Donna O'Connor

Professor Donna O'Connor serves as Professor of Sports Coaching in the Sydney School of Education and Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, at the University of Sydney. She holds key administrative roles including School Postgraduate Coursework Coordinator, Coordinator of the BEd (HMHE) Honours program, and MEd (Coach Education) program. Additionally, she coordinates the university's postgraduate Sports Coaching program. O'Connor completed her Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney from 1992 to 1997, with her doctoral thesis titled 'An investigation of the coach-athlete dyad in elite Australian sport.' She previously earned a Bachelor of Education in Physical Education from the same institution. Throughout her career at the University of Sydney, she has focused on coach education and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE), contributing to program development and high-performance sport research supervision.

O'Connor's research specializations center on sport coaching and athlete development, including talent development environments in sport, coaching practices and coach education, athlete learning and decision-making in youth and elite sports, positive youth development, gender differences in high-performance sport, movement skill interventions, and perceptual-cognitive factors in soccer and rugby. She has authored or co-authored 109 publications, amassing 2,776 citations on ResearchGate and 4,395 on Google Scholar. Notable publications include 'Gritting One’s way to success – Grit explains skill in elite youth soccer players beyond (deliberate) practice' (2022), 'Talent development environments within sport: A scoping review examining functional and dysfunctional environmental features' (2022), 'Building a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive drivers of performance under pressure: An international multi-panel Delphi study' (2023), and 'Practice Design and Coaching to Support Learning in Elite Youth Soccer Players: Recommendations From International Coaches, Coach Educators, and Researchers' (2024). In 2006, she received the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Teaching from the University of Sydney, honoring her contributions to education. Her scholarly impact extends to international collaborations and mentorship in sports science, shaping coach training and athlete pathways globally.

Professional Email: donna.oconnor@sydney.edu.au