|
Sports Development Centre unveiled |
|
|
|
Written by Dale Woodard
|
|
Wednesday, June 24 2009, 11:15 PM |
It’s been a work in progress for the past two years. Now, athletes across southwestern Alberta seeking to take their game to the next level are going to benefit.
In an initiative through the partnership with the City of Lethbridge, the University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge College and the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation, the official unveiling of the Alberta Sport Development Centre-Southwest was announced during a press conference Wednesday at city hall.
The Alberta Sport Development Centre-Southwest will operate out of facilities in the Lethbridge area and provide a range of athlete services such as nutritional counselling, physiotherapy, psychological preparation and access to advanced coaching.
On hand to speak at the press conference Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation chair Bill Persley stressed the importance of southwestern Alberta athletes having access to such a program.
“This is very important (for) athletics in southwestern Alberta because it gives an avenue for the elite athlete to have support services that have been lacking in the past,” said Persley. “An elite athlete has basically had to do it on their own in the past and now they’re going to have services, support and information they’ve never had access to.”
The facility will work with the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary to provide services to Alberta athletes competing at a provincial or Canada Games level. The services complement those currently available through national and provincial sports associations, municipalities and other institutions. The Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation will provide $120,000 to operate the centre in 2009-2010.
“It initially started with a community group that came to us and said ‘Look, we’ve seen these centres all over Alberta and we want one here in southern Alberta. It’s as needed here as anywhere.’ And we agreed,” said Persley. “The important thing for us was to associate with the City of Lethbridge and once we got them on board the college and the university came along. It’s been a two-year process to get here, but it’s been a positive process with very good people involved and the foundation has been very supportive.”
The services available through the centre include athlete enhancement programs, athlete performance testing, coaching development, mental training and sport psychology, rural outreach programs, sport nutrition, sports medicine, sport volunteer development and strength conditioning.
Getting the City of Lethbridge as well as the college and university on board was paramount, said Persley.
“It’s essential that the community gets involved or we’re not going to be a part of it. Obviously it’s a local type of service and as a foundation we don’t get involved in those types of things. We need a strong support structure in place that’s going to do that and the city of Lethbridge is fantastic. They’ve done so many great things in the past. Having the university and college come in as well has just been perfect for that.”
The regional centre is the latest to form with existing programs in Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Fort McMurray, Medicine Hat at the Edmonton Capital Region.
“We have a set of standards that are there,” said Persley. “But in each place there is a uniqueness to each one of the centres. Perhaps there’s specialization in different sports. So each centre is unique, yet there are a set of standards. They work with the Canadian Sports Centre in Calgary as well.”
While the official announcement of the centre came down Wednesday, it had been in a test mode of sorts for a while, said Persley.
“It’s actually been going for the past year in kind of a start-up mode. Now it’s full-bore forward.”
And the feedback from the get-go has been strong.
“They’ve just been waiting for this moment where it’s a reality,” said Persley. “I think athletes need to have some confidence it’s going to be an ongoing service and they can rely on it. I think now they know it’s here and funding is there — the $120,000 a year — they know they can get on board.”
|
