NIAS basketball and hockey programs wrap up for the season

The basketball and hockey programs began in November and the Academy Games marked the final event of both their calendars after six months of training.

The 'Tamworth City Toyota' Basketball program saw the return of coaches Matt Hobson, Greg Irwin, Matt Parsons, Sonja Taylor and Ben Pierce.

The 'Wests Entertainment Group' Hockey program also had returning coaches Greg Doolan, Helen Willis, Carissa Davis and Fiona Porter, along with Josh Morton who joined the NIAS coaching team this year.

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After sharpening their skills since November, the NIAS basketball program hosted an inter-academy weekend in Tamworth with the North Coast Academy of Sport.

This proved to be a holistic weekend of development with athletes from both academies receiving match play opportunity against out of region teams, along with fitness testing, pool recovery sessions and high-level training loaded with various drills to target different areas of their on-court game.

Basketball coach Greg Irwin said: "It has been a great year of growth and development for our athletes. They've really shown motivation for being on the court and developing as young athletes."

While the hockey program didn't have an inter-academy weekend, they did receive high level coaching support from some of the state's best.

Former Hockeyroos midfielder and three-time Olympian Casey Sablowski joined NIAS for a training session where she passed on her expertise and knowledge while guiding the young athletes in various drills.

Alongside Sablowski, Hockey NSW Regional Participation Coordinators Paul Schofield and Andy Van Pelt also led the way in this training session to provide extra support and guidance for NIAS athletes.

Both squads were in attendance at the Life Skills Education Weekend hosted with NIAS major partner SportUNE towards the end of March.

This weekend provided education specific to young athletes on topics such as physiotherapy (delivered by Warren Ansell), nutrition (delivered by Selena Chan) and performance psychology (delivered by Marni Hietbrink).

These athletes also heard from the University of New England (UNE) before engaging in afternoon training sessions with their coaches, strength and conditioning sessions, led by UNE's high performance manager Matt Pine, and pool recovery sessions.

Finishing the season with the Academy Games provides the athletes with a wholesome academy experience as they travel with the NIAS and compete across a whole weekend.

While this was the final time some of these athletes will play together in their NIAS colours, both programs will come together again for the Annual Academy Awards night to be held in August with major partner Wests Entertainment Group.

In other new, athlete and coaching applications are open for the 2021 NIAS 'Teys Australia' Rugby Union program.

NIAS will be running a program for boys aged 13 and 15 years (norn in 2006 or 2008) and will also be running a girls rugby union program. Girls eligible to apply must be aged 15 years in 2021 (born in 2006).

Both programs will include regional training sessions, athlete education, opportunity for tours and key skill acquisition and development.

Trials will be held on Sunday, May 30 in Narrabri. To apply, head to www.nias.org.au/Sports/RugbyUnion