Sporting talent identified for academy training

The county’s most talented young sports people have been selected to participate in a unique multi-skills academy training programme at Easter.

Herefordshire Council is supporting the phased development of a talent identification programme across the county’s primary and high schools, targeting children between the ages of 10 and 12.

The programme aims to develop all round motor skills and prepare children who have the potential to represent the country at some point in the future.

All schools in Herefordshire have been involved, using sports co-ordinators and link teachers to identify youngsters for further assessment at one of the three sports colleges. 

Those assessments took place at Wyebridge, Whitecross and the Minster sports colleges last week and 40 children were selected from each.

The selected youngsters will be given the opportunity to attend a fast-track three-day multi-skills academy during the Easter holidays.  They will receive intensive training around fundamental motor skills and abilities.  The aim of the programme is to help develop core skills such as co-ordination, movement, balance, body awareness and thinking.

After the special three-day training session, an elite group of students from each academy will be invited to meet half-termly for a ‘gifted and talented’ session to include areas such as food and nutrition, training methodology, fitness training, drugs and sport, and to have the opportunity to try less traditional sports such as water polo or triathlon.

It is hoped that the most talented will be nominated for National Governing Bodies training where they will be nurtured for the Olympics games.

Councillor Don Rule, cabinet member for children and young people, says: “Our county may be comparatively small, but we have some amazing sporting talent in it, as the recent Herefordshire Sports Council awards evening bears witness.  The Physical Education Strategy group has worked hard to organise such a huge countywide assessment programme in a relatively short period of time.

“At the moment the county doesn’t have a framework for supporting talented young people through sport, yet we have three sporting colleges, so there is obviously a need for this.

“I’m delighted to be involved with this project and look forward to seeing some of the county’s best athletes benefiting from this specialist training and, hopefully, getting the national recognition they deserve.”