GOLD COAST LEADERS DIVE INTO CITY'S SPORTING FUTURE

The Big Blue Sky Event will discuss the Gold Coast as Australia's most active city and how to make it the number one sporting precinct by 2020.

The panel comprises Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Organising Committee general manager commercial & marketing Cameron Murray, Sports Management - Griffith University Business School's Dr Caroline Riot, Sports Gold Coast CEO Brett Richardson, City of Gold Coast Active and Healthy Program's Sam Hughes and Bond University Sports Management assistant professor Dr Lisa Gowthorp.

Murray says The Big Blue Sky Event demonstrates support for the city's sporting assets, particularly ahead of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

"This is a great opportunity for us to reaffirm the importance of events and in particular major sporting events to the region," Murray says.

"The potential this city has to emerge from the Commonwealth Games with an event intelligence and a capability to lead in areas of sporting excellence is a very real legacy from the Games."

Dr Riot (pictured) says the Gold Coast has a number of opportunities for capacity building and growth in elite sport.

"Big Blue Sky offers a terrific opportunity to advance elite sport development throughout the region both in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games and towards Tokyo 2020," Dr Riot says.

"The people and the places of the Gold Coast offer a remarkable capacity to enhance high performance sport at all levels of management and operation, with a focus on the needs of elite athletes."

The Big Blue Sky Event, in partnership with City of Gold Coast, brings together thought-leaders from a range of industries to work directly with the community, government, entrepreneurs and students to advance the city.

The event will be held at the Sofitel Broadbeach on October 7 and 8.