An 11-strong cohort of athletes has been accepted into the 2026 Foundation Year of the ILT Academy Southland programme.

The two-year programme, which provides a range of supports for promising young Southland sportspeople including strength and conditioning, mental skills, athlete life and nutrition, is based at ILT Stadium Southland.

ILT Academy Southland coordinator Carly Anderson said the selection process for this year’s intake had been a challenging one.

“We had a number of strong applicants from across Southland’s high schools, and across a wide range of sports.”

The Foundation Year group includes twins Lily (Central Southland College) and Ollie Keast (Southland Boys’ High School), who have been selected in Cycling New Zealand’s 13-strong team for the UCI Junior World Track Cycling team in Belgium later this year.

Netballers Elly Baird (James Hargest College) and Libby Mitchell (Central Southland College) were selected for a Netball New Zealand National Development Camp in Ashburton in January. Baird is the third member of her family to be selected in the Academy programme after siblings Lachie and Tessa.

Athletics is also strongly represented, with middle distance runners Abby O’Boyle (Verdon College) and Max McGregor (Māruawai College), and high and long jumper Will Brown (James Hargest College).

The Academy programme last year celebrated its 20th year of operation, a chance to reflect on the breadth and depth of achievements that it had played a role in over two decades, both in sport and in life.

Over those 20 years, the Academy has supported 10 future Olympians, 30 Commonwealth Games athletes and a range of national and international representatives.

2026 Foundation Year Athletes:

Lily Keast (cycling)
Abby O’Boyle (athletics)
Will Brown (athletics)
Max McGregor (athletics)
Ella Neylon (hockey)
Elly Baird (netball)
Charlotte McIlwrick (netball/basketball)
Sam Lawrence (mountain biking)
Ollie Keast (cycling)
Libby Mitchell (netball)
Maegan James (football)

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