A selection of regional Victoria’s most talented young athletes will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of Australia’s World-class athletes at a High Performance Experience at the Victorian Institute of Sport.
The regional athletes, identified through the Regional Academy of Sport network as potential future VIS scholarship holders, will visit the world-class facilities at Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park on Wednesday 10 July 2019, and will experience what it takes to be an elite athlete.
The visiting athletes will kick off the day by hearing from a panel of three VIS Athletes that all represent different pathways into the VIS and from a range of sports.
The panel is headlined by Mitch Gourley, three-time Paralympian Para-Alpine Skier, from Geelong. Mitch featured in five alpine events at the Winter Games in PyeongChang in 2018. During his career he has been ranked in the top 10 for all five disciplines and in 2017 he won the World Championship title in the Super Combined.
Mitch is accompanied by Sale native, Lara Dunkley who has just emerged on to the netball scene as part of the Melbourne Vixens. Lara comes from a very gifted family of athletes with her dad being former Swan’s great Andrew Dunkley and brothers (Josh and Kyle) are current AFL Players.
Rounding out the athlete panel is the talented golfer David Micheluzzi who is just returning to Melbourne from a stellar performance at the British Amateur where he made it into the semi-finals. Originally from Cranbourne, David is ranked No. 3 in the World Amateur Rankings, having also won a Master of the Amateurs and Victorian Amateur title.
Following the presentation the regional athletes will undertake a strength and conditioning gym session with a Physical Preparation Coach, a talent ID speed and power test with a Sport Scientist, and participate in a Sport Psychology workshop, plus a Nutrition workshop with a VIS Sports Dietitian.
There will be over 40 athletes participating in the event representing each of the six Regional Academies of Sport: Barwon Sports Academy, Bendigo Academy of Sport, Gippsland Sport Academy, FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport, Sunraysia Academy of Sport and South West Academy of Sport.
Background
The Regional Academies of Sport provide pathways for aspiring athletes to reach State and National selection levels through development programs. The Academies work with state sporting bodies and local clubs to provide opportunities for elite young athletes and expose them to high performance sporting knowledge. The non-for profit organisations are supported by the VIS and the Victorian Government.
The high performance experience will help further develop the strong contribution regional areas already make to Victoria’s sporting success. The High Performance Experience at the VIS are part of the VIS’ valuable partnerships with the Regional Academies of Sport, and would not be possible without the support of the Victorian Government, who provided a $200,000 funding boost in 2017 for VIS community initiatives to help give talented regional athletes more opportunities to experience VIS facilities and expertise.
