Following the induction of several athletes into Tenpin Bowling Australia’s National Training Squad (NTS), an update on the High-Performance program has been provided.
NTS 18
Following the appointment of its new head coach Robert Alexander, several recent developments have occurred.
The NTS18 support team has been finalised – We congratulate Tasmania’s Hayden George and Ballina’s Cameron Walsh who have been appointed as the Assistant coaches for the squad. We also welcome back Jamie and Dee Taafe as the managers of NTS18.
After having the opportunity to view the exciting action at Sydney BowlFest and specifically the Sydney Junior Cup, the new support team has made a few changes to the makeup of the roster which is detailed below.
Tenpin Bowling Australia wishes to congratulate the following bowlers who have received invites to join this year’s NTS18 squad.
- Blayde Hamilton-Christensen
- Brock Gordon
- William Zaccaria
- Joshua Buttigieg
- Sophie Jones
“The Sydney BowlFest provided a great opportunity to watch bowlers in person” explained Alexander.
“As a support team, we felt the squad was a bit heavy in terms of athletes who were of a similar age group within the under-18 category.
“We felt it was important to invite a few other bowlers to set up a squad that covers several age groups under 18 to allow development and succession to occur naturally. We are really happy to invite and welcome these talented bowlers to the squad” added Alexander.
Tenpin Bowling Australia is also happy to confirm that an Australian team will be selected from all eligible NTS athletes to attend this year’s Asian Junior Championships.
The 22nd Asian Junior Championship will be held in Singapore from 19th – 25th August 2023.
The NTS18 support team is now working through preparations for this event and a selection announcement is expected in the coming days.
NTS21
It’s all hands-on deck following the announcement of the Australian team selected to bowl in the upcoming 21st Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok, Thailand from 4th – 12th July 2023.
This year’s championship involves some age criteria rules that were adhered to and saw several NTS18 age athletes elevated with the opportunity to represent Australia at this event.
The chosen team will report to a pre-tour 3-day camp at the AGL National High-Performance Centre this weekend.
“We have already had one camp in May to help with selection decisions for the Asian Youth team but it’s exciting to get another opportunity to run a pre-tour camp to help assist with our preparations” explained Geoff Bowness. “It will be a great opportunity to get together as a team, look at pattern information more closely and discuss strategies on ball selection decisions for the tour”.
NTS Open
The NTS Open Coach Expression of Interest closed with several submissions made for the exciting opportunity.
The process for selection is currently underway with finalisation and a selection announcement expected to occur next week.
NTS 50 & 65
NTS Head coach Eric Jang, team manager Janine Mattheson and GM Performance Gareth Webber met with the newly selected NTS 50/65 last week in an initial meet & greet and to discuss HP direction for future performance. Individual training plans will be integrated in the coming weeks.
General Manager of Performance
New General Manager of Performance, Gareth Webber has now embarked on the new position and is based full-time at the sports AGL National High-Performance Centre on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
“It has been a whirlwind few months getting to know stakeholders within bowling in the country,” said Webber.
“The raw talent and passion for the sport is obvious and with the implementation of systems and processes within the daily operations, there is a good opportunity to see improvements in performances in the short to medium term.
“There is a lot of hard work and difficult challenges to be addressed in the coming months but there is good work being done behind the scenes at TBA to tackle some of the recommendations outlined in the 2022 McGovern review” added Webber.
A centralised communication platform is currently being developed for members of the NTS. The platform will allow one central location for all things NTS, including:
- Specific chat areas for each NTS Group
- Education Resources – several documents and videos will be stored for NTS athlete access
- Performance data
- High-Performance Lecture series
The High-Performance Lecture Series looks to educate and inform NTS coaches and athletes of the most up-to-date Sports Science, Medicine and bowling practices from elite-level coaches and practitioners.
This is the first step in driving an elite, professional approach to training and tournament preparation and holistic athlete development. The centralised platform will allow us to reach our stakeholders around the country, provide uniformity to communications and hopefully unite the bowling community.
NTS Inclusion
As communicated last week, the NTS Inclusion selection announcement has been postponed until after the completion of the 34th National Disability Championships.
This will allow the head coach to review talent in person before making the final decisions.
It is expected the selection announcement will be made in the next fortnight.
Stay tuned for further updates and announcements on the TBA National Training Squad program.