Ever wondered about what happens at a Talent Development Camp? Find out here as we look back at the Under 14s and 16s Camp held recently on the Sunshine Coast. 

"It has been an amazing opportunity for our daughter to have access to such a high quality training program and coaching. Each time I have spoken to her over the last four days she has been super excited and highly motivated to ‘do’ and ‘be’ the best she can as a softballer and a teammate. This experience has no doubt cemented her commitment to work hard to stay in this talent pathway and play at the highest level possible.” Quote received by email from an athlete’s parent.

The recent Talent Development camp is an important first step in providing young athletes with an introduction to the expectations of the high-performance pathways of Softball in Australia. Athletes were selected as the Under 14 & Under 16 National Squads for both boys and girls, having been identified from the National Championships earlier this year. 

Following the principles of FTEM (Click here to read more about FTEM on the AIS website), the young athletes were given the opportunity for high level coaching, performance testing and education from our dedicated team of coaches and managers. 

The coaching team was led by Laing Harrow (Spirit & Steelers National Head Coach), Leigh Godfrey (Gen32 Coach), with further support from Kathy Mitchell (Softball Australia Head Physio), Dr Justine Stynes (Sport Psychologist), and Joseph Kirkpatrick (S&C Coach).

Additionally, select coaches and team managers offering a wide range of skills and knowledge were recruited from around the country, including: Neridah Wearne (NSW Coach), Geoff Coultas (WA Coach), Amanda Fairley (SA Coach), Drew Herrington (WA Coach), Belinda Ainslie (VIC Coach), Mark Armstrong (NSW Coach), Andrea Mansfield (Diamonds TM), Chrissy Clough (Spirit TM), and Bec Ireland (Diamonds TM). 

The athletes were also given a surprise when they were joined by current Aussie Spirit players and recent Tokyo 2020 Olympians, Taylah Tsitsikronis, Jade Wall and Gabbie Plain, who coached the athletes in specialised positional training sessions.

Softball Australia CEO Rosie Williams OBE was delighted with the outcome of the camp, saying “The camps were designed to deliver a quality learning experience, to improve softball expertise and to introduce players to a new level of performance expectation and experience. It is important at this age to build the players’ ability to trust each other and build their own personal resilience as they face challenging situations on and off the field.”

Another parent of an athlete added “My daughter is so grateful and learned an extraordinary amount. Thrilled to work with Olympians, great coaches and officials. Thank you, Softball Australia #inspired”

A big thanks to Softball Australia official partners Sportslink Travel, PTP, Easton and GAME Clothing. We’d also like to thank the staff at Apex Camps Sunshine Coast, and Jim Watson at the North Shore Football Club for their hospitality and use of their facilities.

Softball Australia is committed to the development of all Softball participants. Keep an eye out for further announcements over the coming months!

Check out some photos from the camp (click on image to view at full size):