Hunter and Central Coast Academies of Sport have made a ground-breaking tri-partisan partnership with the University of Newcastle, further strengthening the importance of a Pathway to Enrolment Program for regional athletes.
The program has shown great success in familiarising families and young athletes with campus life and education options into the future and all three parties are now closely aligned with the sole objective of providing world-class opportunities to future students and a pathway to the elite athlete program at the university.
Through this exclusive education partnership the university provides the Hunter (HAS) and Central Coast (CCAS) sport academies with a major point of difference to other partners, including support through sports science testing, integrated learning for postgraduate students and direct access to the Exercise and Sports Science facility at its Central Coast campus in Ourimbah.
The partnership will enable access to facilities across Newcastle’s Callaghan and Central Coast campuses, which will be used for education seminars with world-class presenters and cooking classes run by nutritionists.
Each year HAS and CCAS provide hundreds of regional and rural-based athletes, ranging in ages from 10 to 18, the opportunity to access national and international standard training and development programs within their regional bases.
As a long-time supporter of elite sport development, this partnership will allow the sport academies to strengthen their position in Australia’s elite athlete pathway and provide greater educational opportunities for regional-based athletes.
Chief Executive Officer of HAS and CCAS, Brett O’Farrell, said the partnership was much more than providing world-class sporting facilities to young, regional athletes.
“It’s about providing a pathway to education and creating a strong, job-ready future generation,” he said.
“We believe that the development of pre-elite sportspeople must include a holistic approach with appropriate leadership and careers advice.
“We thank the university for the long-term support and share their passion in guiding our athletes’ pathway, both in their chosen sport and their education journey.”
University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Global, Professor Kent Anderson, said the sport academies had been developing and supporting athletes for many years to succeed in their sport, and the university had been doing the same with their students.
“We know that athletes make great students, and we want to attract these students to study with us – helping them to balance the demands of their sport with study at the University of Newcastle.
“We’re very proud of our partnership and we can’t wait to see athletes come through the academies and combine their achievements on the field, court, track or in the pool with success studying at our University,” Professor Anderson said.
Source:
Media release, Oct 4
Central Coast Academy of Sport