New Upper Clutha Junior Sports Academy Supporting Talented Young Athletes

Keeping talented and committed young sports people involved in sport and allowing them to fulfil their potential without the need to move away from the Upper Clutha region are the goals the Upper Clutha Sport Community (UCSC) aims to reach through its recently established Junior Sports Academy.



Members of the Upper Clutha Junior Sports Academy at a Training Camp
in April. Credit: Upper Clutha Sports Community/ Bronwyn Coers.


“The Upper Clutha region is very fortunate in that it nurtures many fine young sports people across many disciplines, in both winter and summer sports. Our concern is that they drift away from sport and/or into the cities as they move through their teenage years,” say Diana Schikker, a member of the Academy’s Working Party.

While senior Academy programmes such as Pathway to Podium, run by Sport NZ in partnership with Excellence in Sport South Island, captures young athletes from late teens, the UCSC were concerned young sportspeople in the year 9-11 high school age bracket were missing out. A working party was formed with the goal of bridging the gap.  

In January 2015 UCSC, in partnership with Mount Aspiring College, established the Upper Clutha Junior Sports Academy for talented junior athletes of all disciplines who have the attitude and ambition to make the most of their abilities.

Academy places are limited to approximately 20 participants (21 met the selection criteria this year) and athletes are selected by an independent panel comprised of senior sports administrators, coaches and MAC teaching staff.

The programme creates an academy opportunity for aspiring young athletes to get together with like minded peers and provides support, information and guidance in generic areas such as nutrition, core strength and mental skills. The programme involves three-four sessions per term with a mix of practical and theory and taps into the considerable expertise and inspiration available in the Upper Clutha area.

Multisport hero Dougal Allan, fresh off the back of his second place finish at Challenge Wanaka was the inspirational speaker at the introductory session. Olympic Skeleton racer Katharine Eustace and Jenny Ferguson, former NZ under 21 Netball representative have run core strength sessions. Later this term Peter Wardell, Chef de Mission to the 2014 Olympic Winter Team, will be a guest speaker.

Term one concluded with an overnight Mystery Camp covering goal setting, team building, learning styles and personality, along with practical sessions on warm up, core and recovery. Also on the Academy’s agenda for the rest of the year are sessions on Nutrition, Event Preparation and Support, Motivation, and Handling Success and Failure.

Feedback from Academy participants suggests that its goals of nurturing and inspiring young sporting talent are on track.

“Being part of the Upper Clutha Junior Sports Academy gives me a chance to talk to other young athletes and gain lots of new skills and knowledge,” explains 14 year old freeskier Maggie Little. “I'm really looking forward to learning more about 'The Ideal Athlete' in one of our upcoming sessions.”

Year 10 triathlete and mountain biker Matthew Prince also agrees that the Academy is helping him to achieve his sporting goals. "I enjoy being part of the Academy because I'm learning skills to help me achieve more in my sports,” he says. “I've learnt about the importance of core strength and conditioning and am now doing that as part of my training programme for triathlon."

The Junior Sports Academy is just one of several projects adopted by the Upper Clutha Sports Community. The UCSC was formed three years ago and involves 48 local sports clubs who share a common goal to provide support across different levels and stages of sport and to people involved in various different roles.

Increased player participation and talent development are part of the UCSC mission, along with coach development and volunteer retention, delivered through events such as its inaugural Festival of Sport and Recreation which was held in September 2014.

“We are thrilled with the early stages of the programme and the interest from both athletes and supporting presenters.  The programme morphs as the athletes’ strengths and needs are identified and it’s exciting for the working party to design and deliver from a clean page,” says Bronwyn Coers from the working party.