Stage 3 & 4 Testing
These Stages see the athletes advance to "Induction into Sports" courses.
The sports available may vary in some areas but include:
- Athletics
- Rowing
- Cycling
- Beach Volleyball
- Squash
- Judo
with the possibility for more in 2009.
The target deadline for the completion of all Stage 3 Programmes is the middle Term 4 2008. There may be some exceptions due to coach availability in some sports and areas.
The objective of Stage 3 is to further aid the identification of potential medal hopes for New Zealand and in turn increase the level of participation of talented and quality athletes in sport.
Approximately 5-10% of the Stage 2 students would be invited to become part of a Talent Search Induction programme in an appropriate sport. This requires the student committing to a sport. The induction programme gives the athlete a taste of the sport, the type of training involved as well as the commitment that may be required to be successful.
This is accompanied by a series of seminars based around motivation, goal setting, nutrition and long term development. Parents are also invited to attend a seminar that gives an overview of the programmes involved and the goals behind long term athlete development.
Should the athlete or coach feel that this sport is not for them then we also provide secondary sport solutions. Some sports require the same type of attributes that enable us to "transfer sports" at times.
Who feeds into the Stage 3 Programmes?
Performance Based Programmes
Athletes that reach the standards specified by certain sports. Athletes can be selected for more than one sport assuming they reach the standards for more than one sport.
Interest Based Courses
Once the selections have been made for the Stage 3 Performance Based Programmes those that are left over (those that did not make the cut-offs for our targeted sports) will be given the opportunity to attend an introduction course to one or two of the sports that they expressed an interest in.
Both the performance based and interest based programmes are introductory courses designed to see if the athlete is suited to the sport and if the sport is suited to the athlete.
Stage 3 Rowing Programme - Auckland 2006
Stage 3 Athletics Programme - Auckland 2007
NEW – Talent Search Stage 4
Sessions run two a week or even on a two session a day, four day block only act as an introduction to the sport and not as an additional means of identification. Using rowing as an example, the majority had never rowed before or even been in a boat. In order to best judge their potential in the sport they need to:
- learn how to row
- refine techniques and
- to achieve a level of conditioning prior to judging their ability.
In order to accommodate these processes required for some sports/disciplines we have introduced another Stage after Stage 3. This is to be the conditioning Stage/Stage 4 and may not be applicable to all sports. After this stage we will be better able to asses the potential of the athlete and therefore better educated as to who to award the “Potential Star Scholarships” to for that year.