UOW to test Australia’s next sports stars

How Australia performs at the 2012 Olympic Games in London may well depend on a search now under way for the next generation of Australian sports stars.

As part of a special initiative by the National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program, the University of Wollongong is working with the Australian Sports Commission to support their efforts in establishing a network of testing centres to help fast-track talented athletes from around Australia into selected Olympic Games and world championship sports.

The Commission’s NTID program aims to find and develop new athletes and to transfer existing athletes between sports to possibly represent Australia at the 2012 London Olympics and beyond.

Australian Sport Commission, Director of National Sport Programs, Greg Nance, said that through partnerships such as these the talent identification program aims to increase the number of results received and improve talent detection opportunities.

“For Australia to retain its current high ranking in world sport and become competitive at an international level across a wider range of sports, it is important that we use these already established and effective networks to seek out and fast-track talent in Australia,” Mr Nance said.

By working with UOW and more than 25 other universities and Academies of Sports across the country, NTID has been able to establish more than 25 registered Talent Assessment Centres, which will assist in validating athletes’ physical performance results generated from a revolutionary new web-based self identification tool, eTID.

eTID is an online tool that allows athletes to enter their own results for a set of predetermined physical screening tests and then be provided with feedback on their results comparative to normative data for their age and gender. Those athletes participating in the online screening are then encouraged to attend a follow-up screening at one of the testing centres.

Lecturer in Health Sciences at UOW, Mr John Sampson, said UOW was proud of its exercise science expertise and facilities and was excited to be participating in the program. The next testing date set down for UOW is Saturday October 3. The first 40 people to register for this test session receive their testing free.

“I hope we are involved in some way in the discovery of future Olympians,” Mr Sampson said.

To access eTID visit www.ausport.gov.au/etid

For further information on the NTID program and testing centres visit ausport.gov.au/participating/got_talent

Media contact: For further information contact Mr John Sampson on (02) 4221 5597 or 0424 586 241 (m).

Last reviewed: 8 September, 2009