The 17th Australasian Conference on Mathematics and Computers in Sport
3-5 July 2024
(Organized by ANZIAM MathSport)
Call for Participation and Papers
Your Conference Team
Your ANZIAM Mathsport organizing team includes:
- David Carey, Conference Chair (D.Carey@latrobe.edu.au)
- Minh Huynh, (M.Huynh@latrobe.edu.au)
- Ray Stefani, ANZIAM Mathsport Secretary (Raystefani@aol.com)
- Anthony Bedford, ANZIAM Mathsport Chair (Abedford@usc.edu.au)
Dates, Location and Activities
Plan to join your Mathsport friends for our 2024 meeting, 3-5 July. The first two days, 3 July and 4 July, will be held at La Trobe University’s city campus, 2/360 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000, located in the heart of the Melbourne Central Business District and only a short walk from Flinders Station and many transportation options. 3 July will feature talks and poster session scheduling. There will be another day of talks on 4 July followed by a conference dinner so everyone will have plenty of chance to socialize and exchange ideas. On 5 July, the conference venue will move to the La Trobe University Bundoora facility for talks and visits to the extensive sports facilities at that location. Transportation via bus from the city will be available for attendees. For each of the three days, your conference fee will include coffee/tea and snacks before we start, at the morning break, at lunch, and at the afternoon break. Other activities are being sought for attendees to take part in as their time may permit.
Keynote Speakers
Keynote speakers will be chosen that will present to the conference significant views on a variety of Mathsport topics.
Keynoter Steven Stern has conducted teaching and research as a Professor of Data Science at Bond University since 2017, as an ABS Chair of Statistics at Queensland University of Technology from 2013 to 2016 and as a faculty member of the Australian National University for two decades. His teaching excellence has been recognized by Stanford University in 1993, by ANU in 2002, by Bond University in 2019, and by the Australian Teaching and Learning Council and Universities Australia for his work in statistical and data science education. He has also conducted research as a data analyst and consultant for numerous government departments and industry bodies, covering data analytics and statistical methodology. He is probably best known for his research into sports statistics, including developing both team and player ranking methods and as the co-creator, and official custodian since 2014, of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, the official approach to handling interruptions in international and most high-profile domestic limited-over cricket matches and competitions. He presented his research in person at ANZIAM MathSport conferences from 2008 to 2016 and online in 2020. He was a keynote speaker at the Inaugural MathSport Asia Conference in 2018, held at Jamshedpur, India.
After completing a Bachelor of Science at RMIT in 2014, keynoter Joshua Kadlek-Cavanaugh worked as a quantitative analyst at BETIA Racing & Wagering Technologies, modelling thoroughbred & greyhound racing markets. In 2017, Josh was brought on in a casual capacity by the Sunshine Coast Lighting, during their inaugural season, to work in their performance analysis team. He was involved with coding game-day statistics, live-match reporting and post-match reporting, so that players & coaching staff would be better informed. Josh has worked with Tennis Australia during the Australian Open, assisting in analysis of the shot-by-shot data, compiled during the tournament as well as dashboard visualisations to present to coaching staff for opponent analysis. Currently, Josh is Head of Data & Performance at Ciaron Maher Racing, Australia’s leading horse racing stable, where data is used throughout the operation to better prepare horses for race-day, identifying quality bloodstock through biomechanics and pedigree analysis, optimising race-day placement and tactics, as well as assisting in large scale operations of the business which trains over 600 horses nationally.
Keynoter Darren O’Shaugnessy is Head of Analytics and Strategy at St Kilda Football Club. 2024 is his tenth MathSport conference, and it has always been a hugely enjoyable forum with terrific people and ideas. Darren’s degree was in theoretical and statistical physics (ANU) before working in parallel computing and at the Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute (1990s style!). With the late great Ted Hopkins, he built Champion Data’s analysis suite, then consulted to Hawthorn through its premiership dynasty from 2012 onwards. This is his sixth season at St Kilda, who have finally been convinced to give the nerd a go at running strategy. He has worked with broadcasters, coaches, and analysts in twenty sports and always emphasises the importance of mathematics and randomness in analysis.
Topics for the Conference
The conference will cover, but is not limited to, the following topics of interest to sports scientists, mathematicians, statisticians, coaches, and athletes. The term “sport” is interpreted liberally here and includes games and pastimes, gambling, general fitness, and health-related activities.
- Analysis of rules, adjudication, and referee decision-making
- Application of gambling methodology
- Competitive strategy and methods for in-game strategy
- Computational analysis in sport
- Econometrics in sport
- Identification, analysis and mitigation of sports injuries
- Mathematical modeling in sport
- Optimal tournament design and scheduling
- Psychological methods that enhance performance in competition and enhance mental wellness during and after the competitive career
- Quantitative approaches to improve coaching and optimize individual performance
- Statistical and machine learning methods applied to motion capture and wearable technologies
- Statistics and statistical modeling in sport
- Teaching of mathematics and computers in sport
- The statistics of performance measurement
Speakers and Poster Session Presenters
Speakers will each have 25 minutes to present a talk and answer questions from the participants. We invite new researchers and others to take part in a poster session for which a dedicated time will be available for participants to view the posters during the first day of talks on 3 July. Posters should be A0 size, and a digital copy should be sent to D.Carey@latrobe.edu.au by 15 April. Please also email David if you require assistance with poster printing.
Abstracts
The 15 March 2024 deadline has passed to send a maximum 300 word, one-page abstract, titled with the topic and your name, using the form here to Raystefani@aol.com for review by Ray Stefani and Adrian Schembri. The Abstracts Book is now available here.
Proceedings
The 15 April 2024 deadline has passed for speakers to use the template for Proceedings papers available here. Papers were limited to ten pages; pages were not to be numbered. Each file was to be saved as a pdf file, with last name included first in the file name. Papers were reviewed by Ray Stefani and Adrian Schembri. The Proceedings Book, with ISBN number, is available here. We look forward to a very informative and congenial meeting.
Conference Fees
The conference fees are shown below.
- AustMS or ANZIAM Members $375
- Non-members $425
- Students $325
The link for payment with either Mastercard or Visa is here. Please pay your fee by 1 May, to help the organizers with scheduling.
Hotels
A partial list of nearby hotels is shown below.
- Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Melbourne Flinders Street
- Garden State Hotel
- Hyatt Centric
- Movenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer
- Park Hyatt Melbourne
- Rendezvous Hotel
- The Hotel Windsor
- The Langham
- Treasury on Collins Apartment Hotel
Business Meeting Report from Mathsport Secretary, Raymond Stefani
Pursuant to the bylaws of ANZIAM Mathsport, a Business Meeting was held to decide where to meet in 2026 and to elect an Executive Committee to serve from the end of the 2024 meeting though the start of the 2026 meeting. ANZIAM Mathsport Chair Athony Bedford appointed ANZIAM Mathsport Secretary Raymond Stefani to conduct the meeting. The meeting was called to order on 4 July 2024 at 4:45 PM. Those present applauded David Carey and Minh Huyhn, in appreciation of their work in planning and conducting the meeting at La Trobe University.
The attendees were asked for 2026 location suggestions. Steven Stern suggested Gold Coast, Queensland, possibly at Bond University. A total of five Mathsport meetings have been held at Bond University, including the first meeting in 1992. Steven offered to find a good location at Gold Coast. A show of hands was requested of those wanting to meet at Gold Boast in 2026, with a nearly unanimous result. The attendees were asked for other suggestions and none emerged. Gold Coast was therefore selected for the 2026 meeting location.
The meeting attendees then chose the three ANZIAM Mathsport Executive Committee officers to serve. Chosen were:
- Anthony Bedford, Chair
- Darren O’ Shaughnessy, Treasurer
- Raymond Stefani, Secretary.
- Steven Stern
- Dan Dwyer
- David Carey
- Kerrie Mengersen (if she cannot serve, she can name her replacement)
Chair’s Report from Anthony Bedford
Colleagues: this is a brief report from your chair at the conclusion to the 2024 conference. Firstly, thank you to David Carey and Minh Huynh, and their helpers at La Trobe University for hosting the conference. As a result of their work, we had a strong attendance and great program, Thank you both again. We then held the elections to the executive committee with a strong thanks to outgoing committee members, and a welcome to incoming members. We voted as follows.Anthony Bedford (Chair) (UniSC), Ray Stefani (Secretary) (CSU), Darren O’Shaughnessy (Treasurer) (Saints), Steven Stern (Bond), Dan Dwyer (Deakin), David Carey (La Trobe), Kerrie Mengersen (QUT, if she cannot serve, she will name her replacement).
Darren and David have confirmed the financial checks and balances of the conference, and we returned a small profit to go towards 2026.
We thank our outgoing organizers and look forward to their involvement as we move towards 2026. I have started the process of locating a venue for 2026 and have contacted The Star for quotes and timings. UniSC has been suggested as co-host with Bond, with which I agree. Whatever we choose, we aim to go ahead with our next meeting on the Gold Coast in a return to the origins of the conference.
An important point: encouraging women in Mathsport. The gender representation was almost 100% male at the conference. Whilst we did have a cancellation, I encourage members and friends to reach out and encourage gender equity in our representation and initiatives.
Please take note of the upcoming conferences:
- Mathsport Asia December 2024
- Mathsport International 2025
