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Most young athletes only ever see the final moments — the medal, the celebration, the roar of the crowd. But at the 2025 UQ Youth Game Changers Summit, the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) pulled back the curtain for 100 Queensland students, revealing the real engine room of elite sport: the science, the people and the purpose driving performance long before anyone steps onto a podium.
Across two days, students from 16 schools across the state stepped inside the sport science labs, toured the QAS Recovery Centre and explored the High Performance Gym — spaces where Queensland’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes prepare, recover and innovate. Supported by 14 student mentors and 10 teachers, the experience turned high-performance sport from something distant into something they could see, touch and imagine being part of.
QAS experts brought the system to life through sessions spanning wellbeing, culture, communication and innovation. Students learned how resilience shapes performance, how identity and connection drive culture and how data and technology underpin the decisions behind every training session.
One of the summit’s defining moments came during the Road to High Performance Fireside Chat, where QAS staff shared their own career journeys. Talent and Coaching’s Ben Southwell, High-Performance Programs’ Kate Spilsbury, Performance Support’s Alex White, Partnerships & Operations’ Roxy Kretschmer and Innovation Lead Jordan Hunter talked openly about the experiences, challenges and motivations that led them into elite sport. Their stories showed students that pathways are rarely linear — and that passion, curiosity and purpose matter more than any single title.
By the end of the summit, something had shifted. Students weren’t just visitors; they saw themselves as potential contributors to a bigger system. Many walked away with a clearer sense of where they might belong — whether in Talent and Coaching, High Performance Programs, Performance Support, Partnerships & Operations. As one student put it, “I didn’t realise how many opportunities exist behind the scenes — now I can actually see where I fit.”
The Youth Game Changers Summit continues to be a standout collaboration between the QAS and UQ, opening meaningful pathways for young Queenslanders and helping shape the next generation of leaders who will drive the state’s success on the road to Brisbane 2032 and beyond.
As part of this collaboration, Dave Martin, QAS Head of Research and Innovation, will present back to all students at UQ and will join the panel of guest judges assessing the students’ legacy pitches — youth-oriented ideas that will promote young people’s engagement with and leadership of the 2032 Game Legacy initiatives.
Thank you to the QAS staff, UQ partners, teachers, mentors and volunteers whose expertise and energy made this year’s summit a memorable and transformative experience.
