Many of the articles on Skillforkids.com have been developed by a team of contributors   These are the articles that required input by our experts from a range of professions to ensure the quality and accuracy of the information.

A physiotherapist since 2001, Sean has completed a Masters Degree in Exercise Science, a Level 3 High Performance Tennis Coaching Qualification and is a Level 2 Strength and Conditioning Coach. He is the founder of skillforkids.com.

Sean’s career achievements include being the Tennis Australia National Academy Women’s Coach and Strength and Conditioning Coach; the Queensland Academy of Sport Strength and Conditioning Coach for tennis; and a physiotherapist in London’s West End for shows including Lion King and Billy Elliott. His education and training background is extensive including Tennis Australia Coach Education Facilitator, Author for Sports Injury Bulletin and Peak Performance (international publications) and guest lecturing for Tennis Coaches Australia, Australian Strength and Conditioning Association and Sports Medicine Australia.

As a coach Sean has helped guide world class juniors to success including the Orange Bowl (Junior World Championship), junior grand slam titles and has coached numerous Australian title holders and representatives.

Aside from contributing to and running skillforkids.com, Sean also runs a unique and successful business – Performance Physio, Fitness and Sports – out of two locations in Brisbane. Sean’s coaching success has led him to extensive study and understanding the fields of human performance, skill acquisition and expertise development.

Anthony is a psychologist registered with the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA). He is also a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the College of Sport Psychologists (CoSP). He works primarily with children, parents, and coaches in developing well-being and performance in/through sport. Anthony is a leading researcher regarding parental roles in child development through sport undertaking his Masters and Ph.D. studies in the area. He has presented to 1000’s of parents on these topics through his work with sport organisations, clubs, and schools. Anthony is also the director of SportParentSupport.com, a company dedicated to helping parents foster the well-being of children through sport participation. Previously Anthony played tennis professionally as a doubles player competing at tournaments including Wimbledon.

Jaclyn Friend is a Physiotherapist and proud mother of two beautiful young boys.  She has a special interest in play based child development and enjoys the daily challenge of helping her boys have fun and develop through play.  Jaclyn has a long history of competitive sport including her time as a national level swimmer and is passionate about helping parents pass on this gift of a healthy active lifestyle to all children.  She graduated from the University of Queensland in 2001 with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy and has since gone on to complete a Post Graduate Certificate in Continence and Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation and has also completed subjects in a Specialist Certificate in Exercise for Women, as well as having lectured for four years in the Griffith University physical education department.  She considers her current full-time job to be her role as mother and teacher to her two small boys, however also continues to provide some pelvic floor, pre and postnatal physiotherapy services in a private practice in Caloundra. She continues to enjoy a wide range of sporting activities as an avenue to keep her mind and body fit for motherhood.

Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D. is a child and adolescent psychotherapist and school counselor. She is the co-author, with Dan Siegel, of the best-selling book The Whole-Brain Child (Random House, 2011), which gives parents practical ways to transform difficult moments into opportunities for children to thrive. Dr. Bryson earned her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, and she currently lives near Los Angeles with her husband and three children. Visit TinaBryson.com to learn more about Tina, subscribe to her blog, and inquire about her national and international speaking engagements for parents, educators, and mental health professionals.. 

Wayne Goldsmith is one of the most respected sporting coaches and authors in Australia.  He has worked with some of Australia's leading athletes, teams, clubs and coaches and understands what it takes to help kids realise their potential. Over the past 20 years, he has influenced countless parents and coaches and helped thousands of kids reach their sporting dreams.  He has worked with NRL teams, AFL teams, Super Rugby Teams, the A-League, Swimming Australia, Tennis Australia, Triathlon Australia and many, many others.  Wayne believes that potential is precious and that every child has the potential to do amazing things if they get the right opportunity and the right environment.  Wayne has four sporting kids of his own and lives on the Gold Coast where he runs a Sports Coaching Consultancy - sportscoachingbrain.com.

Bill Sweetenham's current position is as a consultant to high performance coaches through the Australian Sports Commission.  He also works as a business and sports consultant to several international organisations - www.billsweetenham.com.

Over the years, Bill has held the positions of Head Coach of British Swimming, National Performance Director of British Swimming, Head Coach of Australian Swimming, Head Coach at the Australian Institute of Sport, National Youth Coach of Australian Swimming, has five times been the head coach at an Olympics and has coached swimmers to a total of 9 world records.  Included in his career highlights is the British swimming team achieving record results at Olympic and World championships under his reign. He is one of the world's most successful and respected coaches and is an accomplished and published author.

Tom Friend has an interesting and varied background. His formal qualifications include Bachelor of Physiotherapy (2001) and Masters of Pharmacy (2011). During his career as a Physiotherapist, he studied specifically in the area of Paediatrics (0-18 years) covering a wide range of assessment and treatment specialties, but taking a particular interest to working with children with Development Coordination Difficulties (DCD).  He has also had business experience abroad in the health industry of the Republic of Ireland.  His proudest role to date is father to his two boys.  He enjoys playing and teaching his boys and absolutely can’t wait until they are big enough to go surfing with him.  During his school and university years Tom was a successful and competitive athlete in various arenas, including rugby, cricket, swimming and running, but his highest success was winning the national championship for his age in triathlon in 2001. He continues to enjoy participating in sport as an integral part of his life where he lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Ben is the founder and director of Ginger Sports - a very successful soccer coaching business specifically for 2 to 10 year olds. Ben and his team of soccer coaches deliver fun and inclusive soccer lessons to kids designed to help them develop a love of sport and the outdoors.  Ben has a Bachelor degree in Sports Development with Coaching, a Diploma in Sports Psychology and extensive coaching qualifications in both soccer and futsal. He has over ten years coaching experience with both elite and junior players in England and Australia. He is an avid soccer fan who loves helping kids not just develop their physical skills but also their personal and social skills.

Dr. Mallett is a registered psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA), a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), and the College of Sport Psychologists (CSP). He is also the Director of postgraduate studies in Sports Coaching at the University of Queensland. Cliff is a leading researcher in the areas of mental toughness and positive youth development through sport. He is a leading international coach educator consulting to the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) and also led a research project examining how coaches learn in the Australian Football League (AFL) and at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). Cliff is also a renowned athletics coach who coached the 2004 Australian 400m relay team to an Olympic silver medal. He has consulted to Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia, Gymnastics Australia, ASC/AIS, Brisbane Broncos, Brisbane Lions, and the Queensland Reds.

Maree is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) with a Double Masters Degree in Nutrition & Dietetics and Exercise Physiology.

She has an aptitude for working with children and a passion to improve their nutrition and overall health. Maree has worked in the area of paediatric nutrition over the past eight years, having gained valuable experience in England as well as working at a leading children’s hospital in Sydney. She is committed to improving the nutrition and wellbeing of our future generations. Maree is also the proud mother of two beautiful young boys. 

Ian Prangley is currently the Australian Davis Cup Physiotherapist and Tennis Australia National Director for Physiotherapy.

He has been a Physiotherapist since 2000, has completed a masters degree in Sports Physiotherapy, is a qualified club professional tennis coach and is currently completing a masters degree in Exercise Science. Ian still currently plans the physical preparation for Australian Institute of Sport athletes.

As a Coach and Physiotherapist, Ian has worked with professional tennis players all around the world including all four grand slams. He has a special interest in athletic development, motor learning and injury prevention.

Michael is a registered psychologist who runs an eclectic private practice focusing on improving human performance in various domains. He is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the College of Sport Psychologists (CSP) where he has served as Queensland state chairman. Michael has over 30 years experience consulting to organisations, coaches, parents, and children. He also lectured extensively in child psychology at the University of Southern Queensland throughout his academic career. Michael earned his psychology degree from U.C.L.A in California before serving as a Captain in the United States Air Force. He is the co-author of the book Too Good: The Scott Draper Story. Michael is married to wife Karen and they have two children.

Rob Leeds is a High Performance Tennis Coach. He has coached players throughout the world, including some of Australia’s best juniors who have gone on to play professionally.

His past roles have included the Victorian Institute of Sport Head Coach, National Academy Coach and Tennis Australia Coach Education Co-ordinator. He currently works for Tennis Australia in Talent Development. Rob has a special interest in coach development, skill acquisition and athlete development programs.

Jarred is a sport psychologist registered with the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA). He is also a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the College of Sport and Exercise Psychologists (CoSEP). Jarred works primarily with children and coaches in developing well-being and performance in/through sports.  He is also an active researcher in this area having commenced his PhD and publishing in peer reviewed journals. Jarred was previously a successful high school rugby player and he went on to consult to the Queensland Reds Rugby Organisation.

Gary Stickler is one of Australia’s most respected tennis coaches and recognised as a leader in the development of tennis in Australia.   Gary is a specialist in the development of elite junior tennis players.  Over his 50 years in tennis he has coached many players to professional careers including former world number 1 and two time US Open champion Pat Rafter.   He is a level 3 high Performance tennis coach and has both an arts and sports coaching degree from the University of Queensland. In 2005 and 2006 he was named Australian Coach of the year, has served as the state director of coaching and has coaches countless State and Australian title holders and representatives.  Gary continues to run his extensive tennis coaching business throughout Australia - Lifetime Tennis - and is one of four Tennis Australia mentor coaches.

Sandy Chan has been an Accredited Practicing Dietitian since 1997 and has completed a Graduate Diploma of Nutrition and Dietetics in 1996. In 1998 she completed a Diabetes educator training course and a Masters of Health Science. She has worked extensively through hospital and nutrition centres including the Mater Children’s hospital and cooking demonstrations in rural community health centres.

Sandy’s passion is delivering simple and practical nutrition information to parents and caregivers to achieve optimal health outcomes for kids.  As a mother of three children, Sandy knows only too well the daily challenges of modern families with busy lives.  Sandy is currently studying to be a qualified commercial chef and aims to continue helping families in practical ways to achieve better nutrition together.

Clint Fyfe is the Managing Director of TFP Academy. TFP manages 2 large tennis centres and are one of the leading tennis coaching and tennis event companies in Australia - www.tfpacademy.com.au.

Clint is a qualified High Performance Tennis Coach and Strength and Conditioning Coach; and in a previous life was an archtiect. In recent years Clint has been the private tennis coach of 7 different National Junior Champions and over 25 Queensland State Team members. He has been a Queensland State Team Coach, a Queensland State Squad Coach, Tournament Director for numerous large tournaments and presented at several coaching conferences including the Australian Open Grand Slam Coaches Conference.

Mary O’Dwyer is a women’s health physiotherapist helping women overcome life-altering issues of incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic and sexual pain. She is a graduate of the University of Queensland and the University of Melbourne and has lectured at Griffith and Bond Universities on the Gold Coast. Mary runs pelvic floor workshops for women, fitness trainers and physiotherapists. 

To promote a clearer understanding of pelvic floor health she has written Hold It Sister – the confident woman’s guide to a leak free life.

As many women’s issues start with pregnancy and childbirth, her latest book Hold It Mama focuses on the pelvic floor during pregnancy, birth and beyond. Recovery information after vaginal and caesarean births and safe exercise programs makes this book a must read for new mums who want both children and a healthy pelvic floor.

 Mary works at Physiocare in Maroochydore, Sunshine Coast.

 website: holditsister.com

twitter:   holditmama

Facebook:   pelvic floor & core works

Fiona graduated from the University of Queensland in 1984 and has had a varied career working across the spectrum of public , military and private sectors. Following the birth of her first daughter she developed an interest in women's health and has pursued this area for the past 15 years.

She is passionate about helping both men and women regain their dignity through regaining their continence and solving their pelvic pain issues. She has also worked extensively with pre and post natal patients. Fiona is currently a partner in the Sports and Spinal Physiotherapy group on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and also owns and runs the website Pelvic Floor Exercise - the specialist pelvic floor exercise online store : the go -to site for quality products and research-based information.

www.pelvicfloorexercise.com.au

Cloaking

Pelvic Floor Exercise is a specialist pelvic floor exercise shop. We provide research-based information to help you make an informed choice for the best products at the best prices. Pelvic Floor Exercise is now owned and run by pelvic floor physiotherapist Fiona Rogers who provides you with her experience and expert knowledge on all issues related to pelvic floor health . Many good pelvic floor exercise devices have been available for sometime but are often hard to track down ,particularly for those who want to exercise independently at home. Exercisers have usually only been available direct from a distributor or a health professional. Distributors sing the praises of their own products, and women ( and men!) are not always informed enough to know that other devices that might suit them better even exist. Health professionals, whilst having the knowledge, don’t usually have the ability to stock a wide range of products. Very few pharmacies stock any pelvic floor exercisers. Those that do,usually keep only one type so it is impossible for you to compare the features of all the products on the market. Pelvic Floor Exercise fills this gap by bringing together the very best exercise products available on the Australian market at the very best prices to make choosing, and buying, easier for you and all from the comfort of your own home. We also aim to keep you up-to-date with the latest in research,education and information to help you take care of your pelvic floor and core – your support centre. Whatever your motivation for strengthening your pelvic floor, we provide information to help you choose the best product for your needs. We aim to provide choices for the widest range and level of pelvic floor health needs.