New National High Performance Training Centre Announced at AUT Millennium Campus
An exciting new National Training Centre for high performance sport which is at the core of the Government’s sports strategy was announced today by Prime Minister John Key and Minister for Sport and Recreation, Murray McCully.
Described by Mr Key as the “biggest boost ever for New Zealand high performance sport”, the plans consist of a newly established High Performance Institute and a $40M investment into a new high performance national training centre that will be based at the current Millennium Institute on Auckland’s North Shore, which is run by the AUT Millennium Trust - a 50/50 partnership between AUT University and the Millennium Institute of Sport and Health (MISH).
The new national training centre will bring together the best of sports research, coaching and management expertise from AUT University, Millennium Institute of Sport and Health and the NZ Academy of Sport, with the goal of producing more world-class sporting champions, says MISH CEO Mike Stanley.
“The centre will be a multi-disciplinary centre of excellence fully committed to propelling our next generation of athletes onto a world stage. It will help drive the development of high performance sport in New Zealand through education, research and coaching.”
“AUT University leads research across some of the most dynamic fields, especially in the field of sports science and human performance, while MISH is a well established provider of excellent sporting facilities and coaching services. Bringing AUT and MISH expertise together will greatly enhance our contribution to elite sport,” Stanley says.
The Minister of Sport and Recreation also announced $15M funding for the national training centre, complementing AUT’s previous $18M investment to form the partnership with MISH. AUT Vice-Chancellor Derek McCormack said the Government support was a significant boost for taking high performance sport to the next level in New Zealand.
“While New Zealand is renowned as a great sporting nation, performing extraordinarily well on passion, natural ability and pride alone is simply not enough for developing future athletes - the focus has to be on unlocking human potential through leading science and innovation,” says McCormack.
“The weight of AUT’s sport research and scientific expertise will sit behind our athletes and beside their coaches and managers, ensuring that solutions to their training, medical, nutritional, technical and performance needs are informed by the latest research and knowledge available.”
The new national training centre is one of several high performance sporting facilities receiving a boost from Government. Others include the QEII Centre in Christchurch, a rowing and canoeing centre at Lake Karapiro; a centre for sailing, triathlon and ocean kayaking in Takapuna and a new high performance centre for Bike NZ.