Strength & Conditioning Report

MCR INDIGENOUS SPORT PROGRAM

REPORT 2022

The MCR Indigenous Sports program has been one of our new additions over the past two scholarships. Indigenous athletes are selected upon their own merit into one or more of our established IAS Sports Programs. Athletes who identify as Indigenous, Torres Strait or First Nations people are then offered positions within the MCR Indigenous Sports Program.

In 2021/22, the MCR Indigenous Sports Program consisted of 15 athletes spanning across Rugby, Lonestar, AWD, Basketball, Cycling, Netball and Volleyball Programs. Unfortunately, in 2021 COVID and bad weather impacted heavily on some of organisations that we had in place for this program. However, in 2022 thankfully the clouds dispersed, and we were able to offer some unique opportunities for this group of athletes.

Each Indigenous athlete was offered access to 1-on-1 Sports Psychology support through Condor Performance and 1-on1 access to Individualised Strength and Conditioning training through our Head of Performance, Mitch Nielsen. These two amazing opportunities to elite performance support mechanisms were only made possible through the funding and support given to us by our key Indigenous Sports Program partner, Multi Civil and Rail.

In 2022, each Indigenous athlete was invited along to participate in a cultural painting class at the Coomaditchie United Aboriginal Corporation led by Aunty Lorraine Brown. The athletes were taught how their paintings and art captures the spirit, colours and stories of their cultural heritage as coastal people. It was truly an amazing opportunity to listen to these stories and see them brought to life. Another key event in the Indigenous sports space was our IAS MCR Sports ID Day held in July. This event saw over 80 Indigenous 12 to 17 year old’s attend an identification day at the UOW Campus. Each athlete participated in a series of sports performance tests used to highlight their natural abilities. They took part in an information session talking about the support opportunities that exist within the IAS. Each athlete participated in a 30 minute rotation around a variety sports (Hockey, Rugby, Basketball and Golf) run by the Illawarra Development Officers, IAS staff and athletes. We would like to thank the support from the state sporting organisations, Illawarra schools and the Clontarf Academy for making the day run so smoothly.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Michelle Wilson who has been our Indigenous Sports Manager for the past two years. Michelle has an amazing way with people and has been supporting our IAS athletes and their families tirelessly.

INDIGENOUS SPORTS PROGRAM

The MCR Indigenous Sports Program (ISP) provides increased and specific sporting opportunities. The program will provide talented Indigenous athletes from within the IAS programs an increased level of support to enable their sporting progress.