Coaching Excellence

Frank Pyke (deceased November 2011) played a leadership role in sport science, coach education and sport administration in Australia for more than 30 years. From 1972 to 1990 he taught at the University of Western Australia, the Canberra College of Advanced Education and the Universities of Wollongong and Queensland, the latter as professor and head of the department of human movement studies. After that, he became the inaugural executive director of the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS), a position he held until his retirement from full-time work in 2006.

Pyke’s academic qualifications include bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical education from the University of Western Australia and a PhD in exercise physiology and human performance from Indiana University, USA. He has authored or edited 11 books on scientific training, coach education and elite athlete development and published many articles in scientific journals and magazines. He was the editor of all three editions of the textbooks used in the National Coaching Education Program in Australia in 1980, 1991 and 2001. He also co-authored Cutting Edge Cricket and was the editor for Better Coaching Advanced Manual, both published by Human Kinetics.

He was awarded an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and a Life Membership of the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation in 2002. Pyke was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2003 and received the Mobley International Distinguished Alumni Award from Indiana University in 2010.