It recognises outstanding achievement in sport, fosters growth and development of individual athletic ability, and assists young athletes to enhance their athletic potential.
This year, the course caters for 22 pupils, all of whom are in Bayfield High School A teams, and includes Otago representatives in athletics, basketball, netball, soccer and hockey as well as New Zealand representatives in futsal and hockey.
Since 2007, the sport development programme has been run by part-time physical education teacher Trista Townsend.
Junior and senior pupils are involved in the programme, with seniors meeting twice a week for training sessions with Townsend and the juniors once a week.
As many of the pupils are involved in winter team sports, the focus in term one is pre-season training with much emphasis on increasing aerobic fitness.
Term two includes work on conditioning, core strength work, anaerobic fitness and maintaining current fitness levels.
The pupils have had a boxing session, spinning classes at Moana Pool, aqua aerobic sessions and training at the beach.
As part of this year's course, pupils have been going to primary and intermediate schools to offer coaching sessions in miniball and netball.
The aim of this is to provide Bayfield pupils with greater communication and leadership skills, which will aid their own development in their sporting codes and help them understand what it is like to be on the other side of sport, thus increasing their respect for their coaches, and the time and effort volunteers put into their sport.
The primary and intermediate schools gain access to the new Bayfield High School gymnasium and greater exposure to large ball skills and drills as part of their sports and physical education programmes.
The first school the pupils have been involved with is Anderson's Bay.
They have coached three netball and three miniball teams for two sessions, culminating in a tournament in both of Bayfield's gyms.
Devon Helm, a year 13 member of the sport development programme, was excited about offering coaching sessions to Anderson's Bay pupils as she is an ex-pupil of the school.
"It was really cool coaching the kids. It's nice to give something back," Devon said.
The sport development class will be going into Tahuna next week and Tainui next term.
Columba pupil starring in hockey
Columba College year 11 pupil Samara Dalziel, a boarder from Oamaru, will be attending the Youth Olympics in Singapore in August as part of the New Zealand hockey team.
She is the only player south of Christchurch to make this team.
Samara is a key member of the school's First XI and has represented Otago at under-16 level.
Samara is in her second season of premier club hockey in Dunedin, and was the youngest member of the Southern Women National League team in 2009, as well as the youngest player at the national tournament, having just turned 15.
Columba College coach Shona Harvey rates Samara as having a big future in the sport.
She is a talented and gifted striker who has speed, vision and skills well above her age level.
Her campaign starts this weekend with a training camp in Auckland.
Queen's ice hockey
Queen's High School has built a team of ice hockey players from a variety of backgrounds.
Anna Goulding has been playing for seven years and Sarah White has been a figure skater for three years, while Nikita Stevenson and Sally Facoory have no skating background and were looking for something fun and different.
Combined with five other enthusiastic girls, Queen's is building a competitive and talented team.
Sarah is in her second season of ice hockey for Queen's.
She initially found it difficult to play and to adapt to wearing hockey skates and not figure skates.
She trains five days a week for figure skating and says she enjoys the ice hockey distraction and the fun of playing with the other girls in the team.
Anna started playing in Gore and was quickly identified as a player with potential.
She was chosen for the Southern Knights to travel to the Friendship Tournament in British Columbia in 2005.
She has since consistently represented the Southern team at the national championships and has been selected in the New Zealand Ice Ferns squad since 2006.
Anna travelled with the Ice Ferns to the world tournament in Romania in 2007.
In 2008, she was selected to attend the International Ice Hockey Federation development camp in Finland.
Nikita and Sally are now competent skaters and enjoy the fun and thrill of skating on the ice.
Logan Park futsal
Logan Park High School's under-19 boys futsal team beat OBHS 4-1 in an exciting Otago final at the Edgar Centre last month.
The week before this tournament, in a final to decide the Dunedin secondary schools champion, OBHS had beaten Logan Park.
Roy Almond, the former long-serving Logan Park First XI soccer coach, guided the under-19 team through the tournament.
The combination of an experienced coach, the exceptional skills of New Zealand futsal representative Daniel Williamson and team-mates who lifted their play, was a winning combination.
Logan Park sports co-ordinator Francine Vella organised and managed six teams to compete in the regional futsal championships.
The under-16 boys won the plate final and two girls teams made the semifinals to finish third in their age groups.
Kaikorai Valley update
At a recent senior assembly, Kaikorai Valley College acknowledged the design work on their new rugby jerseys with a presentation to designer and former pupil Dave Burke.
Burke was presented with his own jersey as a thank you for the eye-catching designs he created for the school.
Some outstanding sporting performers were also recognised for their impressive achievements: Renee Johnson (captain of the New Zealand Under-18 basketball team), Jessica Wilson (New Zealand elite touch academy) and Ben Jowsey (third in the under-16 800m at the New Zealand track and field championships).
The school's talented runners have been performing strongly in recent events.
Cameron McNoe and Jowsey placed first and second respectably in the Logan Park road race.
In the Caversham harriers relay, the Kaikorai Valley boys team of McNoe, Jowsey, Chris Bernhardt and Jordan Geeves was second in the senior section, with Jowsey recording the fastest time overall.
South Island squash tournament
Aaron Lynch, Abe Taucher and Jason Van Kempen, representing Dunstan High School, travelled to Timaru to compete in the South Island secondary schools squash tournament.
There were eight teams competing divided into two pools according to their seeding.
Dunstan's first game was against Shirley Boys' High School, which it won 3-0.
It then played Maniototo Area School, again winning 3-0.
Dunstan's final pool game was against the top team, Christchurch Boys' High School A.
That ended in a 3-0 loss.
Dunstan played off for third and fourth with the Christchurch Boys' B team, losing 3-0. Christchurch Boys' A won with Ashburton College second.
Calendar
May 27: Otago-Southland cross-country relays, Milton
June 9: Otago cross-country championships, Wingatui
- Compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Assn Inc; dontact: Des Smith des@osssa.org.nz
