The Northern Inland Academy of Sport sent 23 of its Glen Innes Services and Bowling Club Netball athletes and the full coaching staff to the Netball NSW High-Performance Camp.
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Held in Sydney it was an opportunity for the athletes and coaches to learn from some of the best in the business and was highlighted by a match-play round of competitive games on the Sunday.
The Camp is only offered to athletes involved in the Regional Academies of Sport and while it is not a compulsory event, attendance is encouraged.
"The athletes are not only able to grow as a netball player through the skills they're learning, but able to challenge topics and ask the tough questions," NIAS Netball head coach Sophie Sincock said.
"As they're interacting with other RAS athletes and NNSW coaches, they're making friends along the way," she said.
Sincock was impressed with the quality of the weekend put on by Netball NSW, full of coach and athlete education, both on and off the court.
"Saturday morning saw the likes of NSW Swifts Captain, Maddy Proud address the athletes and tell her story.
Sunday was wrapped up with guest speaker, former World Champion and Commonwealth Games medallist, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and concluded with Australian Diamonds captain, Caitlin Bassett."
The athletes also received specialist training sessions from current Netball NSW Strength and Conditioning coaches, State Level and ANL.
This gives them specific activities they can work on by themselves and with teammates to further develop their abilities.
The strength and conditioning component of sport is quickly being recognised as an extremely important avenue to help athletes set themselves apart from their opponents and stand out in an extremely competitive world.
This isn't just an opportunity for the athletes but also one for the coaches.
The more we can develop our coaches the better off our athletes will be in the future.
The coaches also heard from Julie Fitzgerald and Briony Akle, both current Suncorp Super Netball head coaches.
ATHLETE PROFILE: Jared Martin
Age: Fourteen years old
Home town: Inverell
Sport: Australian Rules. Member of the Inverell RSM AFL U/16s program
Position: Wing/Forward
Sporting hero: Scott Pendlebury, Collingwood Magpies Captain.
Why did you join the NIAS AFL program?
I have been a part of the NIAS AFL program for three years and I've been playing AFL for five.
I enjoy having fun but also the fitness and skills components.
Greatest influence on your sports career?
My family, I have three brothers in the NIAS AFL program and my dad is the head coach.