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The Athlete Development Program is an individualised, high-performance sporting pathway in Years 9 and 10 that enables young athletes to achieve their best, both academically and in the sporting arena.

The Athlete Development Program (ADP) is a unique offering designed for athletically talented students that focuses on aspects including practical skills, strength conditioning, training principles and sports science theory.

Athlete Development Program Outline

The ADP is an elective subject in Years 9 and 10 that provides young athletes with the best opportunity to excel in their chosen sport and to develop career pathways in sport. The program is tailored to the individual athlete and their needs, allowing each student to focus on sporting excellence while also achieving academic success.

Currently, the program includes AFL, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Dance, Equestrian, Gymnastics, Hockey, Netball, Rowing, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Triathlon, Tennis, Volleyball and Water Polo. Additional sports may be added according to student needs.

Individualised Program

The ADP is customised to each young athlete’s needs, with specialised coaches and experts providing guidance in all areas of athlete development.

Strength and conditioning: Under the guidance of specialised trainers, students work through core strength and conditioning activities applicable to their chosen sport. This builds student knowledge of their musculoskeletal balance and leads to enhanced performance and injury prevention.

High performance skill sessions: Students partake in individual or small group skill sessions with state and nationally accredited coaches to develop their athletic skills and knowledge. Athletes with heavy external training loads can use this time for academic studies.

Long-term athlete development: The program empowers athletes by providing them with knowledge in training principles, nutrition, biomechanics, coaching and other essentials for careers in the sport industry.

Tactical development: Athletes develop an understanding of game principles and technique adjustment through use of video analysis, GPS and personal reviews.

State and National Level Coaches

Highly regarded and specialised coaches are sought for each athlete’s chosen sport, working closely with our students to provide tailored training programs and high level feedback to shape development.

Current coaches include Michael Knoll (Sydney Swans and Norwood Redlegs Football clubs), Lucy Sharman (2021) (Australian Hockeyroos player), Trish Adams (former Australian Lacrosse Coach), Adriano Pellegrino (Adelaide United and other professional Soccer clubs).

Athlete Wellbeing

Athlete wellbeing is paramount within the ADP, where students are taught the ways in which it can affect their sporting performance and how to manage it effectively.

Student athletes have access to on-site physiotherapy as well as the School’s Wellbeing Team. They harness sports psychology principles and GPS data to monitor their training loads, recovery and sleep schedules.

Parents are invited to quarterly guest presentations offering support and strategies to families of high performing student athletes.

Selection to the Athlete Development Program

Selection to the ADP is via an application process with the following considered:

  • Involvement in a high-level representative sporting team (e.g. state or national)
  • Demonstration of potential involvement in elite programs outside of the School
  • Performance in the Health and Physical Education subject

Enquiries about the Athlete Development Program should be referred to Mark Reid, Head of Athlete Development & High Performance: mreid@pembroke.sa.edu.au

This unique pro­gram sup­ports the devel­op­ment of stu­dents (and their coach­es) with poten­tial for com­pet­ing on a nation­al or even world stage. As an Olympic ath­lete, I under­stand the impor­tance of high-qual­i­ty train­ing and coach­ing, and the ADP pro­vides stu­dents with this very oppor­tu­ni­ty. I wish I had this when I was in school!

- Leanne Choo, Australian Olympian (Badminton)

I focus on show­ing stu­dents how the best in the world do things, and love that I get to pass this on to young play­ers. The play­ers ben­e­fit as they can make changes to their tech­niques that will make them bet­ter play­ers for the future.

- Jamie Siddons, Australian Cricketer