The trail blazing Limestone Coast Regional Sporting Academy has created a blueprint for other regions around South Australia.

Talented athletes, including nine from the Naracoorte Lucindale area, are emerging as not only high performers in various sports, but as young leaders and role models for their peers and the community.

Naracoorte Lucindale Mayor Patrick Ross explained participating athletes were “young leaders” and he hoped they would “take every opportunity to promote yourselves” via this newspaper and other mediums.

The academy first started as a pilot program with 12 athletes in 2017, funded by the region’s councils – the Limestone Coast Local Government Association (LCLGA). It now supports 73 talented young high achievers throughout the region.

Athletes are further supported by their committed and dedicated parents who travel enormous distances and make considerable sacrifices to link up with elite coaches and mentors for specialist training and development programs.

In addition to high performance sporting programs and on-field training, athletes participate in strength and conditioning programs as well as personal development sessions with sports psychologist Emma Scharkie and sports nutritionist Lauren Stribley.

Mr Ross said because of the enormous success of the academy, the Iron Triangle and the Riverland were two regions very keen to implement similar projects.

That meant South East councils and their ratepayers could be proud of starting a program that was so successful it was likely to expand State-wide and run independently “because the State Government is so supportive of it”.

Last week Mr Ross was an inspiring guest speaker during a ceremony for athletes who received new uniforms within the Naracoorte Lucindale Council area.

Speaking after the event, Mr Ross praised the local athletes and young leaders of the past, present and future.

He said mentoring and training with elite coaches within the State gave them “not only the opportunity to be the best athletes they can be, but also the best person they can be”.

“I said to them that: `You will be looked upon by your peers as someone who can achieve. And when you are looked upon as someone who can achieve, you are looked upon as someone who can and maybe should be a leader, not only within your peer group, but also within your community. You need to take that role very seriously, because it is a great opportunity that you have been given’.”

Mr Ross said being a very good athlete was one thing, “but you now stand above others and because you are in that position, it allows you to do other (things)”.

After speaking with some of the athletes Mr Ross said he was pleased the great opportunity they had been given as athletes and leaders “is certainly not lost on them”.

Limestone Coast Local Government Association (LCLGA) executive officer Adrian Maywald listed some of the academy’s athletes who were State and national champions in their field.

However, not all athletes would reach that level.

“But even if you just value add to your club or learn to lift the standard in your local competition, that’s a huge accomplishment,” Mr Maywald said.

“Part of the academy is putting them through the educational side of it so they learn the psychological skills.”

That included how to deal with things like failure, injuries and disappointment as well as goal setting, teamwork and other life skills.

“They also work with physios on the right way to maintain their bodies,” he said.

By sharing all those learnings and skills with their friends “there is another strengthening of our society”.

“I think sport is almost the new church, because churches are struggling. So, if we can teach social skills and we can teach how to be a good citizen, how to play by rules, and how to be fair, sport is not a bad way to learn it,” Mr Maywald said.

The academy’s seven sport specific programs include athletics, AFLW, basketball, cycling, hockey, swimming and tennis.

Nine of those in the academy from Naracoorte Lucindale include:

• AFLW – Summer Batchelor
• Athletics – James Buckett, Paige Rasheed and Piper Wardle
• Basketball – Mackenzie Burke, Thraviz Coronel and Douglas Slattery.
• Hockey – Harriet Waters
• Tennis – Vander Maywald.

This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.