Athlete Development Programs
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Across all sports the role of the coach is being increasingly supported by trainers, specialist coaches, trainers, therapists, mentors and psychologists. Few today make it to the highest levels of sport without access to a support team of experts.
The Academy is fortunate to have access to highly qualified specialists here in Gippsland, from Melbourne, including those with Victorian Institute of Sport or Australia Institute of Sport experience.
Examples of these specialist services include:
- musculo-skeletal screening for all athletes, seeking to identify their physical strengths and weaknesses, and developing remedial programs;
- specialised strength and conditioning programs at the individual sports level, to ensure that athletes will develop the strength, speed, endurance and skills required to enhance their performances;
- showing athletes how to focus, develop game strategies, overcome adversity, and play more consistently through programs provided by sports psychologists;
- advice and instruction from dietitians: what to eat, when to eat, and should you eat if your event is delayed? Dietitians also give valuable advice about fluid consumption and different types of drinks.
Some background to the Academy's main consultants are given below.
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Alison Caiafa
Alison has been working as a dietitian for 20 years. This includes a considerable commitment to sports where Alison has been involved in teaching programs, and in giving support to coaches and athletes in a number of sports. Alison is also a triathlete with recent competitive Ironman event performances. Like many of the Academy's consultants, she is able to draw on both extensive theoretical knowledge and practical experience to support the Academy's athletes.
Sam Fenton
Sam began fitness instructing on ski slopes in Virginia and Colorado, in the USA. He has since undertaken specialised VicFit and ASCA coaching qualifications, as well as a degree in Sport and Outdoor Education. Sam has worked as a fitness consultant or trainer with a number of organisations and in a number of sports, particularly football and swimming. He has also worked with teenagers in school gym and in after-hours teen gym programs. Sam currently works across a number of the Academy's programs.
Darren Lay
Darren is a practising physiotherapist who has worked in Melbourne Golf Injury Clinic for several years and is now known to any elite Golfers. He has also been a consultant to the Australian Institute of Sport's golf program, which has involved lecturing, rehabilitating, screening, and ongoing conditioning of the AIS Golf Squad. Darren is also familiar with many other sports, for example, he has also been heavily involved with the conditioning of State-level diving squads.
Matt McGregor
Matt is a sports psychologist who has worked with footballers, volleyballers, netballers, basketballers, tennis players and athletes. His own sporting background includes successful amateur careers in cricket, football and recreational distance running as both a competitor and coach. Matt currently works in a private practice, but when he is not working directly with athletes, Matt also lectures in sport and exercise psychology at Deakin University and Victoria University. He is currently completing a PhD degree.
Ian Needham
Ian's background is as a journalist, initially in the print media, but later in television, and through a variety of roles including editing and program directing. In 1994 Ian has set up his own private practice, Needham Public Relations. As a consultant, Ian has worked with a number of major clients within the Latrobe Valley and elsewhere. Amongst this work Ian has conducted media training programs for other clients, as well as for the Academy.
Katie Palmer
Katie's specialised area is in the muscles of postural control when used in sport. She is well-known for her work in golf, having been associated with VGA, AIS and VIS programs, and with the Melbourne Golf Injury Clinic. Apart from golf, Katie has also worked with top ahletes in other sports. As a myotherapist, Katie uses assessment, preventative, corrective and rehabilitation techniques to treat muscles and other soft tissue structures. The techniques include those used in physiotherapy and other health areas. Katie also lectures part time to myotherapy and physiotherapy students at RMIT University.
Les Ponton
Les Ponton is a secondary school teacher and TAFE lecturer who has post-graduate qualifications in exercise physiology. Les has been the fitness consultant across a number of sports over recent years, more recently, since 2001, for the AFL Victorian Country under 18 squad side. This team competes various times throughout the football season against the best young football talent in the country. Les is also a director of Fitness Plus, a sports performance and fitness consultantancy.
Phil Shelley
Phil's background as a successful NBL player has lead him into a training role and subsequently to become a specialised strength and conditioning consultant. In this role, he has provided support to athletes across a number of sports. Phil conducts his own practice through Rebound Sports, and is also a lecturer at the Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE. Phil has had a long association with the Academy as a consultant or staff member since its inception in 1997.
Lisa Stevens
'As a sports psychologist, Lisa has worked with Swimming Australia; the Victorian Institute of Sport; Racing Victoria Limited; The Equestrian Federation of Australia, and many other sports organisations and teams. She has worked closely with many equestrian associations - a natural progression for a former Australian Women's Show Jumping Champion. Lisa is the principal consultant and director of Racing Mind, a sports psychology consultancy.'
Melissa Whitelaw
Melissa is a Clinical Paediatric Dietitian and Sports Dietitian who works at the Royal Children's Hospital (Melbourne) and in a private practice, where she also provides dietary advice to young athletes. In addition, Melissa co-ordinates the Victorian Institute of Sport's schools nutrition program in which, with the support of elite athletes, she conducts sessions in schools. Melissa has had a long association with children's fitness, having had a previous career as a physical education teacher and sports coach in Melbourne secondary schools.