NZASNI ANNOUNCEMENTS

4th August 2009

Leading international exercise physiologist joins Academy

Exercise physiologist Paul Laursen has joined the NZ Academy of Sport North Island bringing a wealth of high performance experience.

"It is a real coup to get Paul Laursen across the ditch to work with us. Paul has been instrumental in some key projects with the Australian Institute of Sport and we are delighted to have him join our team" said Pete Pfitzinger, Chief Executive.

Canadian born Paul has arrived in NZ from Australia where he was Associate Professor at Edith Cowan University. He has a PhD from the University of Queensland.

Paul's research has focused on furthering understanding in fatigue, heart rate variability and recovery, high intensity training and its optimisation, thermoregulation, hydration as well as muscle damage and recovery kinetics.

Paul has extensive experience in providing applied sport science services to NSO's. At NZASNI he will work with triathletes and kayakers and support physiology programme development for other endurance sports.

Paul is also a keen athlete himself - a competitive triathlete and cyclist, Paul is a 12 time Ironman Triathlon finisher.

For further information please contact

Martin Dowson
09 477 5422 or 021 506 263 or martind@nzasni.org.nz

23rd June 2009

The “Athlete Life Programme”

The NZ Academy of Sport ‘ACE’ programme has been evolving here in New Zealand beyond career and education. As a result, the NZ Academy of Sport & SPARC has changed the name from ACE to the “Athlete Life Programme” to reflect its broader focus. ACE Advisors will now be known as Athlete Life Advisors.
 
“The Academy's ACE programme has provided valuable assistance to carded athletes. The programme has developed four service areas to help athletes meet the demands of high performance sport; ACE – Athlete Career and Education, managing sport lifestyle, developing personal leadership, and managing finances. We now have a name for the programme that better communicates to athletes, coaches and providers the role and services advisors can provide. The ACE component is still a vital part of that service but we hope the new name will create new opportunities to respond to the challenge of helping athletes achieve their sport/life goals” said Susan Thomason, NZASNI ACE Manager

The ACE programme, which originated at the Australian Institute of Sport, was initially developed in response to the need for more balance in the lives of high performance athletes and to help them prepare for life after sport. The programme has been adapted to New Zealand culture and has evolved over many years. The key objective is to assist athletes to manage their sport life to achieve their performance goals.

“It is wonderful to see the ACE programme has taken a new name, which is more reflective of the comprehensive support the programme offers to NZAS carded athletes and their coaches. There had been a degree of misunderstanding around ACE, with regards to its focus. By virtue of being an acronym for Athlete Career and Education, many believed the programme was limited to assisting athletes with study and employment issues. The name ‘Athlete Life Programme’ more clearly represents the holistic approach and broad range of services delivered by Athlete Life Advisors in assisting athletes to enhance their sporting performance” said Marty Croy, ASI ACE Manager

The Athlete Life Programme provides services to assist athletes through a process of short and long term planning and decision making. The services include sport and vocational career planning, personal and professional management, education, employment, financial planning and transitional phases such as relocation or retirement. By working closely with coaches and support specialists as part of an integrated team, the Athlete Life Programme assists athletes to maximize and optimize their sporting life.

For further information please contact

Susan Thomason
NZASNI
09 477 5436 or 021 971 546

7th May 2009

Paul Smith joins Academy

Paul Smith will join the NZ Academy of Sport North Island this month as High Performance Adviser working with carded coaches and NSO high performance directors.

"Paul has a broad range of successful high performance sport experience and we are delighted to have him join the NZAS North Island team. Paul has outstanding people skills and will add value in assisting coaches and high performance directors to increase their capability" explained Pete Pfitzinger, Chief Executive.

Paul's experience in High Performance sport includes 8 years in High Performance Management roles including most recently as a Performance Consultant in SPARC's High Performance Team, High Performance Manager for Tennis NZ and High Performance Manager for Bowls NZ.

Prior to these roles Paul worked for 10 years as a sport psychologist during which time he was the New Zealand Team Sport Psychologist at the Olympic Games in 1996, and Sport Psychologist at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, and at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games for a variety of sports.

For further information please contact

Pete Pfitzinger
09 477 5421
021 900422
peterp@nzasni.org.nz