UC a testing ground for Australia’s next sport stars

Author: Sian Edwards

UC testing for the National Talent Identification and Development program

7 August 2008: The University of Canberra has, in collaboration with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), become a testing centre that will help fast-track talented athletes from around Australia into selected Olympic Games and World Championship sports.

The unique initiative by the National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program aims to establish a network of Testing Centres across Australia that will find and develop new athletes and to transfer existing athletes between sports to possibly represent Australian at the 1012 London Olympics and beyond.

University of Canberra associate lecturer, Disa Smee from the Faculty of Health says becoming a Test Centre is a great coup for the university.

“The University of Canberra is very excited to be involved in the NTID program,” she said. “It is a fantastic opportunity to be a part of Australia’s sporting future and to continue utilising the state-of-the-art testing facilities that we have on campus.
“The program will look to identify students between the ages of 12-25. These students will be able to in the first instance go online and enter their own results they will then be encouraged to attend a follow-up screening at the UC Testing Centre.

Australian Sports Commission, Director of National Sport Programs, Greg Nance says the partnership 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 the wider range of sports, it is important that we use these already established and effective networks to see out and fast-track talent in Australia,” he said.

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 normal 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, such as at the University of Canberra.

The National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program is designed to help identify talented athletes. The Australian Sports Commission has 13 sports indentified in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics in London including rowing, cycling, boxing, triathlon and badminton.

To access eTID, visit www.ausport.gov.au/etid or for  further information on the NTID program and Testing Centres visit www.ausport.gov.au/participating/got_talent