Leading the way in sports technology, the State of Victoria embarked on its second sports technology trade mission to Mumbai and Delhi from 8^th to 12^th October. The delegation comprised of Australia’s best sports industry exporters, who attended the annual India Sports Analytics Conference held in Mumbai. With Trade Victoria’s significant focus on its sports industry’s product and services export programs, the Sports Technology Trade Mission aims to build on the recent Governor’s visit to India which focused on strengthening ties through sports.

Victoria is universally regarded as one of the world’s sporting capitals. The Victorian sports tech delegation along with major sports bodies from Melbourne including Cricket Victoria, Elite Akademy Sports Medicine, Hockey Australia, One Management Group, Centre For Design Innovation – Swinburne University of Technology, Sportstg, Supacore & Victoria University will meet with over 400 delegates from across the fields of sports, analytics, marketing, technology and more at the conference. Victorian companies such as, Catapult Sports and La Trobe University are amongst the title sponsors of the conference, and active in India’s growing professional sports industry.

India is a market of significant interest for Victorian sports companies who have expertise in infrastructure, events, community participation and sports analytics.  The camaraderie and entertainment enjoyed through sport serves as a bridge to strengthen transnational friendship between the two nations.

With Victoria being home to at least a 100 State Sports Associations and one third of Australia’s National Sport Organizations, sport is a huge contributor to its economy. Victoria has a global reputation as a major sporting events capital. With its World-class sporting infrastructure and event delivery, Victoria supports a calendar of events that add $1.8 billion per annum to the State’s economy. A strong, vibrant and interconnected system supports more than 3.25 million Victorians to play sport or be engaged in active recreation.

Their sport-related expertise lies in urban planning, event and venue management, community-level access and engagement, and gender inclusion. Victoria also has outstanding proficiency in managing sports facilities, including providing community groups with access to facilities and programs outside of professional matches to strengthen the health and wellbeing of everyone.

Leading Victorian sports technology companies part of the delegation included, Catapult Group International Limited (CAT), listed on the Australian Stock Exchange has over 300 staff based across 24 locations worldwide, working with over 1,500 elite teams from 35 different sports globally. La Trobe University has research expertise in sport covering sport science, sport analytics and computer science, sports medicine and more. They are also equipped with a range of sport science laboratories and testing capability to support sport focused research.

The delegation also included The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN), a national eco-system of organizations in sports technology development. ASTN has strategic partnerships with domestic and international sports technology networks in Europe, USA and China. AlbionX, which uses the latest in cutting-edge technologies with their new range of lightweight protective apparel to take the athlete into the future.

Pushing boundaries through deep diving into injury prevention technology is KangaTech. With a combination of advanced software analytics and a high-tech testing and training platform, KangaTech allows elite sporting organizations to understand and reduce injury risks better than any other technology.

Minister for Trade and Investment Philip Dalidakis said Victoria deeply valued its close ties with India and that there were great opportunities for sport to play a key role in further strengthening that relationship in the future.

“Melbourne has been voted the sporting capital of the decade and with major events like the Grand Prix, Australian Open, Spring Racing Carnival and the Boxing Day Test, it’s not hard to see why,” he said.

“Victoria is globally renowned for its expertise in event management, sports science, systems and technology and we are excited about the great opportunities we have to collaborate with Indian partners on projects that will benefit us all.”