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Hawke’s Bay’s top young sport talent have greater opportunities to achieve at the highest stage with the launch of the first intake of the High Performance Sport NZ Hawke’s Bay Performance Pathways Project.
Thirteen talented Hawke’s Bay’s athletes aged 15-20 years across athletics, canoe racing, equestrian, swimming, hockey, netball and softball have been announced as part of the HPSNZ Hawkes Bay Performance Pathways Project, led by Performance Pathway Lead Angus Warwicker-Le Breton at the Hawke’s Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust.
Included are swimmer Caleb Carlisle, who recently won bronze at the Youth Commonwealth Games, New Zealand Paralympic swimmer Guy Harrison and Zoe Elliott, who played for the New Zealand Secondary School netball team this year.
Hawke’s Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust is delivering the programme in partnership with HPSNZ and says the aim is to give the athletes the tools and skills to transition into the high-performance environment.
Angus says “All of the athletes that have been identified have a lot of talent and passion for their sport.
“We hope to provide these athletes with the support and expertise that allows them to develop the tools to thrive in different environments as they move through their own sports pathway.
Angus says the aim is to work closely alongside each athlete and their support team to create their own individual performance plans that will help map out their sporting journey and identify what they need to develop to be successful.
Rising netball star and Woodford College year 13 student Zoe Elliott is looking forward to joining the other athletes and getting exposure to all aspects of improving her game, both on and off the court.
“I’m super excited to be part of the performance pathway program project and have access to so many resources that are available.
“The expert support in things like mentoring, Strength and conditioning and nutrition is incredible and I am very grateful to be given this opportunity to help me achieve my goals,” she says.
Part of the programme is the delivery of Raise My Game, which is a pathways planning process developed by ex-Black Stick Suzie Muirhead, that facilitates the athlete in identifying their individual strengths and weaknesses and helps them create a plan on how to turn their weaknesses into strengths and their strengths into super strengths.
The athletes will also be partnered with a local mentor, in most cases former high performance athlete such as former Olympian canoe racer Jamie McAleese and former New Zealand hockey Black Stick Emily Gaddum.
Angus will work collaboratively with national, regional and community sporting partners identifying and supporting athletes and coaches with the potential for success on the world sporting stage.
Performance Pathways are the anchor of HPSNZ’s 2024 Strategy, and fundamental to continuing New Zealand’s record of success on the world stage by creating a sustainable pipeline of talent.
HPSNZ Head of Performance Pathways Tracey Paterson says it is exciting to see the first cohort of Hawke’s Bay athletes begin their performance journey and looks forward to seeing how this benefits their ongoing development and future achievements.
“There’s a great mix of talent from mainstream and emerging sports and to deliver the pathways programme locally at a world class facility provides immense benefit.”
Collectively our vision is to provide enhanced performance pathways, supporting regionally based coaches and athletes with future performance aspirations in the Hawke’s Bay region.
“Hawke’s Bay has always been a hot spot for sporting talent and this is a huge boost for Hawke’s Bay as it now provides a direct link into the high performance system for athletes and coaches.”
HBCFCT chair Iain Taylor says the presence of High Performance Sport New Zealand is also a major boost in confidence for the Hawke’s Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust team and the “mahi we have been doing with athletes and sport codes both at the EIT Institute of Sport and Health and out in the community.”
The High Performance Sport New Zealand regional pathways programme athletes are:
Rylan Noome – 100 & 200 metre Athletics (2023 NZ U18 100 & 200 metre Champion)
Ryan Shotter – 100 & 200 metre Athletics (NZ U18 Oceania’s Squad)
Julian Da Silva – Canoe Racing (NZ Asia Pacific Sprint Team)
Matt McKendry – Canoe Racing (NZ Asia Pacific Sprint Team)
Oscar Jarvis – Canoe Racing (NZ Asia Pacific Sprint Team)
Carys McCory – Equestrian (NZ Talent Identification Squad)
Kelli Frewin – Equestrian (NZ Talent Identification Squad)
Guy Harrison – Swimming (NZ Paralympic Squad)
Breeze Van Veldhuizen – Swimming (NAGS 200 metre gold medallist)
Caleb Carlisle – Swimming (NZ Youth Commonwealth Games Squad: Bronze Medallist)
Greer Findlay – Hockey (Junior Black Sticks)
Zoe Elliot – Netball (NZ Secondary Schools Team)
Nopera Tangaroa – Softball (NZ U19 Black Sox)