“I love the Olympics and it's very exciting to be working hopefully with future Olympians,” Ockenden said.

The former Kookaburras captain is one of 29 up-and-coming coaches taking part in National Generation 2032 (Gen32), a program being run by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in partnership with national sporting organisations (NSOs) and the National Institute Network (NIN) to increase the number and diversity of coaches in Australian sport.

To kick-start their two-year apprenticeship within the nation’s leading sporting programs, the coaches came together for a week-long workshop in Sydney, which involved sessions with the Sydney Swans and NSW Police and a focus on wellbeing, self-awareness and connection.

As well as learning from his fellow coaches who hail from 24 different sports, Ockenden said he’s also drawing on experiences with his former mentors for his apprenticeship with the Tasmanian Institute of Sport.

“I'm very lucky to have been coached by some great coaches and I've learned a lot from all of them. They were invested in the team to be great, and they were invested in me as an individual to be as good as I could be.”

To cap off the week in Sydney, the group heard from Australian Sports Commission Executive General Manager of AIS Performance Matti Clements, who spoke about how essential coaches were to the Win Well Strategy – sport’s people-first vision to balance ambitious sporting goals with a culture of wellbeing and integrity.

“Gen32 is not about learning about the technical and tactical side of coaching but rather develop the skills and the understanding of how to use the power you have over athletes for good,” Clements said.

“The wellbeing focus at the centre of Win Well aims to have more retired athletes like Eddie wanting to stay in sport and turn their skills and experience to other pivotal roles like coaching and Gen32 is a great vehicle to make that happen.

“I'm super proud of the Gen32 program and having now met the cohort, I believe we've got some really wonderful people in this room who we're going to see achieve some wonderful things at Brisbane 2032 and beyond.

“And through the support of Gen32 and each other, they're going do it the right way, they're going do it the Australian way and they're going do it with win well at the heart of everything they do.”

To learn more about Gen32 and the coaches taking part in the 2025-26 edition of the program, visit: National Generation 2032 Coach Program | Australian Institute of Sport