Building a High Performance Culture, the Arsenal way

In a huge coup for Football NSW and on the back of Arsenal FC’s visit ‘down under’, the largest football state member federation in Australia has organised a presentation with one of the key figures within the club, Mr Shad Forsythe, the Gunners’ Head of Performance this Friday.

This is the first event in Football NSW’s recently initiated ‘capability building’ program in support of its member associations and clubs and technical staff within the community.

Mr Forsythe’s resume in this area is unsurpassed.

Joining Arsenal following Germany’s FIFA World Cup winning performance in Brazil 2014, he has worked with Arsene Wenger in reshaping the way the club functions across all teams and their training and preparatory environments.

Prior to joining Arsenal, Mr Forsythe spent 10 years with the German Football Federation (the DFB) working in the national team structure with managers Jurgen Klinsmann and Joachim Löw, encompassing both the 2006 FIFA World Cup on home soil and the successful 2014 campaign.

Prior to these achievements, Mr Forsythe worked with Klinsmann at LA Galaxy whilst employed as a performance specialist with EXOS. EXOS works with teams, sporting franchises and Fortune 500 companies and ‘helps people reach higher and achieve more’ and has been described as a ‘high tech fitness boot camp for professionals’.

Within the DFB, Mr Forsythe was tasked with the goal of creating a sustainable performance culture, and ‘establishing a framework that resonates for many years to come’ and winning a world title along the way.

Peter Hugg, Football NSW’s Head of Member Services, Community Football and Game Development was excited about the great opportunity to hear and learn from someone as experienced as Mr Forsythe.

“This is a huge coup for us and we thank Shad and Arsenal FC for making himself available in what is a flying visit and a busy schedule in amongst their two matches.

“Football NSW is committed to the concept of capability building and it is especially pleasing that a number of associations and clubs and their technical and administrative staff have taken up the opportunity to participate in this presentation.”

During his presentation, Mr Forsythe will draw upon real-life scenarios and case studies with both the German National team and Arsenal and will provide attendees with a valuable insight on what a high-performance team looks like and how it can be achieved in a football environment.