National Junior Development Camp at AIS Heralded a Success

The next generation of Australian bowlers got to experience what it takes to become world-class athletes at the weekends National Junior Development Camp.

Held at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, 28 of the country’s best up and coming junior bowlers attended the camp alongside the country’s high performance coaches.

With sessions held at ZONE BOWLING Tuggeranong and Belconnen as well as the AIS, the four days included sessions on the mental game, strength, movement science and conditioning, high performing teams and recovery.

Following the successful camp, Australia’s Junior National Training Squad (NTS) coach Shane Bernhardt said the camp focused on how to achieve success both on and off the lanes.

“I think the attendees will have a number of key takeaways from the camp, with the most important being the need to develop an athlete’s mindset.  There is an enormous amount of natural talent within this group however, to compete on the international stage we need to be world’s best in everything we do, both on and off the lanes,” Bernhardt said.

With the development camp forming part of TBA’s commitment to developing the next generation of Australian representatives, Bernhardt believes the camp will greatly assist the 2018 Asian Schools team when they compete later in the year.
 
“Our athletes were provided with the opportunity to consider their physical and mental preparation, which I am sure will assist in their individual preparations for Asian Schools.”  

“Only 16 of these athletes will make the team to travel to Taichung (Chinese Taipei), but I am sure that those selected will be appreciative of the manner in which everyone contributed to a successful camp,” Bernhardt said.

Whilst the four days focused on developing the athletes, it was also designed to develop the skills, knowledge and relationships of Australia’s high performance coaches and Bernhardt knows that this will pay dividends in the years to come.  

“The level of interaction between the coaches was very high resulting in a large amount of sharing of information and knowledge.”

“I can speak personally in that I picked up a number of helpful hints during the camp as well as enjoyed the company of some great ambassadors for our sport,” Bernhardt added.  “We are on the threshold of some exciting opportunities in our sport, but we need to work together to make the most of these.”

Bowlers Kyle Annetts Megan Bramley Samantha Bramley Bevan Brooke Jackson Botham Emily Bottomley Nixon Chan Kiara Clark William Clark Ivy Dickinson Jesse Ellis Grace Fahy Liam George Emily Johnston	Sophie Martin Alicia McFadden Jake Mitchell Tom Mitchell Ashlyn Mohr Joshua Morris Sarah Pennicott Daniel Perrella Jamie Phelan Matthew Purser Amy Shoesmith Cameron Stein Kallan Strong Lilly Wilson
Coaches & Management Shane Bernhardt Geoff Bowness Dean Champ Bianca Flanagan Hayden George Mike Griffith Chris Mesagno Simon Pearce Gayle Shoesmith Dee Taafe Jamie Taafe