Publisher of Australasian Leisure Management. Bound to work out: Gyms and Fitness Centres in Australia and Out of breath: Women’s Gyms in Australia are two of a series of industry reports released this year by the IBISWorld market research group.

Fernwood Female Fitness dominates the women only gym market.

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Simply the Best

The post-COVID19 game-day fan experience continues to evolve for sports fans with global venues new and established adding exciting enhancements to drive fanfirst smart stadiums that provide positive experiences and memorable moments for fans.

Recent global developments to enhance the match-day experience of fans has seen venues such as Manchester’s Etihad Stadium introducing self-service beer taps for convenience, New York’s Citi Field trialling biometric facial recognition ticketing for entry into the ballpark and Seattle’s T-Mobile Park adding palm scanning technology at their ‘WalkOff Market’ snack bars to eliminate lines. Further developments have seen trials of in-seat hot dog drone deliveries, weapons detection gunshot localisers and sustainability initiatives like tower gardens, which produce stadium-grown food for use in venue concessions. These are just some of the developments that illustrate the lengths that venues are going to in order to enhance the fan experience and get fans off the couch at home and back into venues in the post-pandemic sports world.

Sydney’s spectacular new $874 million Allianz Stadium is Australia’s latest major venue that has this fan first thinking and the fan experience at its core with a raft of impressive modern features providing an exceptional game day experience for fans.

Experiencing these impressive features at the grand opening on 2nd September with a Sydney Roosters NRL match day, highlights how a best practice fan experience can be achieved and the lessons that other venues can learn to improve and enhance their own venue fan experiences.

Transport

Starting the fan journey from the CBD to Allianz Stadium in the Moore Park entertainment precinct was a seamless and quick experience via the Sydney Light Rail network (completed in 2019) that took less than 15 minutes and was free with game day tickets. This free match-day travel to and from the venue could also be used on other public transport modes such as nearby trains and buses while the venue itself features dedicated new electric car charging stations and bike racks as well as only being a short and easy 25-minute walk from the city.

Blair Hughes delivers a fan perspective on Sydney’s new Allianz Stadium

Sydney’s new Allianz Stadium hosts its first NRL fixtures. All images credit: Blair Hughes.

Accessibility

One of the reasons for the redevelopment was that the previous venue provided a poor spectator experience by not being able to cater for different user groups as well as not meeting modern amenity standards around accessibility. It was good then to see that this is certainly a stadium for everyone as there has been significant increases (2300%) to space and seating for wheelchair and companion areas, the addition of gender neutral toilets as well as a 170% increase in female toilets to 600. This represents a commitment to improving facilities for fans in terms of minimising wait times but is also good to see that all fans are being equally catered for especially with the rise of both women’s sport and female attendances at venues.

Welcome and Way-Finding

Arriving early to soak up the atmosphere outside the ground it was evident that a focus on designing clear way-finding solutions had been implemented to enable fans to see where their entrance was. There are detailed, easy-to-understand maps located throughout the outside concourse area, clear signage for gate numbers across each stand along with engaging customer service staff acting as backpack billboards featuring gate entrance and venue information. Heading through the turnstiles into the venue (or when getting a pass out to exit) was seamless and efficient by simply scanning the QR-coded ticket however what really stood out on entry was the pleasant greeting, positive attitude and smile from the staff which has long been identified by fans as one of the most important factors in creating a positive match day experience.

Seating

One of the clever features of the stadium redevelopment that fans will appreciate inside the venue is the 360 degrees open concourse. The 300% increase in the public area concourse enables fans to walk around the venue while always staying connected to the game even while grabbing F&B items or accessing toilets or just wanting to see the game from another angle. The four levels of seating that comprise the 42,500 seats are set on a thrilling steep rake, offer clear sightlines of the pitch no matter where you’re seated and are positioned closer to the field of play than the previous seating plan to

maximise the atmosphere and fan experience. The noise that was created from fans seemed to reflect back into the seating bowl as a result of the stadium design, which in turn added to a louder and more intense experience for spectators.

The vibrant and unique art design of the seats by Indigenous artist Tony Albert is titled ‘Two Worlds Colliding’ and really makes you feel like you’re sitting right on top of the action while the innovative design of the diagrid roof also sees 100% of the seating area now undercover (up from only 30% previously) illustrating a commitment to the fan-first vision of the venue, with near complete weather protection for spectators.

Rooster’s member Alan Katzmann agreed, noting “the stadium is terrific. I sat in the members stand on level 4 west and found it easy to get around with great viewing areas to mingle with friends and I felt very comfortable throughout” while Easts diehard Jane Cook also stated that “the atmosphere was phenomenal as I felt so close to the turf from my seats in the Chookpen members area.”

Architecture and Design

Designed by Cox Architecture and constructed by John Holland on the site of the original Sydney Football Stadium, the stateof-the-art venue transformation was delivered on time and features a host of innovative architectural design elements, exciting active spaces and art for spectators and the local community to engage with that highlight the venue’s iconic architectural identity.

The precinct around the stadium features an accessible open-air fitness space with gym equipment and a basketball court on a visually striking sports surface while there are also sculptures, audio art, a windscreen and seating areas with historic moments from the ground carved into them that add to the fan experience on game days as well as also being a creative use of public space for the community to utilise all year round. A signature of the architecture are the 980 bronze coloured fins that form an elegant curtain wall surrounding the external façade of the venue while native vegetation has been used to increase shade and reflective roofing has been installed to add a heat mitigation solution to keep fans cool and comfortable inside the venue which further highlights a focus on putting fans and the environment first.

The new Allianz Stadium scores highly for access and viewing spaces for wheelchair users.

Food and Beverage

Merivale Group is the exclusive ‘hospitality experience’ partner of the venue and has clearly brought its culinary expertise into the stadium with a host of interesting gourmet selections as well as the standard footy fare expected by fans. The inclusive design of the menu features over 350 food and beverage options for fans to choose from across 64 outlets ranging from pork belly tacos and veggie burgers to margarita seltzers and independent craft beer from local Sydney breweries while the addition of more F&B outlets, self service ordering stations, a 30% increase in the counter lengths of bars and the use of mobile backpack beer servers all saw service times sped up and queues alleviated to enable fans to get back to their seats.

A highlight of the first match day at the venue was the generous offer for fans that saw 49% off the price of all beverages while F&B prices were seen to be on par with other venues for standard stadium fare with items such as water ($5), hot chips ($5.50) and soft drinks ($4.80) actually being cheaper than other Australian venues. It was also good to see the inclusion of combo meals, non-alcoholic beer and dietary needs being taken into consideration however ‘stadium sauce’ was being sold for

the outrageous price of $2.90 in one snack bar (although for research purposes I tried it and it was actually delicious!).

Overall, it was clear that the quality and diversity of the stadium grub on show at Allianz Stadium is a step above and puts this on another level in terms of the stadium food and beverage that is currently available in other Australian stadiums.

Fan Engagement

The Sydney Roosters put on a spectacle on the field for the 41,906 fans in attendance winning 34-6 (NRLW) and 26-16 (NRL) while off the field their fans and members were also winning with sponsors and staff both delivering a spectacular effort in storytelling and fan engagement.

Roosters Fan Engagement Manager, Ryan Chant highlighted that “returning home to Allianz Stadium provides us with an array of new opportunities to engage with our members and supporters.”

This was evident as outside the ground there were relevant sponsor activations for fans of all ages plus live entertainment while the pre-game build-up featured an emotional scene of two young fans embarking on their journey home to the venue. The hype reel, player entrance and big screen visuals, amplified by the impressive JBL loudspeakers, increased the intensity of the atmosphere while all fans were given free commemorative flags and ‘TRY’ cards on entry before Aussie band The Presets kicked off the pre-game show with a pumping gig that had fans up in their seats.

Conclusion

The redeveloped Sydney Football Stadium is the result of years of collaborative teamwork amid COVID lockdowns and government restrictions and is a spectacular venue that fans both deserve and should be proud of due to its forward-thinking modern facilities that elevate the atmosphere and puts them closer to the action than ever before.

Allianz Stadium’s fan-first approach has significantly raised the bar on every aspect of the fan experience from accessibility and design to seating and food and beverage and represents a new era in Sydney’s sports and entertainment stage that will create memorable moments for fans, boost the local economy and place the capital in a prime position to attract major international and local events into the future. Put it on your list of sporting game days to experience and you won’t be disappointed. Blair Hughes is an award winning, globally respected fan engagement specialist who helps clients in the sports, music and craft beer industries grow their fan bases, improve fan experiences and create new business and revenue opportunities.

He can be followed on Twitter at @MrBlairHughes or at www.MrBlairHughes.com.

The new Allianz Stadium serves independent craft beer from local breweries.

Radical Scenarios for the Future of Sport Business

Hans Westerbeek and Adam Karg suggest five scenarios for the future of sport

Against a background of globalisation, disruption and social change, the global sport industry is developing and commercialising at lightning speed pace. Not only sport’s governance, but also the social role of sport, how value is (re)created through the increasing importance of data and digital technology and how this affects the need for strong and innovative leadership in sport are issues that require careful consideration. One way of preparing for the future, is to systematically extrapolate megatrends, and interpret and assess their impact on the world that we will live in in years to come. In this article, we look ahead, imagining potential scenarios for the future of sport. These scenarios are based on what are the most likely global geopolitical, demographic, technological and economic trends to eventuate in the coming decades.

The future of sport business is all about a changing network of business settings that provide scope for old players to either co-exist or perish in new or emerging sport systems. In light of innovation and entrepreneurship, the sport business network or ecosystem of the future should evolve to maximise the value created. It is in that light that we aim to consider the future of sport business.

We have used five perspectives to elaborate on what we feel are possible futures for sport business. Our expansion is founded on future thinking principles, based on evidence where

available, and (naively?) imagined in regard to what we believe remains sport’s massive potential to contribute to society.

In our recently published book International Sport Business: current issues, future perspectives, we have more elaborately outlined future global megatrends and scenarios, that the sport scenarios are based on.

Here, we move directly to the five scenarios that we have developed for the future of sport. Our scenarios for the future of sport business are: Sport for all, Winners are grinners, the Sporting arms race, a Fractured sport ecosystem and Back to basics. We will now briefly elaborate on each of these sport business scenarios.

Scenario 1: Sport for all

In a world where democracy seems to have recovered from the assault on its defining principles during the 2010s and 2020s, it only seems logical that

The global esports market

sport also has been rediscovered as a universal right to play and participate. Although the US might be leading the resurgence of open democracies, it probably will be the EU leading the advance of sport as a human right, and also as a tool for advancing health and building social capital. On the back of economic prosperity and hundreds of millions of lives improving to well above the poverty line, sport will both be a platform for community participation and elite excellence (mostly as a means to entertain).

It would be naïve however, not to think that autocratic regimes would not continue to see sport, also, as a means to justify ideology and express superiority. However, with sport being such an important (potential) expression of community, equality, health and social connection, governments and also socially engaged corporations will invest significantly in community sport. Sport will also be developed as an important communication platform for advancing health and maintaining an active lifestyle.

Scenario 2: ‘Winners are Grinners’

The ugly reality of the winner takes all principle takes shape in this rather grim scenario for the future of sport business. With an international system that is on the brink of collapse in which the rulings of previously respected institutions such as the United Nations in New York or the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the Netherlands are ignored, we can see the most powerful sport organisations align with those countries (or companies!) that exude most power and influence.

This may well lead to a return to male-dominated dictator driven governance of the most powerful international sporting bodies, as they join forces with equally dictatorial leaders of countries or companies. Those sports that best express dominance and importance on the world stage, will also (continue to) thrive in the ‘winners are grinners’ scenario, as they will be appealing platforms for leaders to shine in the sport’s reflected glory.

In this scenario the rapid growth of esports may even further accelerate as the universal digital reach and massive popularity of esports among younger generations will be politically salivating and commercially incontestable. In this scenario, the top-end of sport may well become the playground of the rich and famous, unaffordable for the millions of people who can only just get by. Benefits of sport investment will be limited to (and protected by) a small selection of global sports and their corporate supporters and masters.

Scenario 3: Sporting arms race

In a race to build the best high performance and talent identification systems, governments will focus on using sport as a major battlefield of diplomacy and international standing. Dominating on the field of play and in international medal rankings is deemed important to express economic, ideological, technological and strategic superiority. In many ways, this scenario partly is a continuation of how the world was in 2020, when placing on the Olympic medal rankings and positions on the FIFA world ranking list were still a badge of international honour, pride and prestige.

The battle between the USA and China, to top these rankings will have further pushed out smaller nations, and the concentration of international sporting successes will become greater, befalling to an ever-smaller set of nations.

However, with sport being such a visible and public arena of advancement, it will also lead to significant investment and innovations in sport technology and sport science. Forbidden performance enhancement will extend way beyond doping as we know it when advancements in biomedical engineering and DNA manipulation change the field of play dramatically. Ironically, these developments will also offer niche opportunities for smaller but smarter operators - both sporting bodies themselves or commercial organisations.

Financial investments will certainly extend to and multiply in esports, as its development of elite players mirrors all the characteristics of what it takes to be an elite sport athlete.

Scenario 4: Fractured sport ecosystem

In a world in which several economic and security blocs of varying size and strength herald a return to the days of the Cold War, sport will also return to a more cocooned existence. In a fractured sport ecosystem, growth of nationally popular and/or indigenously relevant sports will be strong. This may be advocated by those who are in charge of the power blocs, and keen to appeal to strong nationalistic, regional, religious or ideological sentiments.

As the focus will be on the prosperity and sustainability of the power blocs, not the whole of the world, the economics of sport business will largely play out within closed ecosystems. Ironically this will also apply to esports as cyberspace - as it already is in China - will also be controlled and limited to those who are within the power enclaves.

“sport will both be a platform for community participation and elite excellence”

Of course, this also means that information flows are restricted, and that what people can or cannot read, say or play, will be heavily biased.

International sport business trade will decline, with only global sports being able to maintain a level of international commerce and governance across the power blocs. In a way, some parts of the sporting arms race scenario may apply here, not to countries, but to blocks of countries.

Scenario 5: Back to basics

In many ways the Back to basics scenario mirrors the Sport for all scenario, but from a much darker place. Where in the Sport for all scenario it seems that humans have come to their senses, and rediscovered their purpose and origins, the Back to basics scenario is founded on disaster, and the realisation that we may have only one more chance to make things right.

In Back to basics we return to the foundations of sport, and the foundations of sport business, realising why it was that we played sport in the first place. A nostalgic return to what were good old times, but in a way that reflect the modern possibilities.

As the world is forced to come together under the leadership of the EU and China, with the USA and India and many multilateral institutions also taking on leadership, the potential of sport to assist with massive global challenges is recognised. In this scenario universal access to sporting opportunities is also facilitated, but now more to bring communities together during and after times of devastation and disaster.

Never before has sport delivered on its latent ability to generate and grow social capital, to bring people together, to bond, and to relate to and appreciate each other. In a way, back to the basics of sport mirrors the need for humans to return to their small community origins, and find ways to co-exist in and create low carbon, high yield, sustainable congregations.

Technology will play a substantial role in creating such communities, and digitally facilitated sport in that regard, will provide sustainable, low impact alternatives - esports will thrive. Artificial intelligence will assist in developing sport experiences that seem real, but are experienced in virtual environments, without stressing the natural world, and without being stressed

by the impact of dangerous environmental conditions.

While we have presented five possible sport business scenarios towards 2040, within these scenarios it is important to identify what are the opportunities that each of these scenarios contain for sport business leaders.

In International Sport Business: current issues, future perspectives such opportunities are comprehensively considered. Suffice to say that irrespective of some of the doom and gloom predicted for the world into the future, opportunities will always be there, especially in an industry that continues to deliver billions of people a relief from the challenges of our times.

Hans Westerbeek is Professor of International Sport Business and Director of PASI (Physical Activity & Sport Insights) at Victoria University.

Adam Karg is Associate Professor and Director of the Sport Innovation Research Group at Swinburne University. International Sport Business: Current Issues, Future Directions (ISBN 9780367312824) is published by Routledge.

Sport has the ability to “bring people together, to bond, and to relate to and appreciate each other.”

Emotional Connection

Georgie Maynard explains why emotional connection holds the key to sponsorship success

True North Research has been measuring the impact of emotional connection on teams and sponsorships since 2018, and one thing doesn’t change - the more emotionally connected someone is to a sports property the more likely they are to engage with a sponsor’s message, product or service.

However, before providing the proof, let’s consider why emotions matter and why they are so integral to sport.

A brand is your signal to the market, it tells the market what you stand for. A brand has both rational and emotional components to it. The rational part of a brand refers to the features, price, quality, While the emotional aspects are the image, style, social proof, trust etc. The aim of the emotional component of the brand is to form a connection, to create a sense of belonging, encourage engagement and drive behaviour.

When we look at sporting brands, it is the emotional component of the brand that is heavily at play. We see this in how our own body language reacts to a property we support: the cheers, the fist pumps for the victories, getting to our feet when we can’t take the nervous tension or at the hint of a comeback and even the tears after a heart-breaking loss.

If you ask yourself why you follow a team (or individual) it will be driven by emotional aspects. Perhaps it is a team your parents followed, a highly successful team or a team that has strong social values and good leadership. Whatever the reasons, at the heart of why you follow a team or individual will be the core emotional values of respect, enjoyment, trust, pride and the bond. These core values will have developed over time and bound you to the property. So, given the reasons we

connect to sporting teams are driven by emotions, evaluating that emotional connection and its drivers is absolutely key to understanding the behaviours that will result from that connection.

A tangible example of this is the emotional connection to rugby league’s Queensland Maroons which is one heavily rooted in state pride and the historical connection to the team that Queenslanders will have formed throughout the course of their lifetime. This team frequently achieves one of the top fan emotional connection scores (BenchMark EC Score™).

For the Women’s National Cricket Team, who saw a meteoric rise to their BenchMark EC Score™ post their 2020 T20 World Cup win, it was the surging respect and pride in the team that contributed to their rise to the top of the BenchMark rankings in April 2020.

Across the Tasman, the All Blacks recorded the highest BenchMark EC Score™ in 2019 (which may not be as high in 2022) based on a strong familial connection to the team, that

The All Blacks recorded the highest BenchMark EC Score™ in 2019 (above) while Australia Women’s Cricket Team saw a meteoric rating rise after their 2020 T20 World Cup win (below).

Dr

Eliza

Eshita

Katie Denoon

is passed down to each generation, often starting at birth when young Kiwis are dressed in baby rompers adorned with the silver fern. In England, the Lionesses have realised a dream, one that has taken 56 years to materialise, an English victory in the Euros ending a long drought for silverware at international level. We hope to measure their BenchMark EC Score™ in the coming months.

We cannot simply look at outcome-based measures like attendance, ratings and membership and understand how the sports fans think and how they will act next. Emotions matter because they drive these outcomes, affect long term advancement and protect a property when in crisis. Sports brands and sponsors need to understand this component, the emotional connection to sporting properties as it is integral to why we connect and engage with sponsors.

Thinking back to your own experience, the stronger your connection the more likely you are to pay to watch them on TV, go to a game, buy merchandise and be aware of, and engage with their sponsors. And that’s the crux of it: emotional connection drives dollar-driven behaviours.

BenchMark proves this link

So for the proof … our first BenchMark Report, launched in November 2018, discovered that the stronger the emotional connection to a sports team, the more likely an individual is to connect to the team’s sponsors. Where there is a strong emotional connection to teams more than two in five people, aware of the sponsorship, will have some form of positive reaction to the sponsor.

This could be positive sentiment towards the sponsor’s brand, greater consideration, first time usage or more frequent usage of the brand’s products or services, or greater trust towards the sponsor and/or its message. For some properties, with a very strong BenchMark EC Score™, this can be even higher, with up to 60-70% of those aware of a sponsor having a positive reaction to the sponsor’s brand.

The crucial step for a rights holder is developing a stronger emotional connection between fans and the sports property. To do this they need to understand the drivers of emotional connection to an individual, team or league. The BenchMark product does exactly this. For sponsors, they need to tap into these drivers of connection.

Best selling journalist and writer, Malcolm Gladwell, known for his nonfiction writing on psychology and sociology, emphasises that “emotion is contagious”.

Through sponsorship we want to harness this contagious emotion and the behaviour that runs from it. Sponsors will benefit by understanding the drivers of emotional connection to a team and then leveraging these drivers in their activations. This engages the audience with their brand and drives the desired behaviours and outcomes. Repeated exposure to the

brand in the environment of a positive emotional experience eventually results in an emotional response to the brand - it’s just conditioning. So eventually you feel good about the brand without the intermediary.

Sponsorships should be mutually beneficial partnerships, where the sponsor gains positive brand rub off, ideally where brand values are aligned, and in return the sponsor provides funding and ideally relevance to fans through effective activations. Sponsors are best served by identifying sports properties with the best brand fit, where the target audience is emotionally connected, and the sponsorship will deliver the desired behavioural outcomes.

Some of the most recognised sports sponsorships in Australia are driven by longevity, easy association and a good brand fit e.g. Geelong Cats and Ford, St George and the Dragons,

Brands like women’s Queensland Maroons engage with grassroots (above) while the NRL’s Dragons and St George Bank (below) and Panthers and OAK plus (right) enjoy longstanding links.

Penrith Panthers and OAK Plus. However, high awareness alone does not automatically guarantee good sponsorship outcomes (although it helps with the overall impact). For a successful campaign, sponsors often require more than just an increase in awareness. Dependent on objectives, sponsors likely want to see a positive reaction to their brand, be it sentiment, consideration, trust etc..

Investing more financially in a sponsorship or picking the best-known teams aren’t always the best way to maximise these sponsorship outcomes. Yet this is the current status quo, as many sports sponsors buy purely on eyeballs when they should be looking at the quality of the connection. Even worse they make decisions based on their own emotions e.g., a chief executive’s decision or opting for a perceived good deal. The only emotions that should be taken into consideration is the market’s, particularly the sponsor’s target market’s emotional connection to the team.

The BenchMark evaluation framework looks at the whole gambit of factors that influence sponsorship success, from the obvious: familiarity of the team, sponsor awareness to the more nuanced: activation options, alignment with brand and target audience, emotional connection to the team, whether the audience is primed for sponsorship messaging, and crucially what proof of returns exist - are current sponsorships driving sentiment, consideration, usage and trust.

So how can sponsors get a good ROI? In terms of value for money, brands can expect to see strong return on investment from teams with a higher emotional connection and where the audience is primed for sponsor messaging. By partnering with lesser known teams but those with a strong BenchMark EC score™ and primed audience, sponsors can reap rewards quickly, Puma’s sponsorship of the Melbourne Vixens is one such example. Puma inherently understood the drivers of emotional connection to netball and leveraged these in its activations, achieving high cut through with not just the Vixens’ audience but the wider netball community.

True North helps sponsors find the sweet spot: high sponsor

awareness coupled with a strong emotional connection to the team. While brands like CommBank, Suncorp and Woolworths have been very successful at finding the sweet spot, you don’t need to spend big dollars to have an impact as the Vixens Puma partnership demonstrates.

Understanding the context and the outcomes will help sponsors. If a sponsor is entering a new market and needs to raise brand awareness, looking at properties that will provide that reach and exposure will be important. Men’s teams will often deliver here. However, perhaps the sponsor already has strong awareness but it’s about conversion - greater consideration and usage - here a sponsor wants to partner with properties that have a strong emotional connection as this will be deferred onto the sponsors’ brand. Or maybe the Sponsor needs to reinstill the public’s trust and confidence in it, so here the sponsor should be looking to partner with a property that has an outstanding reputation and is renowned for high levels of trust. This varies by team but frequently it is women’s teams outperforming their male counterparts when it comes to engendering trust. The key is understanding the market, the property, the emotional connection to properties and your objectives.

Georgie Maynard is a Director of True North Research. To find out more visit www.researchtruenorth.com

The

Vixens WNBL team

Not slippery when wet

James Croll discovers the benefits of flocked flooring, not just from a cost and design point of view but due to a range of factors including the ease at which it can be cleaned, its sustainability and impressive safety record

When key decisions were being made for the redevelopment of the Waves Fitness and Aquatic Centre in Baulkham Hills, the team involved were keen to ensure that they got one particular area absolutely right - the choice of flooring for its non-aquatic spaces.

The projected volume of footfall was substantial, and they knew flooring was absolutely key when it came to how the refurbished centre would be judged. They were concerned that their choice of flooring would satisfy a number of key factors, specifically its durability, aesthetics, comfort, slip resistance, sustainability, and ease of maintenance. After considerable research the team opted for Flotex, a unique textile, flocked floor covering designed by the global flooring provider Forbo Flooring Systems which had been gaining a strong reputation for combining ease of cleaning and durability features with benefits such as comfort, slip resistance and acoustic properties which were usually associated with textiles.

Forbo Flooring Textile Product Manager, Erin Sharrock explains “the Waves Fitness and Aquatic Centre’s decision to go with the Flotex product was an interesting one.

“Flotex is a unique flooring offer in that it is a hybrid product. It offers the resilience of a vinyl whilst having the aesthetic, acoustic and underfoot comfort benefits of a carpet. It’s versatile, safe, very cost effective and performs extremely well in heavy foot traffic environments that are open to the public. The product satisfied all the key requirements that the centre had.”

Flotex is a flocked flooring product made of nylon (polyamide) flock which is glued onto a fibreglass carrier using PVC glue. Either PVC or other compound products serve as backing and the flooring is generally supplied in roll-to-roll carpet or in the shape of carpet tiles making its installation easy and practical. This ease of installation was an influencing factor in the Waves decision, but it was the ease of cleaning that really drove the decision.

Sharrock advises “Flotex is exceptionally easy to clean without the need for excessive chemicals.

“It is also the fastest drying textile around and unlike most textiles, it can be easily maintained using standard cleaning equipment. The Flotex impervious backing also makes it suitable for wet cleaning and it is highly durable due to its dense surface pile. It can also be cleaned down to its base due to its upright nylon fibres and impermeable PVC backing.”

While there is a 10-year commercial warranty, the product has been known to surpass this time-period many times over which is testament to its durability. In addition, the product has a growing reputation for health and safety. It was recently awarded the prestigious Allergy UK Seal of Approval in the UK as it was proven to reduce allergens, which in turn improves indoor air quality.

A recent Cleaning Research International study also clearly demonstrated the superior cleanability of the flocked floor covering as opposed to a loop pile and a cut pile carpet. Identically sized samples of each type of floor covering were conditioned, weighed, and then dirtied using 10 grams of standard soil. They were then reconditioned and reweighed before being vacuumed with an upright vacuum cleaner fit with a brush, a spray extraction nozzle, and a contra-rotating brush cleaner. At each stage, the samples were dried, reconditioned, and weighed to determine how much soil had been removed. The results clearly demonstrated the superior cleanability of the flocked floor covering, showing that a 77.7% mean of soil was removed after the use of a contra-rotating brush cleaner. This meant it had the least amount of soil remaining after each cycle.

Simple cleaning methods can be used to maintain Flotex FR. Simple upright vacuuming is very effective whilst hot water spray extraction or three-in-one spray and brush machine methods are better for deep cleaning. Fresh spillages can be

FLOTEX – NOT SLIPPERY WHEN WET FIT FOR PURPOSE FLOORING FOR AQUATIC & LEISURE CENTRES

With over 150 years of experience, Forbo Flooring Systems is a trusted and global manufacturer of high-quality floor solutions focusing on sustainability, functionality and design from entrance to exit. To find out more, visit www.forbo-flooring.com.au or scan the QR code to get in touch.

Create a safe environment that complements the atmosphere and experience for visitors with Flotex.

Flotex is a unique textile flooring, neither a carpet nor a resilient, rather a hybrid that combines the benefits of both. It is the toughest, longestwearing textile on the market.

Water-resistant and fastest drying textile R12/P5slip rating when dry and wet – not slippery when wet!

Withstands heavy traffic without shedding, tracking or packing down Green Tag certified with up to 67% recycled content in the backing Hygienic – certified allergy and asthma friendly Easy to clean and refresh

Available in over 500 designs in sheet, tile and plank format with the ability to digitally print your own design

spot cleaned, while water soluble stains, such as jam or red wine, can be scraped, rinsed with hot water, and brushed which agitates the pile allowing the removal of any excess liquid. Greasy stains may require the use of detergent, while stains such as permanent marker or shoe polish can be removed using a safe solvent.

The unique construction of the Flotex flocked product essentially allows the release of soil and other dirt like no other textile flooring. Unlike the looped and twisted fibres of a conventional carpet tile, the smooth straight fibres of Flotex do not trap particles of soil, allowing them to be removed without difficulty during cleaning. In fact, most spills can be cleaned with plain water.

This ease of cleaning has resulted in flocked flooring being a preferred choice across much of the cruise ship industry but with the leisure sector presenting many of the same challenges it is not surprising that an increasing number of leisure, recreation and entertainment centres are now opting for the product across Australasia.

Sharrock notes “while Flotex is waterproof we do not recommend it to be used in the area adjacent to a pool. The general areas of a leisure centre are typically where Flotex is best placed.

“In addition to the cleaning benefits, its slip safety rating is undeniable. It is the safest resilient flooring product on the Australian market. The pendulum slip test is a P5 and the ramp slip test is R12. These top safety ratings apply when the product is dry and when it is wet - hence our saying: ‘Not slippery when wet’.”

But it is the amount of time it takes for a floor covering to dry which is proving a major benefit to leisure venues as this has substantially minimised turnaround times as proven by a Cleaning Research International study. The study tested the drying characteristics of flocked floor coverings alongside six different carpet constructions.

Each floor covering was subjected to two passes using an industrial spray extraction machine and the remaining moisture content was measured after various periods of time to establish how long each took to dry. After just two hours, the flocked pile sample was substantially drier than all the other constructions

of carpet, with only 0.57% of moisture remaining, and after five hours, the pile was almost completely dry. Other samples still retained significant amounts of moisture.

The faster drying times are significant when it comes to safety. The Flotex product for instance has a high slip resistant rating of R12/P5 whether the floor is dry or wet. The product is also ultra-low in emissions and is phthalate free which compliments its allergy approved rating.

Sharrock continues “sustainability has played a massive role in our research and development in recent years.

“At Forbo we believe a sustainable product is one that lasts, and Flotex most certainly passes the test of time with flying colours. We offer EPD’s (Environmental Product Declaration) on all of our products. Flotex is also Greentag certified and manufactured using 100% green energy.”

Essentially this has seen Forbo constantly striving to optimise their production processes in terms of water and energy usage, while reducing emissions, focussing on the recycling of heat generated in the production process, as well as the reduction and recycling of off-cuts in order to keep their footprint to a minimum. This has all been critical to their entire manufacturing process.

Aware of the increasing importance of safety and the environment, crucially manufacturers such as Forbo have not neglected design and aesthetics. The company have also been only too aware of supply chain issues in the industry which have been on the increase as a result of the pandemic.

Sharrock concludes “while Flotex has been manufactured by Forbo in the United Kingdom for over 70 years. We have ensured we have thousands of square metres in various patterns and colours kept here in Australia, so there is no lead time.

“We also have bespoke digital options for projects wanting a unique feature floor or connection to a brand or design. The product comes in two-metre-wide sheet, tiles, and planks. We have hundreds of colours and patterns available, and we also offer custom digital colours and patterns from as little as 60 metre².”

James Croll is Partnerships Manager at Australasian Leisure Management.

Snow Australia welcomes Jen Krawczyk as new National Integrity Manager

Snow Australia has welcomed Jen Krawczyk as the new National Integrity Manager with Krawczyk’s appointment being a shared role between Snow Australia, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) and the Australian Curling Federation.

The appointment will see Krawczyk roll out and embed each organisation’s National Integrity Framework to their respective community.

President Peggy O’Neal to Chair Commonwealth Games planning committee

Peggy O’Neal, the first woman to serve as a President of an AFL club, is set to take up a new role overseeing the delivery of the Victorian Commonwealth Games.

O’Neal, who is scheduled to step down from her Presidency of AFL club Richmond after a successful 10-year term in December, has been announced as Chair of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee.

O’Neal will head a committee tasked with organising the 2026 Games across Victoria in a decentralised format, spread out across the regional hubs of Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland and with its opening ceremony to be held at the MCG.

New appointments for Western Australian Institute of Sport Board

Seven appointments have been made to the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) Board with world champion swimmer Priya Cooper (pictured) taking on the role of Chairperson.

Three board members have been re-appointed and four new appointments have been made with all members bringing a wealth of expertise and experience to the roles.

The new members are Priya Cooper, Dr Rishelle Hume, Professor Robert Grove and Stuart Reside.

The re-appointed members are Matthew Beevers, Josie Janz-Dawson and (Charles) Leigh Robinson.

They join current members with ongoing terms in place: Fiona Pixley and Amanda Cox.

MKTG expands its team

MKTG Sports + Entertainment, part of dentsu Sports International has expanded its team with several key hires: Hugh Rogan as Sponsorship Account Director, Sara Farr as Business Project Director, Jess Surkitt as Senior Event Production Manager, Jeff Leong as Sponsorship Manager, Chris Anderson as Motion Graphics Artist, Jai Lockwood as the Commercial Team Coordinator, Kelvin Giraldo as Content Coordinator, and Bianca Gerin and Taylah Gillis as Multiskilled Technical Operators.

The agency also announced the promotion of Martin Ansell to Strategy and Insights Director.

Greg Yong named

Ardent Leisure Chief Executive

Ardent Leisure has announced the promotion of its theme parks division Chief Executive Greg Yong to the role of Group Chief Executive.

The move follows the group revealing higher revenues for the 2021/22 financial year and that it is now debt free following the sale of its US-based Main Event business.

Australian Sports Technologies Network senior leadership shuffle

After more than a decade of championing Australia’s sports technology industry, the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has announced that founding Chair James Demetriou has stepped down from the role.

Among several changes to its executive leadership team, Demetriou will take on the role of ASTN’s Executive Director of Commercialisation and Partnerships for the next three years, with current Board Member Dr Martin Schlegel stepping into the role of Chair while Jasmine Lim will become Deputy Chair.

Established to play a leadership role in the development of Australian-inspired sports technologies in 2012, ASTN became one of the first coordinated sports tech ‘eco-systems’ or ‘super-cluster’ initiatives globally.

A decade on and ASTN is at the centre of Australia’s booming sports tech industry which has grown by more than 170% to almost $3.1 billion revenue annually.

VMA announces 2022 student scholarship winners

The Venue Management Association (Asia and Pacific) has announced Claire Wardley (pictured below right) and Emma Walker as winners of scholarships to attend the annual Venue Management School or VMA Leadership Institute in 2022.

Through its industry partnerships with Ungerboeck and Event Health Management, the VMA provides two scholarships for students to attend its management development programs, with each scholarship created to reflect and reward the applicants’ great work across several key themes that translated into everyday actions.

Countering Spills

With it now being a legal requirement for all employers to have controls in place to protect staff from potential infection, James Croll explains how a cost-effective spill kit is providing a hygienic solution for the handling, odour elimination and disposal of spills, blood, vomit and body fluids

The latest ZeoMed body fluid spill kits from Clean Stream Technologies are designed to comply with Department of Health regulations in the handling of bloodborne pathogens in workplaces, public and recreational areas.

As Scott Whittaker, General Manager of Clean Stream Technologies, explains “the rising interest in ZeoMed, particularly in this hygiene-conscious post-COVID world, isn’t surprising, since it is now a legal requirement for all employers to have controls in place to protect staff and the public from potential infection from body spills.

“Indeed, the legal requirements extend across a broad range of industry, commerce, and public institutions, ranging from retail, industrial, transport and medical and laboratory facilities but also include hospitality, leisure, and entertainment venues.”

The growth of the ZeoMed range has coincided with the recent surge in organisations and businesses across the industry creating staff roles with EHS (environmental health, and safety) responsibilities. EHS Officers essentially protect, promote, and improve public health to prevent people from getting sick from their environment. This might include ensuring the safety of items such as drinking water, food and beverage, or hygiene across both public and private areas, pest control, and, of course, the efficient management and disposal of waste.

These professionals assess risk and develop, regulate, enforce and monitor laws and regulations governing public health for both the built and natural environment, in order to promote good human health and environmental practices.

It is a highly specialised role and is responsible for ensuring compliance with environmental safety laws with the staff member working to protect the environment from potentially harmful business practices while also protecting employees and visitors from environmental hazards in the area.

The need to have an efficient and compliant solution for spills is a concern across the leisure industry, particularly since, by their nature, venues generally see a high volume of foot traffic, and in some cases mass gatherings, which in turn increase the risk and frequency of spills.

Whittaker notes “venues have Duty of Care obligations along with legal requirements, and standard cleaning methods simply don’t comply. Imagine using a mop and bucket to clean a blood or vomit spill, then using the same mop to clean a canteen. You run the risk of cross contamination.

“Spills are an area that you want to clean quickly. Quite apart from their unsightly appearance, or foul smell, they can cause a slip hazard on hard floors, or they can transmit bloodborne diseases.”

The ZeoMed range of kits provide an efficient and hygienic solution for the handling and disposal of spills, including blood, vomit, and body fluids that pose health hazards including HIV and Hepatitis. ZeoMed also absorbs excess moisture and most importantly, eliminates odour.

Interestingly, the ZeoMed kits are becoming as noticeable as other essential prevention solutions across Australasia’s leisure venues. They can be hung next to fire extinguishers or placed

Spills are a challenge for all types of venues and, Environmental Health and Safety Officers, in particular.

in first aid kits for quick recognition. The kits include protection required by Safe Work Australia. Contents of the kits include absorbent powder, absorbent cleaning cloths, sealing waste disposal bags or sealing bulk containers, face masks, splash goggles, gloves, aprons, scoops, scrapers, bright yellow waste warning materials and instruction sheets. All kits have been designed to comply with Department of Health regulations in the handling of bloodborne pathogens in the workplace.

Clean Stream Technologies has found an increasing demand for these ‘all-in-one’ kits with organisations ordering kits to suit the particular need of their own individual site. Across the leisure industry, the demand for three specific ZeoMed kits has been all too obvious.

Clean Stream Technologies also has complementary product lines to ZeoMed, including the laboratory validated EnviroKlenz® Air System Plus, a complete air filtration system, introduced to Australasia to help public and private employers as well as venues fulfil their duty of care and occupational health and safety obligations to protect staff and visitors against the spread of viral and other airborne health hazards within interior spaces. EnviroKlenz® Air System Plus kills viruses multiple times smaller than COVID, including SARS-COV-2. It is already proven in service in US health and public facility environments responding to the Coronavirus pandemic and is suitable for office, front desk, dentist and medical centres, aged care facilities and canteen, accommodation, hospitality, and leisure venues.

The system incorporates safe, laboratory proven technologies to neutral multiple other airborne health challenges, including different viruses, bacteria, including E-coli, pathogens, pollen, and pollution including smoke, and seasonal allergens that affect millions in Australia and New Zealand, particularly health-compromised or older people.

Whittaker concludes “it is highly effective because it goes much further than standard purifiers by combining medically proven ultraviolet UVC germicidal irradiation with safe and effective earth mineral technology originally developed for the US military and still used today to destroy chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals.

“The two products epitomise our goal and vision of helping people live healthier and more productive lives by providing clean air through a suite of products and solutions.”

The most common in the leisure sector is the Body Fluid Spill Kit, which is designed for in-field use with portable first aid kits for quick access by employees. These are ideally suited to pubs, clubs, stadia, gyms, and a huge range of indoor facilities likely to encounter spills. Then, there is the Biohazard Spill Kit which is ideal for corporate, hospitality and public domains, located near first aid stations or cleaning trolleys. And the Multipurpose Spill Kit for venues such as sporting and other activity venues, supermarkets, variety stores, shopping centres, restaurants, hospitality, and transport terminals where staff or the public may be at risk from biohazard and chemical hazards as well as slip and fall hazards.

Whittaker advises “with all industries coping with the ongoing effects of Covid - and in a workplace safety environment with heightened interest in worker and visitor protection - these are all products whose time has arrived.”

James Croll is Partnerships Manager at Australasian Leisure Management.

VALE

Terry McDermott

A fan-favourite of TV’s Bondi Rescue, Waverley Council Lifeguard Terry ‘Tezz’ McDermott died on 1st September after a two year-long battle with cancer.

An announcement on the official Facebook page for Bondi Rescue Lifeguards stated that “the lifeguard world is mourning the loss of one of the nicest watermen to don a jersey.”

The valediction went on to remember McDermott as a “selfless man” who “saved countless lives during his career spanning more than 30 years working at many different beaches.”

Tezz spent 20 years working as a lifeguard on the Central Coast and 10 years patrolling the famous Bondi Beach, appearing on several seasons of Bondi Rescue as well as the spin-off series, Bondi Rescue: Bali.

Stephen Gregg

Tourism industry leader Stephen Gregg has died after a lengthy battle with cancer at the age of 73.

Stephen was Chief Executive of Tourism Queensland for nearly seven years from August 1996 before roles as Chief Executive of Dreamworld and then Cairns and Mackay Airports.

He led the industry as Chair of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council for almost eight years, then as the Chair of both Events Queensland and Tourism Queensland, overseeing the successful merger of the two into Tourism and Events Queensland.

He also Chaired Tourism Tropical North Queensland and Queensland Rail and served as a Board member of Tourism Noosa. In 2015 he was awarded the industry’s highest honour, The Marie Watson-Blake Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual to recognise his extraordinary personal and professional achievements in Queensland and Australia’s tourism industry.

Michael O’Hara

The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) has advised of the death of Michael O’Hara, who headed operations for many successful exhibitions and events in Australia, South-East Asia and New Zealand.

A statement from the (EEAA) noted “the exhibition and event industry lost one of its true champions late last week, when Michael O’Hara passed away peacefully at home.

“He was diligent, direct, and always supportive of the teams around him. Michael headed operations for many successful exhibitions and events in Australia, South-East Asia and New Zealand.”

People In Brief

Tourism New Zealand has appointed Angela Blair as their new General Manager International, responsible for the delivery of marketing activity in offshore markets and aviation partnerships.

Richard Brown is the new Manager - Parks and Recreation at the City of Gosnells situated in Perth’s south-east.

Aligned Leisure has promoted Simon Bryson to the position of General Manager - Operations.

Leisure Strategies has appointed Anthony Burke as the new General Manager at Brisbane’s Mcleod Country Golf Club.

ASM Global has announced Malcolm Caddies, Grounds Manager at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, as General Manager of Sports Turf and Landscape at Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong.

Hills Shire Council has appointed Sarah Clarke as Centre Manager at the new Waves Fitness and Aquatic Centre.

Amber Gardner has been appointed as the inaugural Chief Executive of Alpine Resorts Victoria - moving from the role of Chief Executive at the Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board.

Daniel Gschwind, the former Chief Executive of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) has joined Griffith Institute for Tourism (GIFT) as a Professor of Practice.

Yarra Ranges Council has appointed Leigh Harry, the former Chief Executive at Tourism Victoria, as the new Chair of Yarra Ranges Tourism Inc.

Daphne Henderson has been promoted to the role of Chief Financial Officer at the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust.

Attractions software platform ROLLER has announced the appointment of Bee Hepburn to the position of Chief People Officer.

Jason Hill is the new Head of Commercial at Football NSW. Parks and Leisure Australia has named Sally Jarvis as its new Executive Officer for Queensland.

The Board of Football Australia has revealed that the contract of James Johnson as Chief Executive has been extended until the end of 2024.

Alison Jones has been named Project Coordinator for Collective Leisure.

Yasmine Lintmeijer has taken on the role of Head of Fox Studios Australia.

Orangetheory Fitness has appointed Kelly Lohr as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer to drive an evolved member experience, brand relevancy and company growth.

Perth Racing has appointed Brock Neeling to the position of Racecourse Manager.

The Waikato Chiefs Rugby Club has appointed Bill Osborne to the position of Chair.

Viva Leisure has appointed Grace Ram as Cluster Manager. Big Red Group has appointed Brent Rutherford to the newly created role of Chief Technology Officer, to lead Australia and New Zealand’s largest experience marketplace through its next phase of growth.

Australia’s largest regional accommodation provider, the G’day Group, has appointed Ben Simons to the newly created Chief Strategy Officer role and Stella Thredgold as a Non-Executive Director.

Griffith City Council has appointed local resident Craig Tilston as the new Manager at Griffith Regional Aquatic Leisure Centre. Luke Tucker, the former Chief Commercial Officer of NRL club the Manly Sea Eagles has launched a new commercial consultancy picking up work with VenuesLive, the new operator of Central Coast Stadium.

Golf Australia has announced the appointment of Cameron Wade as Executive Director of the Australian Golf Foundation.

From Boots to Ballet

Karen Sweaney discovers how the Thomas Dixon Centre, Queensland Ballet’s home since 1991, has been repurposed into a contemporary performing arts centre

Home to Queensland Ballet for the last 30 years, Brisbane’s Thomas Dixon Centre has reopened as a world-class performing arts destination and culture precinct following a $100 million refurbishment.

With an innovative design combining the old and the new, the site has been revitalised with the addition of a threestorey extension offering a new theatre for 350 patrons, six dance studios, a performance and wellness centre, expanded wardrobe and production facilities, a roof terrace, cafe and function spaces.

Five historic air raid shelters have also been converted into a ‘bunker bar’ that will be ready to host exclusive hospitality experiences from next year.

Adjoining the main 110-year-old venue, a former boot factory built in 1908, the new additions are set back from the heritage structure, creating a central promenade and focal point for the building. With a design sympathetic to the building’s historic details they take account of what Queensland Ballet’s former Head of Building Precincts and Projects Lucas Gilroy, described as the “complexities of the workflows and operations”.

Designed by architects Conrad Gargett and built by construction company Hansen Yuncken, another project objective was to provide the public with a rare glimpse of ballet beyond the stage, retaining a sense of mystique and intrigue while offering viewing opportunities into the costume workshop and dance studios.

Prior to the refurbishment, as Queensland Ballet began to outgrow the site, various options were explored, including the possibility of the company’s relocation after 30 years at the site. The redevelopment, which began in 2019, represents the culmination of 10 years of fundraising by Queensland Balletwith support from the Queensland Government and Federal Government – enabling the company to stay in its Brisbane West End location.

Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet, Li Cunxin AO sees that the project marks the realisation of a vision to make the centre a venue for all, advising “the redevelopment of this historic building is a truly transformational moment for the arts in Brisbane.

“More than an incredible home for Queensland Ballet … as a centre for culture and community (it) will impact the Brisbane artistic landscape for years to come.”

Queensland Ballet Executive Director, Dilshani Weerasinghe pointed out that the venue now incorporates spaces to ensure it is a destination for all, adding “engagement activities within Thomas Dixon Centre - which include hospitality spaces and opportunities for the arts sector and our broader communityare designed to enable access for as many as possible.”

While restoring the site’s heritage to its former glory was critical to the redevelopment, the Centre will also be the first performing arts building in the world to achieve the WELL™ accreditation - a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that prioritise the health and well-being of occupants.

Hansen Yuncken Chief Executive, Peter Salveson sees that redevelopment is indicative of revitalisation in the arts sector, stating “the Thomas Dixon Centre is the first in a wave of both new and reimagined cultural centres that will play a huge role in bringing Australia’s arts and entertainment back to life.”

Looking forward, Salveson added “the opportunity to develop landmark cultural hubs is an exciting step forward as Australia recovers from a challenging couple of years.

“It’s time for buildings like the Thomas Dixon Centre to set the stage for the nation’s artistic revival.”

The Centre’s new 350-seat-theatre (above and below), credit: Chris Wardle.

Entrance to the new Thomas Dixon Centre, credit: Johnny Harkin.

Conrad Gargett has completed the refurbishment of the historic home of Queensland Ballet.

Venue Manager

Products

Village Roadshow Theme Parks

agree long-term technology

partnership extension with accesso accesso Technology Group has announced an extension to its technology agreement with Village Roadshow Theme Parks, with the attractions operator now set to continue using accesso ticketing, virtual queuing, guest experience management and distribution technologies at its five Gold Coast properties through to 2027.

The agreement, which has the option to be further extended through to 2029, will see the international ticketing, guest experience management and distribution solutions provider deliver its personalised, mobile-first self-service options to its guests at Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast, Sea World, Australian Outback Spectacular and Paradise Country.

VRTP’s partnership with accesso, which commenced in 2017, has been redefining the guest experience at its Gold Coast properties with the use of cutting-edge eCommerce, ticketing, point-of-sale, virtual queuing and guest experience solutions - all designed with a simplified, value-driven and mobile-managed guest experience in mind. E: sales@accesso.com, www.accesso.com

Moshtix reveals exclusive Ticketing Partnership with Merivale

Moshtix has announced a long-term partnership with entertainment and hospitality group Merivale that will see the Ticketmaster company become the exclusive ticketing partner across all venues owned by the group.

Working to deliver a worldclass ticketing solution across its annual calendar of general admission events, Merivale will have access to Moshtix’s everexpanding suite of ticketing, reporting and marketing integrations that aim to provide market-leading solutions to the group’s hospitality and nightclub ventures.

Merivale’s key club nights, including Lost Sundays, ivy Thursdays, WAO, POOF DOOF, Boogie and Marco Polo, will gain access to Moshtix’s automated customer journey, specialist assistance across programmatic and paid marketing campaigns and in-depth reporting data via Moshtix Insights.

A cornerstone of the partnership will also be the development of collaborative data-led strategies specific for hospitality groups with Merivale and its team able to harness the full potential of Moshtix’s API and integration capabilities to consolidate its wealth of data into a single platform.

Contact 1300 438 849, www.moshtix.com.au

SugarCRM and ResPax partnership delivers first fully Integrated CRM and Tour Booking Platform for Tourism Industry

SugarCRM, provider of the award-winning AI-driven CRM platform and ResPax, a leading tour reservation system provider have formed a strategic partnership offering the first fully integrated CRM and tour booking platform for the tourism industry.

The goals of the partnership are to help fuel travel and tourism industry growth through cutting-edge tools to scale operations, turbocharge visitor numbers, boost customer experience and loyalty, enhance job creation and drive revenues.

ResPax streamlines tourism operations, giving customers a single workflow to manage all their operations with online bookings, channel manager and enterprise-grade reservations system, so tour operators and travel agents can spend more time growing their business.

With this powerful combination of technology, operators can achieve the benefits of a holistic view of customers, tight data integration and collaboration, and enhanced customer insights fuelled by AI.

Contact 02 7228 0074, www.sugarcrm.com

24/7 Software continues international expansion with Australasian launch

Cloud-based operations and safety management platform 24/7 Software has announced the acceleration of the expansion of its global footprint in Australia and New Zealand.

The Florida, USA-based global provider of operations and safety management software for venues and events has expanded its AWS Cloud infrastructure in Sydney to manage significant increases in demand for the platform globally.

24/7 Software has also launched an integration with WhatsApp, with both push and pull notification messaging, to enhance real-time communications and maximise the guest experience for international patrons.

24/7 Software, which began operations in 2007, currently serves hundreds of sport and entertainment venues in North America - including 93% of NFL venues, 80% of MLB venues, 75% of NHL venues, and 70% of all NASCAR Cup venues while international customers include The O2 Arena and Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, FC Barcelona in Spain and for Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium and Melbourne and Olympic Parks.

Send your product news to leisure@ausleisure.com.au

INTIX to provide ticketing solutions for Melbourne Sports Centres

Victorian-based digital ticketing provider INTIX has announced that it will be providing ticketing solutions for Melbourne Sports Centres venues.

Melbourne Sports Centres (previously known as the Melbourne Sports Hub) encompasses the Victorian Government owned Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre (MSAC), Parkville (formally known as the State Netball Hockey Centre), Lakeside Stadium and the MSAC Institute of Training.

The multi-site sport facility operator aims to enable sporting organisations and individuals to achieve peak performance, reach their potential and deliver world-class events.

In August MSAC passed 25 years of operations, marking the occasion with an event for its sports partners that recognised the venue’s achievements over a quarter of a century of operations.

Email: help@intix.com, www.intix.com.au

Endless Surf partnership with Myrtha Pools to solve wave pool construction and maintenance challenges

Aiming to alleviate many of the common challenges that surf park developers face when constructing and operating their surf lagoon, a new pool building partnership between Endless Surf and Myrtha Pools has been announced.

The partnership will see state-of-the-art Myrtha Pools stainless steel pool technology available exclusively for Endless Surf projects.

Bringing decades of pool building experience for worldrenowned swimming pool, waterpark and resort development, Myrtha Pools are comprised of stainless steel panels with laminated PVC, delivering a cost-effective, long-lasting and sustainable solution to many lagoon construction problems.

Backed by a 25-year warranty, showing how durable the technology truly is, Myrtha’s entry into the surf pool space is a natural progression, according to Endless Surf President, Paul Chutter.

Chutter explains “as many of our Endless Surf projects are starting to enter construction phases, we are thrilled about our new partnership with Myrtha Pools and all the benefits it brings to our clients and their developments.”

Contact Yvette Audet, Myrtha Business Development Manager for Australia and New Zealand on 0410 411 975, E: yvette.audet@myrthapools.com

Envibe gets new look

for its online customer portal

Leading industry management software platform Envibe’s online customer portal has received a makeover, with the addition of new icons, opportunities for more customisation and other enhancements to ensure it remains visually appealing and easy to use on a wide variety of devices.

The changes are the first phase of their ‘Look and Feel’ update, which aims to ensure Envibe’s user interface for aquatic, fitness, recreation and sport facilities is the easiest to use of any management system on the market.

Dushayant Dhar, Jonas Leisure’s Head of Sales and Customer Success, stated “it’s an important step in the ongoing evolution of our software, and one that helps ensure Envibe remains the leading light of modern leisure management solutions.”

Dhar advises that one of the first changes users will notice when visiting the customer portal is that it’s a lot cleaner.

Icons have been added to the Courses page to help visually differentiate between course types and locations and the navigation has been improved to allow people to more easily view dates and times for course sessions that are not yet full.

Envibe’s customer portal can already be customised and embedded into client websites, whether they are a council or a private facility manager.

Contact 02 9906 7522, E: info@jonasleisure.com.au, www.jonasleisure.com.au

House of Tickets rebrands as Ticketworx

House of Tickets, Australia and New Zealand’s foremost ticket specialist servicing some 2,700 clients and producing in excess of 30 million tickets per annum, has announced that it has rebranded Ticketworx.

Founded 15 years ago by Managing Director Nathan Simonds, the business’ products have evolved to include new technologies, especially in the digital ticketing and commemorative ticket spaces.

Specialising in thermal printers, custom thermal ticket stock, queue management, custom pre-printed tickets, 3d lenticular laminates, pack and distribution, custom wristbands, admit one style roll tickets, digital passes, generic thermal ticket stock, custom lanyards, plastic cards and microcom printers, the rebrand comes in advance of the company making a series of new product announcements.

Contact 02 4862 3733, E: sales@ticketworx.com.au, www.ticketworx.com.au

Lakeside Stadium and MSAC from the air.

Endless Surf concept for the Gold Coast

Sunbather opens new

Victorian manufacturing facility

Award winning pool heating and solar energy company Sunbather has announced the opening of their new manufacturing facility at their head office site in Hastings, Victoria.

Underlining the future of Sunbather’s Australian made products, manufactured since 1974, the new 1500 metre² facility - home for steel manufacturing works and warehousing - increases the company’s under-roof manufacturing space by a significant 75%.

Planned for almost 10 years, the facility was given the green light in May 2021 as local councils fast-tracked building approvals to stimulate building activity throughout lockdowns. This allowed the facility to be completed in a very short time frame given the disruptive state of supply chains.

Having recently been purchased by global aquatic industry manufacturer and supplier Fluidra, Sunbather now has enormous support in generating all-round continuous improvements to the business, particularly with respect to efficient and lean manufacturing processes, all of which brings more value to customers.

Contact 03 5979 5777, E: info@sunbather.com.au, www.sunbather.com.au

Impact Wrap announces

Evolution Wellness partnership

Impact Wrap, the leader in connected heavy bag fitness has announced a partnership with Evolution Wellness through their boutique fitness brand, FIRE Fit.

The partnership will see all FIRE Fit locations offering the proprietary STRIKE program leverage the Impact Wrap connected heavy bag fitness platform to increase member motivation and retention by providing members the ability to quantify their workouts and track their performance over time.

Evolution Wellness becomes the first Asia-based fitness and wellness group to partner with Impact Wrap and leverage their workout management solution, solidifying their role as the world’s leading provider of heavy bag connected fitness.

The partnership agreement will see Impact Wrap products initially in four FIRE Fit studios offering the STRIKE program; two in Malaysia, and one in Australia and the United Arab Emirates, the latter two being licensed FIRE Fit locations.

The partnership will expand to include 20 studios by the end of this year.

Apart from its STRIKE program, FIRE Fit also offers a number of other signature programs across different modalities including strength, HIIT and cycling.

Contact +1 800 511-9590, E: gyms@impactwrap.com, www.impactwrap.com

Bioairtec spotlights air quality in gyms

Sydney-based Bioairtec, a distributor of air purification and sterilisation technologies across Australia and New Zealand, advises that air quality in gyms regularly fails acceptable standards, with high levels of airborne dust, formaldehyde and carbon dioxide.

They note that “during exercise, we take in more air, drawing air pollution deeper into our lungs. Athletes travelling for competitions are particularly susceptible to catching airborne viruses and bacteria, and getting ill can severely hamper performance.

“When we go to the gym, we push our bodies to the limit, hoping to become stronger, healthier and fitter. The truth is that many modern gyms, particularly those in urban areas, may be harmful to our health. Levels of airborne dust have been found to be high in gyms, partly caused by the high human traffic and constant movement of people and equipment.”

Bioairtec highlight that formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a problem, off-gassing from equipment, carpets and cleaning products.

Contact: 02 8231 6500, www.bioairtec.com.au

Catapult launches next generation of video analysis for ice hockey

Global sports data and analytics company, Catapult has revealed the next generation of video analysis for the sport of ice hockey.

The new solution, originally built for Formula One and expanded to football, rugby, and recently basketball, will allow for the seamless integration of video capture, cloud-based sharing, and analysis of contextualised performance insights.

While Ice Hockey is not as big a sport in Australia as it is elsewhere in northern hemisphere countries, the extension of Catapult’s video analysis solution to this sport shows continued momentum of their growth strategy to expand their video solution to more sports.

Long trusted by hockey teams around the world, Catapult currently has a league-wide agreement with the National Hockey League in North America and works with approximately 250 teams in eight different countries. The new solution will be an enhancement to the widely trusted Thunder video analysis tool, which will be fully integrated.

Email: onemarketing@catapultsports.com, www.catapultsports.com

New Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre features Life Floor’s wildlife inlays in its splash park

Among a range of innovations at the new Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre located in Melbourne’s north-west, Life Floor has introduced a flooring inlay in the children’s aquatic play featuring Australian wildlife.

The aquatic playground uses 12 vibrant Life Floor shades including terracotta, pomegranate, goldfish, sunshine, sandbar, sandstone, ivory, seafoam, turquoise, iceberg, aviator and ocean - in a unique pattern which captures a local organic rock formation making it an exciting, colourful and safe environment for children to play.

The Life Floor Design Studio fine-tuned the conceptual design created by Williams Ross Architects that was inspired from the nearby organic rock formation.

The curves between the 12 different colour changeswhich was important to the Designer’s intent - was made possible with Life Floor tiles as they are easily cut to form a flowing, seamless pattern.

Commenting on the project, Grant Burgess, Managing Director, Life Floor Australia and NZ, stated “a terrific feature of Life Floor is its amazing array of colours and this installation displays over one-third of our colour palette.

“The curved design certainly took time to cut and install but the finished product is certainly going to excite youngsters - especially the hopscotch court and the array of Australian wildlife tiles.”

Another innovation is the hidden impact pad at the base of the slide runout which uses a thicker Life Floor tile to further cushion the flooring while the new Centre is also the first installation using Life Floor’s new library of inlays featuring Australian wildlife.

Built by ADCO Constructions, the Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre aims to be Australia’s first zero emissions aquatic centre. Contact Life Floor (AUS & NZ) on 1300 721 135, E: info@lifefloor.com.au, www.lifefloor.com.au

Technogym’s latest connected equipment offers personalised cardio training experiences

Embracing the evolution of digital software solutions, Technogym’s latest connected equipment offers personalised cardio training experiences with regularly refreshed content provided by expert instructors.

Featuring on-demand workouts for fitness, sport and health and available on all product lines, including the Technogym’s latest innovation in cardio equipment - the eight-piece Excite Live range - the connectivity is based on an intuitive interface that guides and motivates exercisers with personalised training experiences.

Delivering over 700 highly engaging, trainer led readily available sessions, so exercisers can find the workout that best meets their needs, there are six progressive sessions in each goal-based training series, such as ‘your first 5k’, drills and technique, fitter and faster and endurance and efficiency.

Members can boost their workout with pure energy from the best trainers, as sessions are led by 40+ ‘top talent’ trainers (leading personal trainers and social media influencers) who motivate exercisers to achieve maximum results.

Contact 1800 615 440, E: info.au@technogym.com, www.technogym.com

Quayclean secures cleaning services contract for Melbourne and Olympic Parks precinct

Quayclean Australia has been awarded the cleaning services contract for the Melbourne & Olympic Parks (M&OP) precinct.

Advising that the company was proud to have been chosen as an M&OP partner and looking forward to a smooth and seamless transition, Quayclean Chief Executive, Mark Piwkowski stated “we are immensely grateful that M&OP has chosen Quayclean to join their team and work in partnership with all stakeholders to contribute to an exciting experience for all patrons.

“We are well experienced to quickly mobilise our teams to service this large multi-purpose precinct and are thrilled our teams are set, complete with new eco-friendly equipment, to commence work.”

Piwkowski said part of Quayclean’s solution is to support the precinct reduction in waste volumes and achieve high levels of recycling which contribute to carbon reduction, noting “our sustainability team will be working closely with M&OP management and other site partners to enhance recycling rates and reduce landfill diversion.”

Contact 1300 897 117, www.quayclean.com.au

TRX founder reacquires and revitalises the global fitness brand

Global fitness brand, TRX has announced that the brand’s founder and former Chief Executive, Randy Hetrick has partnered with private equity veteran, Jack Daly, to reacquire the business.

Hetrick founded TRX after inventing the Suspension Trainer® as a SEAL Team Squadron Commander and will now lead the company as Chairman with Daly, who will serve as the Chief Executive.

Hetrick led TRX for more than 15 years before selling a controlling interest in the company and moved on to found the new outdoor mobile fitness venture, OutFit.

TRX Chief Executive, Daly advises “it’s a rare opportunity to acquire a brand that remains as well respected and revered as an innovator within its industry as TRXthe ability to leverage the incredible brand equity of TRX is what makes this such a compelling and worthwhile venture.

“Everyone loves a comeback story. Powered by Randy’s knowledge of the brand, the industry, and his personal passion for this brand, coupled with new world-class management, there’s little doubt about the success that lies ahead for TRX.” In Australia, TRX commercial products are distributed by NovoFit on 1800 628 824, E:info@novofit.com.au, www.novofit.com.au/brands/trx

GameDay and Stack Team App partner

provide fully integrated product offering

partnership between GameDay and Stack Team App under the umbrella of Stack Sports aims to bring products closer together via a phased release plan over the coming months, to eventually provide a fully integrated product offering.

GameDay works with a wide variety of organisations including grassroots sporting clubs/associations, professional clubs/teams, national governing bodies, event

along with charities and foundations. GameDay provides a range of solutions including membership management, competition and tournament management, event/ticketing platforms and various digital websites, e- commerce, and online auction fundraising solutions.

Stack Team App is an Australian-based smartphone app trusted by more than seven million members and over 250,000 sporting clubs, teams, leagues and social groups in more than 150 countries. Stack Team App has helped transform the way coaches, team managers and volunteers are able to communicate and engage with their members. Choosing from a huge range of features, a fully customised app with a dynamically updating website can be created for free in less than 10-minutes.

The partnership between GameDay and Stack Team App sees as part of the first phase of release, GameDay Passport users being able to export a number of reports that will be able to be manually imported directly into Stack Team App. E: info@stacksports.com, www.stacksports.com

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