The PNG Olympic Committee has supported 11 participants to attend the GAPS Program at the Gold Coast in Australia.
The program is run through the Griffith University and supported by the Commonwealth Games Federation.
The program targets Oceania Commonwealth countries and has a high performance focus with the athlete and coach participants undergoing a series of generic and sports-specific sessions designed to improve their knowledge and practices on high performance areas such as health and training.
The PNG Olympic Committee farewelled the participants over the weekend as they departed for Griffith University on the Gold Coast for the first of three sessions, which will occur over an 18 month period in the lead up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
When farewelling members of the PNG contingent, PNGOC Deputy Secretary General, Andrew Lepani encouraged the participants to make the most of the learning opportunity and see how they can use what they learn to improve on their own practices.
The program has a three-stage strategy to ensure a sustainable framework for those participating and their respective organisations. Each stage will target specific outcomes relevant to the overall program, as well as outcomes relevant to individual athletes.
The GAPS program consists of the following three stages:
- ‘Gather’ – gather information about the current health, training status and high-performance practices of the participating athletes and support staff
- ‘Adjust’ – adjust where appropriate, current athlete and system practices
- ‘Prepare, Practice, and Provide’ – this final stage will assist to:
- ‘Prepare’ athletes and coaches to be able to transfer their knowledge learned during the GAPS program to domestic programs
- ‘Practice’ skills and techniques learned during the GAPS program such as assessment, recovery, and/or sport specific skills
- ‘Provide’ athletes and coaches with feedback regarding athlete progress over the 18-month period and specifically during each of the camps.
This first session is currently running from December 5 to 9, with the next sessions occurring in mid-2017 and then early 2018.
With the organisers of the GAPS program limiting the sports participants were chosen from, the PNG contingent consists of athletes and coaches from Boxing, Athletics and each Volleyball - all looking to improve their performances and stake their claim for a place in Team PNG for the Commonwealth Games.
Their participation in the GAPS program will also benefit their preparations for a place on Team PNG for the Pacific Mini-Games happening in December 2017.
2015 Pacific Games Gold medalist from Beach Volleyball, Moha Mea welcomed the opportunity saying, “I’m looking forward to taking part in the GAPS program as what we learn from the program will help us on our journey to qualify for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.”
The program will greatly benefit the participants and sports in PNG and PNG Olympic Committee wishes them well in the training.
Picture courtesy of PNGOC