ASB Trusts grant to Academy of Sport
Press Release
Funding from the ASB Trusts is going to help put the performance of our top athletes under the microscope.
The grantmaker, which funds the work of community groups in Auckland and Northland, has approved a $77,000 grant to the
New Zealand Academy of Sport North, which will be put towards $120,000 worth of equipment for its performance analysis
unit.
The hi-tech equipment, which gives coaches and athletes feedback on specific aspects of their performance, is expected
to help our top athletes to reach international standards in their sports.
ASB Trusts CEO Jennifer Gill said her organisation usually targets the funding of grass-roots participation in sport.
“However, ASB Trusts recognises that to develop sport and increase participation, there is a need to fund high level
sport.
“It’s well known that when a sport does well, participation in the particular sport increases,” she said.
The NZ Academy of Sport North, which assists selected elite and emerging athletes in the upper North Island, has already
received ASB Trusts funding for its work. In 2004 the academy was granted $125,800 and it was given $185,606 in 2002.
Commenting on the performance analysis unit, SPARC Chief Executive, Nick Hill said that “having this kind of technology
available to athletes and coaches helps give us that necessary edge that you need to win on the world-stage.”
Performance Analysis is an emerging area in which coaches and athletes are given very specific feedback on different
aspects of their performance, using cutting edge technology and statistical analysis to present facts rather than
opinions.
Members of the NZ Commonwealth Games team have worked with the Performance Analysis Unit, include Sarah Ulmer’s coach
Brendon Cameron. He used NZAS North’s GPS system in Melbourne during a recent reconnaissance of the Games road race and
time trial courses and was then given a detailed course analysis from the Performance Analysis Unit.
The NZ Men’s Hockey team is using NZAS North’s Performance Analysis Unit to analyse player movement and heart rate
responses during game situations.
“The Performance Analysis Unit is helping to provide some potentially very exciting new information that will positively
contribute to our substitution methods and tactical awarenes,” said Black Sticks Coach Kevin Towns.
Silver Ferns’ Coaches Ruth Aitken and Leigh Gibbs have obtained information on player movement from analysis of coded
video during tests between New Zealand and Australia.
The New Zealand Academy of Sport North grant is one of almost 1000 grants, worth around $50 million, made by the ASB
Trusts to community groups in Auckland and Northland each year. At the February monthly meeting trustees approved grants
worth a total of $4.5 million for projects in education, the arts, sport, recreation, health and social services areas.
Founded on the sale of shares in the ASB bank, the ASB Trusts has granted more than $400m since being formed in 1988.
Any incorporated or charitable trust can apply for funds, provided they are a not-for-profit organisation. For more
details about applying, visit the ASB Trusts’ website: www.asbtrusts.org.nz
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The ASB Trusts
Website: www.asbtrusts.org.nz