Don't seek to be a person of Importance.
Seek to be a person of Value.
Ned Coten AM is the Executive Chair and President of EngageRM, an automation, CRM and data analytics platform for the sport and entertainment industry. He is a former athlete and sports management leader, the immediate past President of Basketball Australia, and continues to work closely with basketball's world body, FIBA.
Ned is a Chair and Director of a number of companies and the founder and owner of two successful self-storage businesses. He has investments in brand strategy, property, travel and technology, and remains an active mentor for aspiring sports and business leaders.
He has extensive experience in leadership, sports management, consumer branding, data and technology, sales and marketing. He is a former CEO of a number of Australia's leading sports organisations and has run businesses as a CEO, investor, board chair or director over the past 35 years.
While attending the Australian Institute of Sport, Ned represented Australia at the 1983 World Junior Basketball Championships in Spain. He played in the National Basketball League with the Perth Wildcats and the Coburg Giants, and co-founded the Goldfields Giants in Western Australia's State Basketball League.
In June 2026 Ned was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the King's Birthday Honours, for significant service to sports administration and to basketball.
Ned has been happily married to Hilary since 1994 and has two adult sons. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
“If you seek tranquillity, do less.”
MARCUS AURELIUS
“It's not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”
SENECA
“First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.”
EPICTETUS
“If you don't regard what you have as enough, you will never be happy, even if you rule the entire world.”
SENECA
“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best from yourself?”
EPICTETUS
“Don't let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole. Stick with the situation at hand.”
MARCUS AURELIUS
“If someone succeeds in provoking you, realise that your mind is complicit in the provocation.”
EPICTETUS
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.”
MARCUS AURELIUS
“Don't be ashamed to need help. Like a soldier storming a wall, you have a mission to accomplish.”
MARCUS AURELIUS
Three groups. One easy first step.
If one of these sounds like you, the first step is a conversation, not a contract.
MASTERS ATHLETES AND FOUNDERS
You've built something. What's next?
You've done the hard yards on the court or in business, and the title is about to change. Ned has made that move himself, and he still competes. He'll talk with you about your health, your identity and what you want the second half to look like.
Talk to Ned about what's nextSPORTING ORGANISATIONS
Build a sport for life
People don't stop loving the game when they stop playing at the top. Ned chairs the Confederation of Australian Sport, which delivers the Australian Masters Games, and sits on FIBA's Masters Sport Commission. He helps organisations grow Masters participation without adding to their team's workload.
Explore a Masters pilot with NedBOARDS AND FOUNDERS SEEKING A CHAIR
A chair, not a logo
If you want a name on a letterhead, Ned isn't your person. If you want a chair who will back you and hold you to account, he is. He has led capital raises, taken a business into the US and UK, and helped turn around a national sporting body. He is open about his current roles and the time he has.
Talk to Ned about your boardWhere Ned spends his time
The organisations Ned chairs, leads and invests in.
ENGAGERM
Executive Chair and President
engagerm.com
An automation, CRM and data analytics platform for sport and entertainment, with clients across Australia, the US and the UK.
Visit EngageRMCONFEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN SPORT
Chair
sportforall.com.au
The industry body for Australia's national sporting federations. It delivers the Australian Masters Games and advocates for sport at all three levels of government.
Visit CASWORLD MASTERS GAMES 2029
Director
Perth, Western Australia
A global event bringing 30,000 participants to Perth for a program of sport and social engagement.
Read about itFIBA
Masters Sport Commission
fiba.basketball
The global advisory commission that drives the Masters basketball calendar year-round, including the FIBA Basketball World Masters Cup.
Visit FIBASUNSHINE SELF STORAGE
Owner and Managing Director
secure-self-storage.com
Drive-up shipping container storage in Albion, Melbourne. Open 5am to 9pm, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Visit SunshineCOTEN INVESTMENTS
Director
Since 2002
Investments in aged care, travel, science and technology, and advice to organisations across multiple industries.
Get in touchLessons from the court and the boardroom
Ned speaks to boards, leadership teams, sporting bodies and conferences, drawing on more than three decades in sport and business. Themes include:
• Boards and governance: chairing well, governance reform and aligning an organisation around agreed goals
• Sport as a business: commercial strategy, revenue growth and capital raising
• Data, CRM and AI in sport: how sport and entertainment organisations put technology to work
• From athlete to executive: building a career and a life after playing
• Masters sport: lifelong activity and participation
Ned also mentors sports and business leaders, executives, directors and chairs.
Book Ned to speakNed's book
Game Plan Marketing
Ned's practical guide to branding and marketing in sport, published in 2013. Why there's never been a better time to grow your sports organisation, and what to do to make it happen.
Get the book on AmazonNED COTEN
Chair, director and executive leader in commercial, data and global sport.
Copyright © 2026 Ned Coten Melbourne, Australia