What are the benefits?

The GAPS Programme will assist sports associations in developing countries to develop their own “in-country” high-performance program and pathway.

The opportunity to train with athletes from all over the Pacific, to access world-class facilities and to become familiar with a major sports event venue are all significant benefits of the GAPS Programme. Let’s look at some more benefits for both the athletes and coaches from Oceania.

Training camps

With a high level of commitment to participating in all three stages of the programme from the athletes, coaches, and accompanying support staff, the Oceania participants directly benefit from the opportunity to learn new techniques, develop skills, and ask questions throughout.

The new skills athletes gain from coaching and strength sessions, nutrition planning, and mental skills training enhance their daily training environment back home when they apply what they have practiced during the camps.

One of the most significant benefits is the relationships that are built during the programme. The dedication and commitment to relationship building by those who have delivered the programme have ensured great success in engaging the athletes and coaches, sustaining their participation throughout the journey and ultimately resulting in the positive outcomes that have been experienced.

Hear from Chris Nunn from the Australian Paralympic Committee just how important this is.

Mentoring of coaches

The development of the regions’ coaches is seen as fundamental to the success and ongoing sustainability of the GAPS Programme. The opportunity for Oceanic coaches to work alongside expert coaches means they have access to some of the world’s leading sports scientists working in the most sophisticated facilities in Australia.

The mentoring programme benefits Oceanic coaches by:

• upskilling and educating them so they can conduct their own training back home with greater purpose and more direction in the design of their sessions.

• continuing the mentoring between camps with ongoing contact from the expert coaches. This allows in-country coaches to try new skills, exercises, and programs with their athletes and bounce ideas off an expert coach.

It is this reinforcement between camps that results in the effective transfer of knowledge so Oceanic coaches continue to implement what they have learnt. This was an important consideration when designing the programme, given that previous attempts to train coaches, by other groups in Oceania, have typically not had adequate time and support built in to facilitate long-term coach development.

Hear more about how this is done from Associate Professor Clare Minahan.

Going to the Games!

The exciting news received by the Vanuatu coach, Doriane, that three of her athletes had been accepted to compete at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, was a dream come true for them and the result of their dedication and hard work. They attribute their success to the expertise, training, support and guidance they were given through the GAPS Programme.

Let’s hear from Doriane and two of her athletes who attended the Games, Dephnny and Friana, as they express their gratitude.

To achieve this inclusion at a major sports event…well, the benefits of the GAPS Programme speak for themselves.

Your task

Friana Kwevira recently won a bronze medal in her javelin event at the Victorian Athletics Championship – her first International Paralympic Committee sanctioned event. The GAPS Programme camps have benefited Friana’s improvement in performance and helped guide her towards this huge achievement.

Read the following news article to find out more about the impact the camps had on our two para athletes, Friana and Dephnny in their lead-up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Vanuatu Javelin athlete Friana Kwevira now 3rd in Commonwealth

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