City base for new sports network

By John Van Klaveren
GEELONG will be the base for a new national sports network to commercialise elite sports technology, officials have announced.
Australian Sports Technologies Network interim chair James Demetriou said the network had wide-ranging support.
Mr Demetriou, brother of AFL chief Andrew, said Geelong’s cluster of university and research organisations and sports technology businesses helped clinch the deal.
“The $600 billion global sports market is the third biggest industry in the world and Australia enjoys a high level reputation internationally,” he said.
“We have a high level of sports participation but the sports industry in Australia is fragmented, so we need to work together.
“We will introduce a multi-media showcase of our capabilities on a national and global basis. We will also initiate a sports technology market study so we understand the size of market and its opportunities.”
The network had the support of the AFL as well as councils stategic group G21 Regional Alliance and City of Greater Geelong.
CSIRO and tertiary institutions including Deakin University would participate, Mr Demetriou said.
The network had also attracted Federal Government funding.
“ASTN will run an annual conference to enable members to share information and we’ll run a boot camp for sports technologists,” Mr Demetriou said.
“Developing an export plan for trade shows and trade missions will be another key component.”