The Educare Northland Sports Talent Hub and Pathway to Podium (P2P) programme is in its second year with a partnership between High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), NorthTec, the Kauri Club, Sport Northland and major sponsor Educare, to provide support services to talented local athletes in the pre-high performance phase of their sporting pathway.

Last year 13 Northland athletes were given the opportunity to be included in the inaugural Educare Northland Sports Talent Hub to support their athlete development. Six of the 13 athletes will be returning for year two of the programme which focuses on more of an individual approach to their Individual Performance Development Plans and more specific high performance education from High Performance Sport NZ accredited providers. These 6 returning athletes are:

Jack Ding – Badminton

Samantha Polovnikoff - Hockey

Imogen Hull – Athletics

Luther Cronin – Hockey

Amanda Still – Athletics

Daniel Gaualofa – Parafed Swimming

Many of the athletes that are not returning are either moving onto tertiary education or pursuing their sport and education outside the region. Of the athletes, two received Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarships and are now studying in Waikato: Max Trimble – NZ Top Junior Player and represented New Zealand at the Junior World Squash Champs, and Harry Pearson – Ranking Top 10 at his first World Triathlon Age group Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

Of the six athletes returning for 2015, several of them have had excellent achievements in the last 12 months - three of them making their New Zealand representation debut: Samantha Polovnikoff was selected in to the NZ Future Black Sticks team who is currently playing against the U21 Japan team, Jack Ding was selected for the U19 NZ Badminton Squad and played in the recent Oceania Champs and Daniel Gaualofa travelled to USA representing New Zealand in the Para Swimming team at the Pan Pacific Champs.

The Northland Sports Talent Hub Programme Coordinator, Ady McKenzie (NorthTec Sport & Recreation Tutor)  will also be providing support to the athletes and will also be utilising her NorthTec Sport & Recreation Students to help coordinate the exercise science testing for these athletes. “It is an excellent way for our students to learn practically and get experience in working with elite athletes. NorthTec now have a High Performance Lab and will be utilising and educating the athletes, coaches and students in the importance of exercise science testing in their training and programme planning” says McKenzie.

Applications for the 2015 intake of athletes for the first year of the programme have been sent to Regional Sports Organisations for consideration.