Page 48 - AFL QUEENSLAND 2012 YEAR IN REVIEW

HYUNDAI BRISBANE LIONS ACADEMY
TALENT PROGRAM
After starting out in November 2009 with one full time staff member and approximately 75 players, 2012 has seen this swell to three full time staff members, 13 casual development coaches, and six consultant support staff (sports trainers, physio, fitness, psychology etc.)
Now in its third year of operation the Hyundai Brisbane Lions Academy continues to grow in numbers of staff, coaches and players involved, as does the training and development program that underpins the week to week operations.
As players progress through the Academy program they are gradually exposed to various development tools such as skill analysis, medical and fitness screening, individual development plans, regular group and individual review sessions, periodised training plans and personal development sessions on off-field topics.
NEW INITIATIVES / ACTIVITIES FOR 2012:
• Under 18 Summer Development Program in conjunction with AFL Queensland
• Whole of Academy player and parent orientation session held at the Gabba in January
• Introduction of a financial levy for Academy players with a Lions 3 game membership included
• Mini ‘High Performance Conference’ held in February at the Gabba
• User pays Community Coach Education program
• Addition of a full time talent identification role
THE PLAYERS:
• 192 official players were officially registered in 2012 with the Academy between the ages of 12 and 18 years of age.
• Another 35 players have participated in various parts of the training program either as talent identification athletes or junior club players invited to train for a limited period of time
• The geographic breakdown of our 2012 Academy players is:
squads at various age groups. • Continues to be a major area
for growth in our Academy program to increase our
overall talent pool and fast track player development. • Sunshine Coast and Darling Downs players aged
16+ started structured gym sessions through relationships with Matthew Flinders College and University of Southern Queensland respectively.
TALENT IDENTIFICATION ACTIVIES:
• In conjunction with AFL Queensland regional
game development staff the Academy continued
to run the “Future Stars” (12 & 13 years) and the “Rookie Search” (14 – 18 years) talent identification programs aimed at identifying talented boys at school level not currently playing junior club AFL
• The Future Stars program concludes in November each year with over 100 boys playing in a carnival night at the Lions training base at Giffin Park in Coorparoo. From this night a number of boys are invited to participate
in the Academy program for the following year
• The Rookie Search program runs throughout the year with October being the main session and in 2012 we introduced
a mid-year session in July on the back of the work done
by Ashley Drake after his full time appointment in April • Rookie search athletes identified mid-year have
been taught the fundamentals of the game in small groups as part of regular Academy training sessions, and 1-on-1 individual sessions outside of structured Academy training sessions
• Academy staff hosted some of the rookie search athletes and family members to Lions home games to further educate and engulf them in the exciting product that is our game
ACADEMY AND THE FOOTBALL COMMUNITY:
• Academy staff provided the training program framework for the AFLQ regional talent programs for 12-16 years player age groups for both summer development and state championship programs
• Academy staff conducted a coach education program for community and school level coaches on the Sunshine Coast , Darling Downs and Brisbane. The aim was to help educate local community grass roots coaches about best practice skill teaching, coaching and player development for club training sessions.
• Academy staff presented sessions at AFLQ Level 1 & 2 Coaching Courses throughout the year.
LUKE CURRAN
BRISBANE LIONS ACADEMY MANAGER
• Wide Bay
• Darling Downs
• Sunshine Coast
• Brisbane
REGIONAL TRAINING CENTRES:
= 18 = 21 = 35 = 118
• •
Continued with the running of 3 ‘Regional Training Centres’ with our exclusive Academy Talent zone in addition to our main training base in Brisbane
Saw good development of players and coaches in all regional centres with 10 boys making Queensland state
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2012 Year in Review