Southland
Academy Southland sports programme was celebrated on Monday evening (December 11) The two-year programme includes Foundation and Leadership years and provides advice and guidance around mental skills, performance nutrition, athlete life and strength and conditioning.
Badminton player Ella Smith and cyclist Corbin Strong were honoured.
Smith, 17, was named the Foundation Year winner after a year which saw her selected in the New Zealand under 19 badminton team.
The Year 12 pupil from Southland Girls’ High School made huge improvements this year and performed strongly on the world stage.
Strong, also 17, has had an impressive Leadership year with the Academy, which is supported by Sport Southland.
The Southland Boys’ High School Year 12 pupil won a bronze medal as part of the team pursuit at the junior world track championships, three under 19 titles at the Oceania championships in Cambridge, a stack of national and provincial titles and was named Southland secondary schools male sportsperson of the year.
Strong is currently ranked as the number one men’s under 19 omnium rider in the world.
Academy Southland programme manager Jason McKenzie said Strong and Smith were great examples of what the programme had been set up for.
“Both these athletes have shown real commitment to the programme and applied the learning that they have received during the year,” he said.
“Through the Academy programme we are developing the next generation of world-class athletes to come out of Southland. We are developing them as athletes, but more importantly we are helping them to understand who they are and where they come from so they can be great people.
“From my point of view it’s an incredibly exciting thing to be part of and we currently have an opportunity for businesses to play a role in supporting some excellent Southland kids, alongside our awesome funders the ILT Foundation and Community Trust of Southland.”
McKenzie said the installation of the Mike Piper Training Centre, a purpose-built high performance gym based inside the SIT Velodrome, had been a highlight of 2017.
“We have immediately seen the benefits of having the Mike Piper centre in action and it’s going to pay dividends over the years to come,” he said.
Applications for the Academy Southland 2018 intake will open in the new year.