School Sports Summit 2026

Panelist: Bianca Meyer
Title: Head of Sport at Kingsmead College

Bianca Meyer is Head of Sport at Kingsmead College, leading netball, diving, and wellness for nine years. She has driven the school's evolving sports structure with a focus on continuity and long-term athlete development from Junior to Senior School. Bianca envisions sustainable programmes where students learn and grow under dedicated coaches. With 15 years in education and 14 years coaching netball across all ages, she combines practical coaching with a holistic view of student development. She holds an Honours in Psychology, aiding meaningful connections with coaches and students and fostering supportive, motivating, and challenging environments. Bianca has guided teams to district netball finals and champions the role of strong systems, mentorship, and age-appropriate coaching to build lasting school sport. Her philosophy emphasizes mastering fundamentals, placing coaches in the right age groups, and mentoring for sustainable growth, balancing competition with inclusivity for all movers and players. She believes coaches and educators inspire a love of sport, helping young people compete bravely and grow through sport.

Presenter: Chris Ekron
Title: Chris is a Sport Education and Bursary Specialist and Co-founder of PlayBook Ed, helping young people reach their potential through sport and education. His focus is on holistic, ethical, and sustainable systems that support student-athletes academically, socially, physically, and psychologically.

Chris collaborates with schools and organisations to design mentorship programmes, scholarship and bursary strategies, leadership development, and whole-school sport performance systems. He bridges research with practice to create clear, structured, and purposeful environments for thriving students.

With experience across high school, university, and professional sport, his credentials include a Master’s in Sport Management, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, and ongoing PhD research on the holistic development and lived experiences of South African school-sports scholarship recipients. Guided by integrity, responsibility, consideration, and excellence, he prioritises clarity, connection, and process, and is committed to positive leadership and evidence-based practice.

Panelist: Dr Suzanne Ferreira
Title: Sport Scientist, Biokineticist, Coach and Researcher in Para-Sport and Youth Sport

Dr Ferreira’s passion for people, their development, and the context of sport led her to study the human body and movement. Through the field of biokinetics, she discovered the human body’s remarkable ability to adapt and overcome. Over the past 25 years, she has worked as a sport scientist, biokineticist, coach, researcher, and lecturer in the field of adapted movement and disability sport, giving her multiple opportunities to journey with Paralympians. These journeys have played a significant role in shaping who she is today and in influencing the way she approaches life. She currently consults nationally and internationally in the field of para-sport and youth sport, and remains actively involved in coaching.

Panelist: Palesa Hlela
Title: Head of Sport at Jeppe High School for Girls, Phd Candidate

Palesa is the Head of Sport at Jeppe High School for Girls, a former South African National Women’s Water Polo player, and a doctoral candidate in Sport Management. Her work sits at the intersection of school sport leadership, transformation, and athlete development. Having experienced both elite competition and the realities of South Africa’s varied schooling landscape, she is passionate about strengthening schools as the foundation of the country’s sporting ecosystem. Her advocacy for transformation began during her own high school years and continues to drive her leadership, research, and practice today. Her doctoral research explores the gap between school sport policy development and implementation, examining how systems can be better aligned to support meaningful participation, development, and access. Through this work, Palesa seeks to create sustainable solutions that advance both excellence and equitable inclusion for young people across diverse educational contexts.

Panelist: Laurian Johannes-Haupt
Title: Assistant Coach: Springbok Women’s Team

Laurian is the first player to play 50 caps in South Africa for women’s rugby, representing the Western Province women’s senior team from 2004 to 2014. She also played for the Springboks between 2009 and 2014. Laurian has a Sports Science degree with a Post Graduate Diploma in Education. Laurian has in-depth experience across the school and professional coaching spaces, starting her career at Athlone High School before becoming Head coach of Western Province from 2019 to 2023. She then became the Head coach of the Junior Springbok women’s team. She now coaches full time at SA Rugby, taking the senior women’s team to African Cup champions in 2025.

Presenter: Dave Wessels
Title: South Africa Rugby Head of High-Performance

Dave has the unique experience of having worked under two World Cup–winning head coaches. He is the youngest ever Super Rugby head coach and the former Head of Rugby at the DHL Stormers. Dave is currently Head of Performance for SA Rugby and played a crucial role in the recent Junior Springboks’ World Cup triumph.

Presenter: Charlie Post
Title: Coaching Director, PlayBook Ed Co-Founder

Charlie has experience across sport, education, and business. He is an entrepreneur and dedicated advocate for youth development. With a Master’s in Education, he leads Playbook Education’s cultural development initiatives with energy, insight, and a commitment to
learning. Having built his rugby coaching foundations at Rondebosch, Bishops and UCT and further developed his management and coaching skills at St Stithians College as director of rugby. As a student of life, Charlie brings real-world empathy and vision to his work. He shares stories from his experiences to highlight challenges and offer strategic solutions to improve communication and team culture in schools and sports departments.

Presenter: Paddy Upton
Title: Leadership, High-performance coach and author
Paddy is a Cape Town–based leadership and high-performance coach, author, speaker, and professor with more than two decades of experience in international team sport and elite performance environments. He has worked as a head coach, performance director, mental coach, and strategic leadership coach, and has personally supported over 350 professional, international, and Olympic athletes across 20 sports. In cricket, he played a pivotal role in guiding the Indian national team to the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup title and to the World No. 1 Test ranking, and later, as Performance Director, helped the South African cricket team become the first side to hold the World No. 1 ranking in all three formats. He has coached in five cricket World Cups and has led professional T20 teams in the IPL, BBL, and PSL. Beyond cricket, his recent work includes serving as mental coach to the Indian men’s hockey team, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics, and to Gukesh Dommaraju, the youngest-ever chess world champion.

Academically, Paddy holds degrees from four universities, including master’s degrees in Sport Science and Business Coaching, and has been appointed Professor of Practice at Deakin University’s Faculty of Business and Law for his work in servant leadership with diverse, high-performing teams. Since 2005, he has delivered hundreds of keynotes, run corporate workshops, and coached leaders from organisations such as Microsoft and Google in more than 60 cities on five continents. He is a three-time TEDx speaker, host of the podcast Lessons from the World’s Best, and author of the best-selling book The Barefoot Coach: Life-Changing Insights from Coaching the World’s Best Cricketers. When he is not working with world-class teams, Paddy jokes that he does it all to support his surfing and fishing habits

Presenter: Matt Hoole
Title: Strength & Conditioning Coach at Bishops Diocesan College, Masters Student
Research Title: Athlete Monitoring to manage High-Performing Dual Sport Athletes

Matt is a Strength & Conditioning Coach at Bishops Diocesan College. In his current role, Matt oversees the design and implementation of gym- and field-based conditioning programmes across multiple sports, manages physical education classes, conducts comprehensive fitness testing and athlete monitoring, and leads load management strategies for high-performing dual-sport athletes. He has also served as Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Bishops 1st XV Rugby side since 2022. In 2025, Matt began his Master’s degree in Sport Science at Stellenbosch University, with research focused on Athlete Monitoring of High-Performing Dual-Sport High School Athletes. Through this research, Matt aims to highlight the significant training and competition loads experienced by these athletes and provide practical strategies to better support their performance, recovery, and long-term development.

Presenter: Lwazi Madi
Research Title: High school water polo development environments and team cohesion: Performance comparisons and correlations

Lwazi is an Olympian, former captain of South Africa's national water polo team, and an accomplished sports scientist. Having competed on the world's biggest sporting stage, he brings powerful insights on leadership, resilience, teamwork, and high performance. A cum laude Master's graduate in Sport Science from Stellenbosch University, Lwazi combines elite sporting experience with academic excellence to inspire audiences to unlock their potential, overcome challenges, and perform at their best. His engaging and authentic storytelling leaves audiences motivated to pursue excellence in every area of life.

Presenter: Gareth Morgan
Research Title: Understanding Boys’ Wellness: Insights from Two Sports Seasons

Gareth Morgan is a Sport Scientist, Strength and Conditioning Coach, Physical Education teacher, and Life Sciences teacher at St Alban’s College, where he has worked for the past eight years. He holds an Honours degree in Exercise Science, is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and has completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). His work sits at the intersection of sport science, education, and adolescent wellbeing. While he is involved in high-performance sport, long-term athlete development, and performance enhancement, he has a particularly strong interest in athlete wellness monitoring and in understanding the factors that influence the wellbeing of young people. Over the course of his career, he has worked across a variety of sporting codes, including cricket, hockey, and basketball, and has previously served as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the South African U21 Men’s Hockey Team.
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Panelist: Duncan Woods
Title: Co-Founder Elevate Water Polo Excellence programme

Duncan is a performance coach in business and sport, working with leaders and teams to perform consistently under pressure. He is Co-Founder of the Elevate Water Polo Excellence programme and Head Coach of the South Africa Water Polo Senior Men’s Team, bringing elite sport insight to team culture and performance. As a performance consultant with PlanetK2 (UK) and a coach education trainer and facilitator, Duncan helps organisations, coaches, and athletes apply high-performance principles to real-world challenges, building resilience, clarity, and confidence

Panelist: Wande Sibonile Siswana

Title: Head of Netball, Springfield Convent School

Wande is an accomplished netball coach and accredited umpire based in Cape Town, South Africa, bringing over eight years of experience in developing young athletes across the 9-18 age spectrum. Currently serving as Head of Netball at a leading girls’ school in Claremont, Wande is deeply committed to using sport as a transformative platform for growth. Her coaching philosophy extends beyond performance, focusing on the holistic development of young women through the values embedded in sport. Wande is passionate about cultivating environments where athletes feel empowered to lead, collaborate, and challenge themselves. She firmly believes that netball, and sport more broadly, plays a critical role in building resilience, confidence, discipline, and self-belief, equipping young women with the tools to succeed both on and off the court.

Marcelle is a former international hockey and water polo player turned high-performance coach, with a career spanning elite sport in South Africa and Australia. She represented South Africa in hockey, earning 148 Test caps, including appearances at two Senior World Cups, two Africa Cups, and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She also achieved 53 Test caps in water polo for South Africa, competing in three FINA World Championships.

Since transitioning into coaching, Marcelle has worked across every level of the high-performance pathway. She served as Assistant Coach and Trainer for the SA Women’s Hockey Team through the 2024 Paris Olympic cycle, Head Coach of the SA U18 team, and Assistant Coach and Convenor of Selectors for SA U21. Most recently, as Head Coach of the ACT Under-21 Women’s team in Australia, she led the side to its first national championship in over four decades, alongside roles with Hockey ACT and the Canberra Chill in the Hockey One League.

At the core of her coaching approach is a genuine passion for working with people. Marcelle believes that helping individuals recognise their potential is one of the most powerful roles a coach can play, and that an athlete’s self-belief often begins with a coach who believes in them first. She brings a consistently positive and energetic presence to every environment and is known for creating spaces where individuals feel supported, uplifted, and free to grow.

Her coaching philosophy is built on connection, accountability, adaptability, and excellence, fostering environments where athletes are challenged, supported, and empowered to perform at their highest level.

Sean Erasmus's passion for rugby has shaped a coaching career spanning more than two decades, taking him from provincial junior structures through Super Rugby and Currie Cup coaching to the top of South African schoolboy rugby. His journey began at Estcourt High School and Grosvenor Boys High in the late 1990s, before a long tenure at Glenwood High School — first as Assistant Director and then Director of the school's Sports Academy — culminated in the Sanix Schools World Rugby Tournament title in Japan in 2008.

Over the past twelve years, Sean has led two of South Africa's premier rugby nurseries. At Paarl Boys' High School, first as Head Coach and Director of Rugby (2014–2018) and then as Head Coach of the 1st XV (2021–2026), he guided the team through three consecutive unbeaten seasons, a national No.1 ranking, and a combined record of well over 200 wins. Between these two stints, he stepped into professional rugby with the Emirates Lions, coaching defence and breakdown at Super Rugby and Currie Cup level and helping steer the franchise to a Currie Cup final.

Alongside his club and school coaching, Sean has represented South Africa at national schools level, serving as South Africa Schools U18 Head Coach and, most recently, as Head Coach of the SA Schools U18 Girls programme in 2026 — reflecting his commitment to developing pathways for both boys' and girls' rugby. He holds World Rugby and IRB coaching certifications, is BokSmart accredited, and was recognised as Most Promising Coach at the IRANZ High Performance Coaching Course in Wellington. He currently combines his school rugby leadership with the role of Head Coach at Maties Rugby Club, continuing to mentor coaches and build high-performance cultures across South African rugby.

Session Facilitator: Dave Emslie
Title: Senior business, education and sports executive

Dave is a senior business, education and sports executive with more than 40 years of leadership experience across education, sport, governance, finance, human resources, marketing, commercial partnerships, stakeholder management and organisational transformation. He has a proven track record in leading complex organisations, developing sustainable business models, securing major sponsorships, managing significant budgets and building high-performance teams, and uniting diverse stakeholder groups around common goals.

He served as Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Province Cricket and the Warriors Cricket Franchise from 1994 to 2014, leading amateur and professional cricket operations, stadium management and commercial activities, and helping to establish the Warriors as a leading South African franchise. More recently, he was the Business Manager at Woodridge College & Preparatory School from 2020 to 2026, with executive responsibility for finance, HR, estates, marketing, communications, IT, transport, catering and governance, while also contributing strategically to the school’s sporting programme. He currently works as a sports management and leadership consultant, advising schools and organisations on sport, fundraising, sponsorship, bursary management, strategic planning and leadership development.

Session Facilitator: Paul Edey
Title: Retired Headmaster, ISASA Mentorship & Leadership of independent school heads.

Paul has over 40 years’ experience in education at secondary and tertiary level. He has led three different schools over the past 25 years as Headmaster of St David’s Marist, Inanda (1995-2006), his old school, St Andrew’s College, Makhanda (Grahamstown), (2009-2014) and then as the 15th Headmaster of St John’s College, Johannesburg, (2015-2019). Prior to headship Paul was head of history and vice-principal at King Edward VII School (KES). He is passionate about the education of boys and the ethos and culture of boys’ schools. Paul is currently employed by ISASA where he is involved in the mentorship and leadership development of independent school heads.