The emphasis of the Year 9 Junior Sports Development Programme is on learning ‘how to train’ followed by ‘training to train’. The idea behind this stage of the programme is to provide students with the building blocks of fundamental movement and foundational sports skills including strength, conditioning, technique and understanding.
This foundation will lessen the risk of injury, and prepare the student’s body and mind to train at a higher level of intensity and complexity that will allow him to perform at a higher level later on.
Over the duration of the Programme, participants will undertake physical assessments, generating valuable data that will allow the students to gain insight into, and an understanding of, the physical and physiological changes that they will experience. The results will also provide powerful analytics that the programme staff will use to track changes and measure development and improvements over time.
Below is a brief outline of what’s involved in each step of the Year 9 Junior Sports Development Programme:
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Step 1 – Learning how to train
Physical components
Students will focus on the following physical components:
- Development and refinement of fundamental movement skills
- Body awareness and strength development through body-weight exercises
- Development of aerobic endurance
- Introduction of basic flexibility exercises
- Running technique to allow a focus on the development of speed, agility, quickness and change of direction.
Knowledge and understanding
Students will develop an understanding and basic knowledge of the following important training concepts:
- Warm up, cool down, stretching, hydration, nutrition, sleep and recovery, wellness monitoring techniques, and basic mental strategies (sports psychology)
- Education around the use of supplements
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Step 2 – Training to train
Students only move on to this next stage of the programme once they have satisfied all of the required competencies of Step 1.
Physical components
Students will focus on the following physical components:
- Further development of speed and sport-specific skills
- Introduction to resistance training and weight lifting techniques
- Introduction to anaerobic training
- Introduction to higher volume and higher intensity training methods
Core skill development
In addition to the foundation strength and conditioning and theoretical content of the programme, students will also have the opportunity to develop their core skills and tactical awareness in the major sporting codes.
Knowledge and understanding
- An introduction to the impact of nutrition and hydration on peak performance
- Video analysis techniques and software.
- Mental preparation and techniques for success.
Selection into the Programme
Students in Year 9 can apply for a place in the programme during Week 6 of Term 1. Staff will already have the results of the students' Passport for Life testing from earlier in Term 1. The final decision on selection into the Junior programme will be at the discretion of the Head of Sport, in conjunction with the Head of Athletic Development and the Heads of Code.
For more information, email:
Head of Sport
Kerry Baker
