Scholarship Programs

COMMUNICATIONS & EVENTS

REPORT 2022

With the world returning to “normal”, we were thrown straight out of lockdown and into action for start the 2021/22 scholarship for a year filled with a plethora of competitions, camps and events.

COMMUNICATIONS

The IAS social media continued to grow over the past twelve months, especially after the huge success of our virtual 2022 Awards Night. We had a following growth of 16% across all our social media platforms between October 2021 to September 2022, with our Instagram having the highest level of growth with 25%. The IAS has become the most followed Regional Academy in NSW.

We are proud to see our athletes engage so well with our socials and proudly tagging the IAS in their sporting posts.

The IAS website (ias.org.au) had a 750% user increase spike during the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

TeamApp continued to be the main method of communication between IAS staff, coaches and athletes.

COMMUNITY

GREAT ILLAWARRA WALK In 2022, the IAS was proud to have a new partnership with the Great Illawarra Walk. The 2022 Great Illawarra Walk raised $53,339.40 and committed to supporting the IAS again in 2023 with the aim of raising funds to create a purposefit gym for athletes with disabilities. It was a great day with many IAS athletes, families and supporters getting involved in walking from Shellharbour to Austinmer or volunteering at water stations along the course.

RED SHIELD APPEAL Another staple of the IAS calendar is the Red Shield Appeal, IAS athletes manned a collection stand at Wollongong Woolworths, raising much needed funds for the Salvation Army.

EVENTS

With events returning for 2022, the IAS athletes participated in a variety of squad specific camps, Induction Day, the Savvy Leadership Day, Presentation Night and the Your Local Club Academy Games.

IAS ALUMNI NIGHT The IAS was excited to finally bring the IAS Alumni Night to fruition in May, bringing together a host of past athletes, coaches, board members and administrators from the IAS’ past 37 years. A highlight of the night was not only reconnecting with fellow members of the IAS family but to hear a captivating interview with Olympic hero, Emma McKeon.

RAS COACHES CONFERENCE In a Regional Academies of Sport first, over 130 coaches, administrators and staff participated in the inaugural RAS Coaches Conference on the Central Coast. Learning from a star studded line up of special guests, it was an opportunity to upskill the coaches across NSW but also a chance to acknowledge and say a very sincere thankyou to the many volunteer coaches who support the pre-elite athlete pathway in NSW.

Following on from the Conference, RAS has been hosting the Coaching Extension Program online series featuring experienced coaches.

It has been a fantastic year for the IAS returning to unrestricted action, and we look forward to an even bigger year ahead!

EMILY ROBINSON COMMUNICATIONS & EVENTS MANAGER

AWD REPORT 2022

PROGRAM STAFF

Kurt Freeme Head Coach

2022 has been another eventful, challenging, and successful year for the IAS Athletes with a Disability program with athletes having great success in their sports. With the opportunity to return to face-to-face sessions and most athletes being able to train and compete at a higher level, this year has produced some great results.

The program’s primary goal is to give para-athletes a supportive opportunity to participate in high performance sport, skill development and education. Our athletes have been put through their paces with weekly strength and conditioning sessions and skill specific training directly related to their sports, allowing them to transfer these skills into their competition.

There has been a big focus on supporting athletes with understanding the most effective ways to recover and rest during each week, to ensure they remain at peak performance and eliminate the chance of injury. We have also focused on motivation and feedback with the athletes this year.

During the year we have worked on developing the athlete’s ability to selfmotivate and prepare themselves for all aspects for training and competition and understand the importance of feedback to improve performance.

A highlight of the year for the AWD squad was their camp to the Tops Conference Centre. The athletes had a fantastic day completing a variety of team building challenges and activities, including archery, and mud obstacles.

The AWD squad was fortunate enough to have host Olympian, Sarah Carli at a training session, where Sarah taught speed and plyometric drills.

The IAS AWD squad participated in the Great Illawarra Walk, we were so proud to see the athletes push their limits in the walk. ATHLETE ACHIEVEMENTS

Telaya Blacksmith (Athletics/AFL) Telaya currently holds state and national records and titles in running and long jump. Teleya has been selected to represent Australia later this year at the VIRTUS Games in Athletics. Telaya is part of the Sydney Swans AFL Academy and is part of the Australian Indigenous side.

Charlize Colwell (Athletics) Charlize achieved places at both the Australian and State Athletics Championships. She also came 1st at the CHS cross country.

Jarred Dyer (Swimming) Jarred was selected in the Swimming NSW Para Squad, after an outstanding year with multiple placings at both State and National Championships. He has been selected to represent Australia at the Oceania Games.

Tarren Dyer (Swimming) Tarren competed at NSW, Regional and National Swimming Championships, achieving a number of medals.

Jack Gibson (Triathlon/Swimming/Running) Jack was Australian Junior Triathlon Champion, national Cross Country Champion and gained a selection of medals at Swimming Nationals.

Kynan Miller (Athletics) Kynan continued to collect medals at State and Nationals in shot put and discus.

Patrick Mitchell (Athletics) Patrick competed at the NSW Athletics Championships and has been part of the NSW Soccer squad.

Kelly Ryan (Swimming/Running) Kelly has competed at regional and state events.

Chloe Williamson (Swimming) Chloe competed at Regional and School championships.

BASKETBALL REPORT 2022

PROGRAM STAFF

Tori Forrester Head Coach

Maddison Delaney Coach

Georgia Ohrdorf Coach

Glen Saville Coach

Michael Turton Coach

Kerrie Jamieson Manager

The 2021/22 IAS BluescopeWIN Basketball Program saw 41 athletes gain scholarships, forming 4 sides: U14 Boys, U14 Girls, U16 Boys and U16 Girls. In addition, the program was driven by a coaching staff of six. Training was weekly at the UOW courts leading into the Your Local Club Academy Games in April, after this training was split to male and female sessions for the remainder of the scholarship.

Each week the basketball squad was pushed by the experienced coaching line up, developing innovative drills and plays for the athletes. This year our focus was on overall skills development, concentrating on both individual and team skills. All of our athletes not only met the challenges put in front of them but excelled at them. IAS coaches were impressed by this year’s squad and the increase in confidence seen by athletes. The athletes learnt new skills and had the ability to use them in games.

The basketball squad consistently participated in strength and conditioning sessions and attended the IAS education forums.

In December, the IAS and Western Region Academy of Sport joined up for a camp in Wollongong. Athletes participated in training and education sessions, and watched a Hawks game. It was a fantastic weekend, and opportunity to learn from a variety of coaches and players. The Your Local Club Academy Games in Wagga Wagga as always proved to be a highlight for both athletes and coaches. Our athletes stood up to the challenges before them, showing character and leadership on the court.

The U14 Girls excelled at the Games, gaining the silver medal on count back despite beating champions, Southern Sports Academy 27-25 in the final match of the event.

During the scholarship period we had six athletes in the State Performance Program and twelve in BNSW Talented Athlete Program. Riley Saville and Addison Bonham represented NSW PSSA at Nationals. Joshua Spark and Emerson McCrea competed at the Australian Basketball Championships for NSW Country.

It has been a great year for the basketball squad, with all athletes taking their skills to the next level. It was fantastic to see a high number of athletes continue to progress along the Basketball NSW pathway and into further representative teams.