The Mellor Olsson Academy Games will be held at the start of next month from Tuesday 1 October to Thursday 3 October. This year, however, the games will showcase a new format for the first time with the introduction of a Skills Sessions day for participants on the first day of the games.
The Skills Session will include six specialist on-court sessions and three off-court sessions, designed to give participants a special opportunity to help prepare for state team trials held at the end of October.
The new session will be supported by six specialist coaches, including academy mentor coaches and Premier League coaches who will help present the on-court components of the day.
Netball SA Workforce Manager, Roz Fraser, says the change to the format was an important decision and one Netball SA believes will deliver greater value to those who participate in the 2019 Mellor Olsson Academy Games.
“One of the benefits of participating in the Academy Program is players are viewed during the Mellor Olsson Academy Games by State Team Selectors. Those identified are then invited to Phase Two of the State Team trials, however, historically selectors have only seen the players in match play. To try and prepare the players for the State Trials we felt that replicating the format as much as possible may be of benefit,” said Roz.
“The main benefit will be that selectors will get to see how they transition what they learn in the skills sessions into their match play. The players will also be split into groups working with players from different Academies.”
“One of the biggest hurdles for players is coming to trials on their own and then not knowing anyone, so if we can prepare them in a controlled environment we hope this may help them perform at their best.”
Netball SA first established the Academy Program to provide a development pathways to help identify and develop some of the best talent among players, coaches and umpires across the state.
To continue developing Australian Diamonds, the program has since evolved to follow a National curriculum, “Develop a Diamond Academy Program.” Aimed at 14-16-year-olds, it is designed to support individual athlete development to help standout emerging talent reach their full potential.
The 2019 games will see the nine academies in the Netball SA Academy Program compete against each other over the remaining two days. The academies span across the Adelaide, Eyre, Central Ranges, Murray, Northern Regional, Northern Metropolitan, South East, Southern and Spencer Regions.
The Academy Program runs from February to October each year culminating in the games in October, allowing participants to put their skills to the test against the best of the best in the state.
The Mellor Olsson Academy Games will see approximately 280 players, coaches and umpires gather at Priceline Stadium for the much-anticipated annual event.
