Olympic Silver medallist and VIS Cycling Coach Glenn O’Shea headlined a high performance experience organised by the Victorian Institute of Sport in conjunction with Bendigo Academy of Sport and La Trobe University Bendigo.
On Friday 15 March over sixty local students and athletes flocked to La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus to be inspired, tested and educated on what it is like to be an elite athlete.
The day kicked off with a presentation from Bendigo native Glenn O’Shea, where inspiring the students with his journey from regional Victoria to the top of cycling’s world stage.
Discovered by long term Coach and mentor Tim Decker through the Bendigo Bank Academy of Sport, O’Shea was an outstanding elite junior, who later quit the sport due to illness and got a job working in a car yard in Bendigo. But when that didn't work out, he dusted off the bike and moved to Adelaide to reunite with Decker at the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI), where he trained and became the omnium World Champion and won a silver medal in the Team Pursuit at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Since retiring from competitive cycling, O’Shea was involved with the SASI Talent ID program alongside Decker to ensure the identification and development of athletes who have the potential to be medallists at future Olympics, Paralympics and World Championships. He was appointed as the endurance coach of the VIS cycling program in July 2018.
Following the keynote presentation athletes and students undertook four practical sessions led by VIS Staff, including; a strength and conditioning gym session with a VIS Physical Preparation Coach, talent ID testing with two Strength and Conditioning Coaches, nutrition workshop with a VIS Sport Dietitian and a Pilates session with a VIS Therapist.
Local Bendigo students in Year 8-10 was invited to participate in the event and represented both government and non-government schools. Also participating in the event were regional athletes, identified through the Regional Academy of Sport network and identified as potential future VIS scholarship holders. Six La Trobe University students were given the opportunity to shadow the VIS Staff to help further their education in Sport Science and Human Mechanics.
The experience was the second Regional High Performance that the VIS has coordinated. In November Barwon Academy of Sport in Geelong played host to a similar event with local students from the Barwon area. The experiences will help further develop the strong contribution regional areas already make to the state's sporting success, they will also encourage regional schools, clubs and service providers to develop better programs that promote healthy lifestyle choices.
The VIS and Regional High Performance Experiences are part of the VIS’ valuable partnerships with the Regional Academies of Sport, and would not be possible without the support of the Victorian Government, who provided a $200,000 funding boost in 2017 for VIS community initiatives to help give talented regional athletes more opportunities to experience VIS facilities and expertise.
Glenn O’Shea, Olympic Medallist/VIS Cycling Track Endurance Coach:
“Today was a huge success. It has been great for the students who came out and learned about what it takes to be an elite athlete and to know that there is a pathway from the Regional Academies of Sport to the Victorian Institute of Sport.
The key message that the students hopefully take with them today is to keep asking questions, keep trying to work, because if you don’t put your hand up or ask the question you’re never going to find out the answer.”
Graham Gordon, Executive Officer Bendigo Academy of Sport:
“The experience was a fantastic opportunity for school students in Bendigo. We have had a range of different schools come out who were interested in being tested by the VIS staff and hearing from an Olympic medallist. Glenn O’Shea did a fantastic job promoting the VIS pathways and motivating the students to keep working hard as that it what it takes to become elite.”
La Trobe University student:
“It was a good learning experience to see how the VIS staff worked with the school students. I’m passionate about coaching and it was very interesting to have the experts go through everything with us so that we (university students) can use it in our future fields of work.”
For further information:
Camilla Blands, Community Projects Coordinator VIS
03 9425 0042/0424 928 060
