Canberra coaches launch world first summit Coach 2020 Vision

Their response had three former Olympians, 10 world champions, and 13 internationally acclaimed mentors, putting their hands up to share the secrets of their success through Coach 2020 Vision.

Canberra's Craig Johns, Ben Gathercole and James Thorp teamed up to create the virtual business summit, which aims to help endurance sport coaches innovate and improve their businesses through the global coronavirus pandemic.

The one-day event will take place on Saturday, June 27, and has a line-up of 20 guest speakers including Siri Lindley, Greg Bennett, Wayne Goldsmith and Canberra's Gaylene Clews.

Johns, founder of World Coach Sport and Triathlon ACT executive director, says coaches will need to rethink how they generate revenue due to the impact of the coronavirus-forced shutdown of world sport.

And that's why the virtual summit is tailored to provide insight on the future of coaching businesses.

"We've got over 400 years of coaching among the speakers. There's some world class coaches there but what is really special about them is they're very successful business people," Johns said.

"Most coaches don't come from a business background, they come from being a passionate athlete who just loves coaching. So we want to help them with the basics.

"The [coronavirus crisis] definitely will impact how coaches operate. It's making us start to think we need diversified revenue streams because who knows when they might have a medical issue or another pandemic hits?"

The summit will be split into four streams including developing a coaching brand, being a high performing coach, understanding coach business essentials and the future of coaching businesses.

Endurance events have been cancelled or postponed across the world due to travel restrictions and health concerns amid the pandemic.

Johns expects international events will have to overcome major financial and logistical challenges before they're able to return, which could see an increase of domestic competitions.

"I think we may see a disruption to the major events that people love going to, like Ironman events and big destination races," Johns said.

"They have a massive cost outlay and it's going to take longer to get back to them. The provisions that need to be put in place post COVID-19, are going to make it a real challenge to efficiently run events and stay stable financially.

"We might see a lot of smaller community or club type events coming through again. That's going to be a big opportunity - how can we create a more boutique and community style event for endurance sports?"