The Central Coast Academy of Sport has successfully launched three (3) Winter Sports Programs – Mingara Athletics Program, Mingara One Swimming Program and The Gosford RSL Touch Football Program. The CCAS has seen a substantial increase in the intake of athletes, with 72 athletes taking advantage of the programs even in these unprecedented times.
The CCAS team have worked hard to ensure that the Winter Sports Program have still been able to launch even though current Government restrictions in regard to face to face training remain in place. The programs will commence with online sessions only (for the first eight weeks) followed by face to face sessions once government restrictions allow.
The programs have had to go through significant remodelling several times to get to the point of being able to launch and to contain content that would benefit athletes while still at home. The programs will take the athletes through regular Strength and Conditioning developed through the expertise of Coast Sport and will include a four (4) week Sports Psychology course. Education has always been a big part of what CCAS provides. Knowing that the athletes have had to shift their schooling to online and work at home methods, CCAS did not want to flood the athletes with even more “lesson” type education. Using webinars and interactive sessions, education will be delivered in a fun, “group” environment.
CCAS Programs Manager Robyn Low-Hart said of the Winter programs: “Part of the CCAS Resumption Strategy is the Importance of “hitting the ground running” safely when restrictions ease and coming up with policies to ensure the safe return to our programs. Having all of the educational components at the front end of the program while restrictions are still in place means that as soon as restrictions lift the athletes can concentrate on the on-field components and armed with having completed the educational components, will put the athletes in a better place. A first for the CCAS was the Virtual Group Orientation on Wednesday night using the ZOOM platform to deliver to the 68 athletes that were online. The Orientation was seamless and athlete engagement was high, with the added convenience of being able to stay at home – possibly a new normal for orientation”
CCAS Events Manager Emily Burgess-Moore said of the orientation session ‘It was really exciting to see so many athletes and parents join us online for the Orientation session. These sessions have predominantly been held as face to face sessions but in this new world we are living in, its been so important for CCAS to adapt. The CCAS team have always been motivated to keep up to date with the most recent developments in technology across all our sports and events so to be able to continue with the launch of our winter programs has been really positive. The inclusion of an online presentation from Matt Cranney, Director at Coast Sport Physio really added to the night. CCAS want to continue to explore what other online platforms can be engaged to add further depth to our programs and events.’
The winter sports programs would not be possible without the support of our sport sponsors Mingara Recreation Club, Mingara One Fitness, Gosford RSL, Coast Sport, Central Coast Council and ClubsNSW.
