Athletics Australia\’s Under 19 Talent Squad to take over AIS

The road to the IAAF World Junior Championships begins in the coming days for some of the nation’s best up and coming athletes as they come together for the annual Athletics Australia Under 19 Talent Squad camp.

Descending on the Australian Institute of Sport with their knowledgeable personal coaches, the squad of 39 athletes is set to engage with a four-day training and education program that will assist in preparing them for an assault on selection to the Australian Spark team in 2014.

“Congratulations to each of the athletes selected to take part in the Under 19 Talent Squad this year. You have earned your spot in this program because of your ongoing strong performances and potential to progress through to senior teams and you should be proud of your achievements to date,” Sara Mulkearns, Athletics Australia Junior High Performance Manager, said.

“We are very much looking forward to welcoming you all to Canberra this weekend, and it is great to see the commitment from your personal coaches to participate in the program as well. Australia is very lucky to have so many great coaches and integrating them with our equally strong National Junior Coaches at an event like this provides a launch pad for the sharing of ideas to better our athletes long term.”

The squad is comprised of athletes born in 1995 and 1996 and they have been identified for selection based on the performance matrix standard for their event and age.

Athletes selected have completed all six Australian Sport Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) Pure Performance modules prior to committing to the squad, and across the course of the year they will engage with weekly online monitoring that allows for communication between the athlete, their personal coach, the National Junior Coach and Athletics Australia’s High Performance Department.

Additionally, the training camp in the coming days, which utilises the expertise of the staff and facilities at the Australian Institute of Sport, will be followed by a series of summer training camps hosted by National Junior Coaches across the country. These weeklong events will see the squad split into specific event groups, allowing for the National Junior Coach to work closely with athletes and their personal coaches on the events for which they have been selected to the squad.

“The Under 19 Talent Squad has evolved quite extensively in recent years and we now require athletes and their personal coaches to further professionalise their approach to athletics. This expectation has been met with open arms by those selected, and this is a fantastic result for all involved. The earlier that we can introduce athletes to the professional side of the sport, the better they will be long term,” Mulkearns added.

Athletics Australia’s Under 19 Talent Squad Camp, which is extensively supported by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, continues today in Canberra and will run through until Sunday. It incorporates a mentor program hosted by representatives from Athletics International that encourages athletes to engage with past greats of the sport.

To stay tuned to all the happenings at the Australian Institute of Sport you can join the conversation by following @AthsAust on Twitter.

 Athletics Australia – News