Academy Position & Structure

ATHLETE, COACH & PROGRAM

MANAGER’S REPORT 2022

Our 2021/22 scholarship year frantically exploded into action with every program seemingly trying to catch up two years worth of missed training, camps and events in the first few months.

With all pathways open we took to the fields, tracks, roads and courts with 12 IAS programs. A record numbers of athletes in our Lonestar program, four disciplines in Cycling (MTB, Road, Track and BMX) and 305 eager athletes ready to become the next icon in their chosen sport.

With a whole year’s worth of training, events, strength and conditioning, and education behind us, I will hit on some of the key moments in our 2021/22 scholarship.

Savvy Leadership Day

This is always one of our key events to kick off the scholarship and connect the programs with each other. This year we had 150 athletes attend the day covering a range of activities, engaged in group leadership and decisionmaking challenges. We also added in a new section of the day with a range of past and current athletes and local businesspeople who ran a leadership forum for our athletes.

Your Local Club Academy Games

The premier Academy event once again lived up to the hype with nearly 200 athletes and staff heading to Wagga Wagga for the first time. On and off the courts, roads, and fields all of our athletes excelled. Some of our highlights included, the flying mullet of Callum Burge taking gold in the triathlon, our U14 basketball girls claiming the silver medal, our hockey teams had their best results in years narrowly missing the medals, and our volleyball squad taking two golds and a silver in the first ever volleyball Academy Games tournament.

MCR Indigenous ID Day

After several cancelations because of Covid, we finally got our MCR Indigenous Talent ID underway in July this year. With over 80 kids in attendance from schools across the Illawarra, the day was a huge success. We would like to thank the support given to the day by the Clontarf Academy, NSW Rugby, NSW Hockey, Jack Newton Junior Golf and NSW Basketball for their support on the day.

Captains Leadership Group

Another highlight of this scholarship year was the formation of the athlete lead Captain’s Leadership Group. This group of IAS program captains came together monthly to meet and discuss all things IAS and offer an athlete’s perspective to improve our program. It quickly became apparent what a well-educated, mature and committed group of captains we had.

Education Units

2021/22 saw one of the most diverse array of educational modules ever offered by our Academy. We ran nutritional webinars, cooking classes, program specific sports psychology sessions, media training, social media sessions, female athlete workshops and a lot more. Berry Camps

This year we actively chased opportunities for our Lonestar cohort to engage with each other. Our Lonestar and Rugby programs attend Berry Sport and Rec Centre camps focused on team training and team building challenges to forge relationships between the members. The highlight for all athletes was the Berry Challenge where they formed small teams and played off against each other for the Berry Cup.

Basketball Camp

This year saw the first ever Basketball Camp held here in Wollongong, with the Western Region Academy of Sport in attendance. The weekend included all athletes attending a Hawks game, a team culture education session with Condor Performance, a training session led by both academies coaching staff and finally some competitive games. Next scholarship year we are looking to extend the invite to include all south/west Regional Academies.

Volleyball RASi Championship

For one of the last event’s of the scholarship year, our indoor volleyball squad headed to Sydney to compete in the inaugural Volleyball NSW and Regional Academies of Sport 2-day statewide volleyball camp. Again, great success followed out volleyball athletes with the girls junior and senior sides taking gold and our boys unlucky to just miss out on a medal. For me, the true highlight of the event was the camaraderie, support and sportsmanship that I witnessed form everyone in the program.

I think that this is the message that I would like to finish on for the scholarship year. Every where I go, every event that I attend, people are always eager to remind me of how amazing our athletes are as sportspeople but also as people. And it’s this depth of personal character that I love to celebrate and know that we are sending out great people into the world.

SCOTT HATCH ATHLETE, COACH & PROGRAM MANAGER

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

REPORT 2022

In 2021/22, the IAS continued to provide a comprehensive strength and conditioning service which supported the long-term athletic development of all scholarship holders.

To ensure a strong foundation was established for both present and future physical development, every IAS athlete had access to three sport specific strength programs designed for varying levels of experience. Successful progression to each phase of programming was determined by movement competency tests and consistent attendance at gym sessions.

The attendance at weekly strength and conditioning sessions was pleasing and it was nice to have an uninterrupted year of gym access after 2 years of intermittent lockdowns. Around 150, or 60% of IAS athletes either fully or partially progressed through all available strength training programs. Including athletes that were performing programs from external providers (state sporting organisations, NSWIS, private clinics etc.), around 85% of all IAS athletes were engaged in some form of structured strength and conditioning, a great result we look to build upon in 2022/23.

Physical performance testing was conducted at both the start (October 2021) and end (August 2022) of the scholarship. A comparison of results indicated athletes that consistently attended IAS gym sessions made significant improvements in all measures of general athletic ability, a key objective of the strength and conditioning service.

Early in the scholarship we delivered a three-part webinar series designed to educate both athletes and parents on the importance and benefits of youth resistance training. Other topics included training load management, the effect of “growth spurts”, and an examination of common myths related to youth strength training. These webinars were wellreceived and feedback suggested they were extremely beneficial to both athletes and parents.

The delivery of our strength and conditioning program was again strengthened by support from Brad Genova, who works part-time as a Performance Coach. Brad’s expertise and experience with youth athletes has been invaluable in allowing us to provide a high-quality service to all athletes. Additionally, 10 Performance Coaches were employed by the IAS to assist on a casual basis. The recruitment of these coaches strengthened the delivery of strength and conditioning sessions in regions outside the Wollongong Council area in particular, ensuring all IAS athletes are provided with the same opportunities for supervised strength and conditioning sessions.

Thank you to our gym providers Kiama Leisure Centre, Lakeside Leisure Centre, Bay & Basin Leisure Centre, Moss Vale Memorial Aquatic Centre, UOW, Tribe Fitness Ulladulla and Northy Gym.

The IAS continued its partnership with NSWIS which primarily involved delivering strength and conditioning sessions for NSWIS athletes based in the Illawarra, this included Sarah Carli and Luke Pople, who were both selected for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. This partnership helps strengthen pathway opportunities for our athletes and provides direct access to world class physical performance expertise.

We truly believe we are delivering an invaluable program that not only supports long term athletic development, but teaches our athletes safe and healthy gym practices that will hopefully stay with them long after they leave the IAS. We look forward to continuing this in 2022/23.

MITCH NIELSEN HEAD OF PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE