The academy, which has 24 young athletes under its wings, runs programmes and workshops to help budding athletes reach their potential and take the next step to national squads.
It is different from individual academies which are solely focused on their one sport.
Academy programme manager Carmel Leslie, who has taken over this year from Michael Coutts who has joined the police force, said the academy was not carrying out the technical coaching of each athlete’s sport.
The academy was more about getting the right support networks for the athlete so they could fulfil their potential and be in the right position to make the next step and become carded athletes within their sport.
Many already have. Swimmer Erika Fairweather has won a junior world championship gold medal in swimming. James Nicolson has made a national squad in hockey while others such as rower Ben Mason and basketballer Annabelle Ring have made national squads.
Carded athletes become part of senior national training squads and move to the cusp and beyond of national representation.
Leslie said the academy had talented professionals delivering in sports science and sports medicine as well as athlete life and coach support.
The athletes met every week and discussed different factors of their sporting endeavours and how to make progress.
Leslie said most of the athletes were aged 16 or above although there was no firm age limit. Some sports favoured different age entries while other athletes just matured into their sport at a different time.
The first workshop for this year’s athletes was scheduled to take place late last month but the Covid-19 pandemic had forced the athletes to move on to computer screens and take part in the programme via a screen.
This had gone relatively smoothly, Leslie said.
Items covered included an introduction to nutrition and performance psychology for year one athletes and resilience and the role of supplements in sport for year two athletes.
Leslie said there were nine workshops throughout the year — one including parents or guardians when a cooking programme was delivered.
She said a spin-off for the programme was that the athletes can go back and teach their team-mates about the new skills they had learnt.
Leslie said funding and support to run these programme came from the Otago Community Trust and the Southern Trust.
The academy was also looking at other trusts to gain support as well as local businesses.
The academy will also be delivering workshops and practical sessions to athletes and coaches in Central and North Otago later in the year.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the academy will not be hosting the NZ Elite motorsport programme in July, which it has hosted for the past few years.
Otago Academy of Sport
Latest intake
- Year one: Harriett Cuttance (netball, cricket), Patrick Ward (hockey), Maia Joseph (touch/netball), Grayson Westgate (triathlon), James Gardner (cycling), Ella Cox (luge), Annie Timu (netball), Taylor Duffy (hockey), Emma Black (cricket), Sarah Langsbury, Ethan Walker (athletics), Annabelle Ring (basketball), Reuben Cook (rowing)
- Year two: Erika Fairweather, Jess Scott (swimming), Ben Mason (rowing), Dyani Shepherd-Oates (athletics), James Nicolson (hockey), Hannah Matehaere (basketball), Maarten de Ridder (judo), Talei Pelasio (netball, touch), Jack Divers (triathlon), Ben Baines, Liam Wilson (athletics)
