The Sunshine Coast is set to host Australia’s first live summit for sport officials.

Referees, umpires, judges and more will join the Sunshine Coast Officiating Summit at the University of the Sunshine Coast on February 26 and 27.

Participants will hear from specialists on nutrition, psychology, recovery, mental health, conflict resolution, decision making, personal branding, financial management, coaching and mentoring.

Economy Portfolio councillor Jason O’Pray said hosting the summit firmly established the Sunshine Coast region as a national and international leader in this developing industry.

“The Sunshine Coast is a high-performance training destination, offering an ideal climate, great natural and purpose-built training facilities and plenty of accommodation options,” Cr O’Pray said.

“Sporting events contribute significantly to our regional economy and we have many world-class facilities to showcase.

“The USC elite training venue continues to be a major drawcard for visiting teams and elite athletes, alongside resident teams – the Sunshine Coast Lightning, Australian Cycling Academy, NRL Referees, Wheelchair Rugby Australia, Sunshine Coast Wanderers and the SunCoast Spinners,” Cr O’Pray said.

Summit organiser Officiating Collective supports the development of sports officials from grass roots through to the elite.

It is the only multi-sport officiating provider to provide specialist education and training that dovetails the development opportunities provided by each national sport governing body.

Officiating Collective managing director Ash Synnott said the organisation had more than 40 years’ combined experience, as well as contacts, relationships and networks making it a world leader in developing sports officials.

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“This is an amazing opportunity to partner with the Sunshine Coast Council to deliver a first of its kind event for Australia.”

The Sunshine Coast Officiating Summit is supported by the Local Economic Recovery Program, established to ensure regional economic and social recovery in areas most severely impacted by the 2019 Queensland Bushfires.

The funding is jointly provided by the Australian and Queensland governments through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

For more information and to register visit Officiating Collective.