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Sports Advanced Manufacturing Hub launches in Melbourne
AN ATHLETIC approach to developing Australia’s sports manufacturing sector was launched in Melbourne recently by META and the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN). It is named the Sports Advanced Manufacturing Hub.
For a nation with a great record in a wide variety of sports – and a great record in sporting innovation – Australia has garnered a comparatively small slice of the global sports product market. 
While Australia produces and export some of the world’s finest athletes and coaches, and its households consume about $8.2 billion in sports goods and services annually, in 2011-12 sports exports amounted to just $286 million. That is just a tenth of one percent of the global market, according to incubator group ASTN.
The Sports Advanced Manufacturing Hub launched on June 2 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, has been created to address this imbalance and to take Australia’s sports technologies to the world,
At the launch, AFL legend Kevin Sheedy will explain how collaboration and innovation between the sports and manufacturing sectors is vital if Australian sports technology and sports manufacturing is to realise its potential globally.
Also at the event, leading Australian jockey Craig Williams will tell of the importance of high level sports technology and why Australian innovation has a critical role to play in global development of the sector.
META, chaired by manufacturing industry leader Albert Goller, is a collaborative network of more than 250 high potential manufacturing businesses and researchers.
ASTN chairman, James Demetriou heads an industry-led national collaborative network of more than 150 SMEs, universities and national sporting organisations set up to provide leadership in the commercialisation of Australian developed sports technologies. 
They are joining forces to develop the sports technology industry in Australia, focussed through the creation of the Sports Advanced Manufacturing Hub.
The Sports Advanced Manufacturing Hub aims to provide stronger connections between high potential sports technology SMEs, manufacturers, researchers and large corporations to support the development, marketing and export of new Australian sports technologies globally.
The Hub is designed to provide growth opportunities for its members, particularly those involved in sports apparel, protective wear, equipment, surfaces and wearable devices. It aims to improve partnership opportunities between Australian manufacturers and the sports industry, and promote Australian sports technology capabilities worldwide.
The Hub will open up a greater understanding of what sports technologies are, the potential for cross industry applications and how they are taking over in a positive way in daily life.
The Sports Technology Hub is believed to be leading the way in three high impact projects involving industry collaboration with researchers.
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