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1 July 2005
Adelaide home to AIS/Australian beach volleyball program
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Volleyball Australia (AVF) today announced that Adelaide will be the home of the AIS/Australian Beach Volleyball program.
After discussions with Volleyball Australia, the AIS agreed to establish a beach volleyball program in order to better prepare Australia’s elite beach volleyballers and develop new talent in the popular Olympic sport.
The South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) will be a key partner in delivering the program. It will lend considerable expertise, facilities and support in the form of vital sports science and sports medicine assistance.
Australia has a proud and successful Olympic history in beach volleyball. At the sport’s Olympic debut in Atlanta in 1996 Australia picked up a bronze medal in the women’s event and narrowly missed a medal in the men’s.
The defining moment for the sport though in this country was at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Playing before huge crowds at the Bondi Beach venue, Australian pair Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst won an historic gold medal.
AIS Director Professor Peter Fricker said the decision to start a beach volleyball program was a logical progression, considering previous Olympic success and the rising level of public interest and talented athletes in Australia.
‘This national approach to the support and development of the sport at the elite end should secure a successful future for Australians in the sport internationally,’ he added.
Volleyball Australia General Manager Andrew Scotford said the establishment of the program in Adelaide heralded a new and exciting era for the sport in Australia.
‘Kerri and Natalie’s gold medal performance at the Sydney Olympics really put beach volleyball on the map in this country,’ Scotford said.
‘The fact that the AIS has now included it as one of its programs brings to the sport world’s best expertise in sports science and sports medicine from the AIS and SASI and that can only help the sport move to a new level,’ he said.
Initially, the program will support up to 12 male and female residential athletes and a further eight will attend regular training camps.
Contact:
Simon Langford, ASC Media Manager, 02 6214 1298 or 0418 605 541
Andrew Scotford, Volleyball Australia, 02 6247 6633 or 0402 064 500
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