Juggling balls, pogo sticks and unicycles - no it is not a circus, it is the Taieri College Sports Academy.
The academy has been operating for six years and the above equipment is an innovative way to capture the attention of younger athletes and get them started.
And if you can juggle while riding a unicycle there is nothing you cannot do, right?
The school felt it did not have the broad base needed to sustain single sport academies but wanted to do something for its talented individuals.
''We looked at what other schools in the community were doing ... and thought we wanted a point of difference,'' academy manager Karen Dunlea said.
''And if we can add to their toolbox then we can help them make those representative teams rather than just having one individual academy for each sport.''
The juggling balls, pogo sticks and unicycles are for the year 7 and year 8 pupils. While it sounds like a bit of fun rather than the serious stuff a budding young sports professional should be learning, Dunlea said there was some solid research behind it.
''Research has found that kids develop their individual skills and then relate those skills to their individual sports. If they are found through play, then they tend to find it easier to transfer the skills.
''We'll do some juggling practice and then put it into a sporting context. A lot of those kids have developed a lot better skills and awareness of what is happening around them.''
An important element of the programme is it allows the children to develop before focusing on a particular sport.
It has proved successful with about 50 year 7-8 pupils attending the academy.
The senior academy, for years 11, 12 and 13, addresses a range of topics from nutrition to the media.
''There are a lot of people in the community who are willing to help. We use the Highlanders' nutritionist, we use Raylene Bates from High Performance Sport New Zealand and we use physios from around town.
"I suppose, when you look around at all the people we can use, it is a really resourceful community.''
