GIS Global Sports Summit @ Melbourne Cricket Ground

• Germany v Morocco @ AAMI Park (FIFA Women’s World Cup Football)
• Australia v New Zealand @ Melbourne Cricket Ground (Bledisloe Cup Rugby Union)
• Richmond v Hawthorn @ Melbourne Cricket Ground (Aussie Rules Football)
• Melbourne Storm v Paramatta Eels @ Marvel Stadium (NRL Rugby League)

• ­NGBs;
• Elite sports teams and franchises;
• Stadium and venue staff;
• Sports club owners and management groups;
• Major sponsors of sports teams;
• Sports agencies;
• Sports media and broadcasters;
• Former and current players, managers and coaches

Speakers from recent GIS Melbourne Global Sports Summits have included: 

• Jennifer Watt – General Manager - Commercial Operations and Partnerships
• Xavier Campbell – CEO, Essendon Football Club
• Paul Cammack - Director of Participation, Tennis Australia
• Andrea Buckeridge - Education Manager, Tennis Australia
• Nick Hockley – CEO, T20 Cricket World Cup
• Josh Eltringham - General Manager Venue & Event Services - Venue and Event Services
• Peter Wearne – General Manager – Facilities, MCG
• Ben Osborn – Senior Group Digital Manager, Cricket Victoria
• Cameron Honey; General Manager, Commercial – Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust
• Steven Dillon - Pre-Academy Coordinator - Melbourne Victory FC
• Drew Sherman - General Manager – Technical & Academy - Melbourne Victory FC
• Christina Smith - General Manger – Government Relations & Community - Melbourne Victory FC
• Kimon Tiliadoros – President, Football Victoria

Details of the guest speakers for the 2023 Summit will be communicated closer to the time of the event.

Getting behind the scenes of key sporting organisations will form a key part of the Summit. This will include tours of stadiums and training facilities and meeting key staff.

The GIS Melbourne Global Sports Summit also offers an opportunity to take part in a number of optional city experiences arranged as part of the trip to showcase the best that Melbourne has to offer.

Networking with key players in the sports industry forms a central part of the Melbourne Sports Summit. A myriad of opportunities to meet with senior leaders and decision makers from major sports organisations, providing an excellent chance for attendees to build connections and their personal brand whilst learning about the local sports market.

• Accommodation
• Access to live sport experiences
• Internal coach journeys to summit activities, where appropriate

What’s not included?

• Flights;
• Food and drink;
• General spending money;
• Optional group city activities;
• Optional live sport experiences;
• Visa;
• Travel insurance.

Details of the accommodation will be released upon booking for the Summit going live.

Please visit the UCFB Online Store for details of costs, terms and conditions, and to book your place.

UCFB and GIS will provide assistance to students and alumni attending the Global Sports Summit, with regards to logistics for travel, arrival and departure dates and times.

Once further details of the next GIS Melbourne Global Sports Summit are confirmed, we will advise students and alumni of estimated costs associated with attending the event.

Melbourne is the capital of Victoria and sits on the banks of the Yarra River. It’s widely regarded as the world’s leading sporting city due to its high concentration of state-of-the-art facilities and the number of annual international events held there. Its population really expanded in the 1850s during the ‘gold rush’, with a number of immigrants arriving in the city. This saw the city boom, with the building of schools, galleries, churches and now-heritage buildings. Melbourne as we know it now was fuelled following the Second World War, with multiculturalism and an active arts scene helping to grow tourism to what it is today. The city is regularly listed as one of the best cities in the world to live in.

Locals will tell you that Melbourne is the culture capital of Australia, with museums and sites to match many of the greatest cities in the world. Federation Square is the place to hang out to celebrate a big win for the Baggy Greens or just take in the sights and the sounds of the city; the Royal Exhibition Building, situated in Carlton Gardens and given Unesco World Heritage Status, harks back to 19th century Melbourne; and Chapel Street is renowned for people’s ability to spend money and shop. Melbourne street art is also recognised around the world, with the city council designating certain areas for artists to showcase their work, and St Kilda is home to Melbourne’s most unusual residents – penguins!

Sport in Melbourne is a religion. From AFL to cricket, and rugby to tennis, this sports-mad city caters for it all, and at the centre of it is the sports precinct. As well as the Rod Laver Arena and being home to the annual Australian Open, the centre-piece of the precinct is the world-famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Click here for more information on sport in Melbourne.

There’s coffee, and then there’s Melbourne coffee. Locals take their espresso very seriously, with the city regularly listed as one of the go to places in the world to get your caffeine hit. Seven Seeds Coffee Roasters is popular among young professionals and is the brainchild of Melbourne coffee royalty, Mark Dundon. Aussies love their meat pies, so once you’ve decided what filling you’d like from the cabinet at Pure Pies (as recommended by the Herald Sun), the only question you’re left to answer is would you like sauce or not? For those who like their dining fine, Attica is a regular in the best restaurant guides for all of Australia, not just Melbourne

GIS's global study hubs will each host one Global Sports Summit at each hub this academic year, providing attendees with a packed schedule of industry insight, professional development and networking opportunities. They will feature guests from renowned sporting organisations, locally tailored to each global study hub, allowing attendees to learn best practice and understand how sport is managed within each country. Each Global Sports Summit will provide guests grouped into three categories: from the boardroom, from the industry and from the pitch, allowing students and alumni the opportunity to truly understand all aspects of sport. 

Click here for further information on the GIS Global Sports Summits that are planned for this academic year. 

UCFB believes strongly in the benefits of students and alumni attending GIS Global Sports Summit, however we recognise that this comes at a cost to the individual. As a result, we have developed UCFB’s Global Insight Series, a portal of content regularly updated, featuring thought leadership, Q&As and career advice from UK campus guest speakers as well as from all of our global hub partners.

Yes! All current students and alumni will be able to attend a Global Sports Summit at a GIS global hub.

No. Places are only available for current UCFB and GIS students as well as all alumni.

Yes! Places are limited at every Summit, however there is nothing stopping you applying to attend more than one event.

GIS’s global hubs will provide current students and alumni the opportunity to attend Global Sports Summits, based at some of the world’s leading stadiums. GIS’s global hubs are based at New York's Red Bull Arena, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Toronto FC's BMO Field, the Inter Miami CF Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

UCFB-GIS has exclusive partnerships with these stadiums, providing a unique global network for students and alumni.

Currently GIS’s global hubs will only be accessible during each Global Sports Summit. In time, UCFB and GIS may look to increase accessibility through more educational events.

Visiting a Global Sports Summit at one of GIS’s global hubs will allow you to grasp a true understanding of how different sports are managed around the world by hearing first-hand from leading sports organisations, which will be locally tailored to each global hub location.

In addition to this, you will have the opportunity to further develop professional skills and gain a cultural awareness of another part of the world. International educational experiences have been shown to boost student prospects across a variety of areas, particularly:

• Increased average earnings;
• Increased employment rate;
• Increased overall grades.

In addition to all benefits listed for those visiting a GIS global hub, there is still a host of benefits that will arise from UCFB’s international expansion, including:

• Thought leadership from our global hub partners, accessible through UCFB’s Global Insight Series and the content hub of the UCFB website;
• Increased work experience and employment opportunities for current students and alumni, through increased international employer engagement;
• A more global alumni network.

To allow students and alumni maximum flexibility, Summit attendees must book all travel arrangements independently. Logistical information regarding the Summit is provided on the Melbourne Summit information page, however if further information is required please contact global@ucfb.com and our team will be happy to help you with your travel plans.

UCFB-GIS works closely with GDG Travel, who have years of travel expertise. Their team will know all the travel requirements for the Melbourne Global Sports Summit once they have been confirmed and will be more than happy to help you book. An email address will be provided by email once details of the event have gone live.

Accommodation for this opportunity will solely be booked by UCFB/GIS, and to book your place at the Summit you must book accommodation through UCFB/GIS. All attendees will be staying in the same hotel for the duration of the Summit.

Attendees are free to make their own travel arrangements as they see fit, however are reminded that for the duration of the Summit, their accommodation is fixed as per the Summit schedule. For more details on this, please visit the Melbourne Summit information page.

Attendees are expected to attend all sessions as part of the Summit. Whilst the Summit is ongoing, the focus of all UCFB and local staff will be on providing an excellent experience for those in attendance.

Yes – we know that attendees will want time to themselves to explore the area at their own leisure and this will be scheduled into the Summit agenda.

Some live sports games will be free of charge – these will be core activities that form a part of the Summit. There may be other optional games that will be at the expense of the attendees. Full details will be released in due course once booking for the event opens.

We are busy working with sports organisations and individuals in Australia to confirm the best possible experiences and speakers for the Summit. We will release details of speakers and experiences as they become confirmed in due course. A full and detailed schedule will be sent to all those travelling before we depart for Melbourne. As communicated, the Summit will contain a mix of guest speakers, learning opportunities, networking opportunities, live sport and behind the scenes access.

Attendees will need money for food, drink, city activities, and general spending. Melbourne is a vibrant city with a huge variety of options, however spending budgets depend on the individual.

UCFB will have a team in place on the ground in Melbourne to assist with inbound Summit attendees. Once you have booked your place at the Summit and booked your travel, UCFB will request your travel plans so that we can assist you with logistics on Day one when you arrive.

It is likely that you will need a visa to visit Australia. Summit attendees are responsible for ensuring they can travel to Australia and to any countries in which they stop at as part of their journey to and from the Summit, along with any visa costs.

British nationals can obtain the following types of electronic visitor visa:

• eVisitor visa direct from the Department of Immigration & Border Protection. There is no visa application charge or service fee for this.
• Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) via your travel agent or airline. There is no visa application charge, but a service fee of A$20 applies.

Further information on this is available from the UK Government website – https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/australia/entry-requirements.

Summit attendees have full responsibility their entry requirements. If you are an international student or alumni, please contact your relevant embassy or government website to check your travel permissions and any steps you need to take to gain access to Australia.

UCFB encourages all attendees to check their travel permissions and make their visa arrangements well in advance of the Summit in case of any visa processing delays.

Yes – students will be required to purchase their own travel insurance for this trip.

The feasibility of hosting our international Summits in-country is under constant review. Where travel is not possible due to COVID-19, the Global Sports Summits will be delivered virtually and made available for all UCFB and GIS students. We are committing to communicating a final decision on whether these events will go ahead in-person or virtually with a minimum of 2 months’ notice.