UCOL graduate to train Stags

UCOL graduate to train Stags

UCOL Exercise and Sport Science graduate James Amon is the new Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Central District Stags.

James has been in demand in the sport and fitness industry since he started study at UCOL’s Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science programme.

By the end of his second year of study, he was already employed as a Health and Fitness Instructor at the Massey University Recreation Centre in Palmerston North. He then started his own Personal Training business straight after graduating with his degree, before being appointed Gym Manager at the Massey University Sport and Rugby Institute.

Over the next three years he completed his Strength & Conditioning Internship with the NZ Academy of Sport which fulfilled a goal that was conceived while studying at UCOL in his final year.

James says he is looking forward to working with the Stags, at an interesting stage for cricket. In an interview with the Manawatu Standard, he said the sport is changing and with Twenty20 becoming a worldwide phenomenon, players must keep up with a gruelling schedule.

“Guys are going to be working hard every day and that is the changing face of cricket nowadays. We are bringing a new level of expectations to the players. They have to be required to do more work to keep a level of fitness,” he said.

James has worked with Jacob Oram for the past three years and also picked up Jamie How, Ross Taylor and Michael Mason when they achieved Black Cap status. He has also worked with Motor Racing New Zealand, conditioning up-and-coming motor racing drivers, with a long-term goal of working in Europe, training elite Motorsport athletes.

He says the UCOL degree provides the best possible chance to pursue a career in the sports and fitness industry: “It’s very in-depth and well-supported. It was a great learning-specific environment with an on-site gym and very high-tech laboratories.”

ends

© Scoop Media