In a first of it kind the Hunter and Central Coast Academy of Sport coaches and managers were given the opportunity to learn from some of the country’s greatest, gaining access to an exclusive Health and Well-Being Online Seminar with the NRL’s Manly Warringah Sea Eagles coaching staff held yesterday, Thursday, April 23rd.
Fifty (50) Hunter and Central Coast Academy of Sport coaches and managers took part in the online Zoom call, hosted by Manly Warringah’s Head Coach Des Hasler, Education and Wellbeing Officer and Former Player Matt Ballin, Head of High-Performance Don Singe and Head of Sport Science Mark Booth.
Academy coaches were able to submit specialised questions to Hasler, Ballin, Singe and Booth upon registration for the seminar, with the main focus around the well-being and health of both elite and pre-elite athletes, a particularly relevant topic amidst the current COVID-19 crisis.
Brett O’Farrell, CEO of the Hunter Academy of Sport said of the seminar, “This was a chance to continue the lifelong learning’s of our regional academy coaching community. For our pathway coaches to tap into the strategies engaged by the highest level of sport is priceless and the knowledge gained will passed onto the regions talented youth for years to follow.”
This event would not have been possible without the support of Poche Indigenous Health Network, who are a sponsor of both the Sea Eagles and the Central Coast Academy of Sport.
Hasler thanked Poche Indigenous Health Network for their ongoing support of both organisations and said “we were only too happy to share some of our time and a bit of an insight into our high performance and well-being practices with the Academy coaches, who we know do such a great job with young up-and-coming talent across a range of different sports.”
“I’m a big believer in developing young athletes in their own environment, which is exactly what the Regional Academies of Sport exist to do and something they do very well.
“The talented young athletes of the NSW Central Coast and Hunter regions are in great hands with the very committed coaches they have serving their Academies of Sport,” Hasler added.
Close to one hundred (100) pre-elite coaches and eight hundred (800) athletes from the Hunter and Central Coast had their Academy programs cut short by the current COVID-19 pandemic, which included the cancellation of the 2020 Your Local Club Academy Games set to run from April 3rd – 5th, 2020.
Adapting to the current climate, staff from both Academies have been working hard to continue to deliver online content for both athletes and coaches. This online learning will continue to evolve over the coming months with both the Hunter and Central Coast Academies working towards relaunching face to face training as soon as the current climate allows for.
