St Paul’s Collegiate School’s High Performance Sports programme is starting to take shape with two major 2014 titles added to the school’s tally and two more highly anticipated wins predicted for the end of 2014 and early 2015.
At the start of 2014 St Paul’s introduced a High Performance Sport programme that focuses on building the profile of the school’s sports teams and individuals through specialised coaching and mentoring.
St Paul’s Headmaster Grant Lander started the initiative after returning from a sabbatical in 2013 when he visited leading Australian secondary schools to get an understanding of ‘best practice’ sports programmes on offer.
“I went to Australia and saw some professional approaches to sports programmes that really impressed me,” Headmaster Lander said.
He explained that, through sport, schools have the ability to engage young men and women in their learning: “The lessons about striving for one’s personal best don’t just relate to the athletic track, hockey turf or netball court, they are just as applicable in the classroom.”
“We need young people who have the mind-set to continually improve performance – be it academic, cultural or sport – who have emotional intelligence and resilience to overcome set-backs and disappointment.”
Headmaster Lander explained that if a school was going to adopt a sports programme, to engage students in their learning and to improve the overall sporting success of the school, then high quality coaches and systems need to be employed to get the best out of students.
“This includes benchmark strength and conditioning data so that athletes are able to use improvement as further motivation to strive harder.”
As part of the new programme Michiel Badenhorst was employed by St Paul’s at the start of the year as a strength and conditioning coach. His main focus is to increase the performance of sports teams and individual athletes by providing individual fitness programmes that build on students’ strength and conditioning in addition to their regular training.
Life coach and trainer Tama Dean has also come on board. The former Hamilton Boys High School 1st XV trainer works with students on their conditioning, mental game and emotional intelligence.
Other expert training is provided to students by both school-based and outside expertise. Midlands Hockey are now located onsite at St Paul’s, with Midland’s staff providing professional training to the school’s developing hockey players. Fraser Tech Rugby Club has come on board as a partner of the school, with players Latu Talakai and Sam Christie providing valuable sessions with St Paul’s future rugby stars.
Headmaster Lander says the difference that the new initiative is making is clearly evident with the school’s sports teams and individual athletes already having had great results throughout 2014 with the introduction of specialist coaches and community partnerships.
“All of our major sporting codes are starting to achieve great results. Our 1st XV rugby team won the Central North Island Rugby competition, the 1st XI hockey side finished seventh in the prestigious Rankin Cup, our 1st XI football team finished in the top 20 at nationals, the 1st XI cricket team are through to the national finals and our rowers are going from strength-to-strength,” Headmaster Lander said.
Improvement in the junior school has also been noticeable with Year 9 and 10 students training through a development programme targeted at students who want to maximise their sporting potential.
“We have seen a good uptake in the junior programme. Students have particularly enjoyed being able to improve their skills in their chosen sport,” said Mr Craig Hardman, Head of Physical Education at St Paul’s.
“The programme has definitely contributed to the success of the junior teams this year. Students are receiving more skills coaching and more conditioning work which is paying off on the sports field.”
A number of junior teams won the finals of their respective competitions this year including the U55kg and U65kg rugby teams and the hockey development side.
“The aim of the junior programme is to improve the skill of our students and their understanding of how to train. They learn about the correct protocol and technique in the gym which in the long term will help them to become stronger athletes and improve the level of our first teams,” Mr Hardman explained.
