Editorial: Funding our athletes' progress

Tracey Chatterton.

A lot more goes into making it as an athlete than a few key training sessions and good nutrition.

It is a long, hard road with many making it to regional podiums but dreams of Olympic selection and lucrative sponsorship deals are often only that - a dream.

Yet when young athletes reach those heights we, as a nation, rally behind them.

It would be great if we had more Lydia Kos, Andrea Hewitts and Mahe Drysdales.

Along with talent, these athletes need drive and often funds backing their cause.

That is why a funding boost for Sport Hawke's Bay's Talented Athlete Development Programme is such good news.

More athletes will have access to the programme, thanks to financial backing from Sir Graeme Avery, the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park and EIT Hawke's Bay.

It gives youngsters the full package needed to succeed, such as strength and conditioning training, nutrition and advice, along with lifestyle and sports psychology services.

But the support doesn't stop when they leave the region as Sir Graham, the founder and chairman of the AUT Millennium Institute of Sport and Health on Auckland's North Shore, is keen for Hawke's Bay athletes to tap into the resources up north.

This is a multisport facility with sports science research on site and is the National High Performance Sport Training Centre - an athlete's paradise.

This will help lift our talented athletes to the next level and hopefully it will catapult them to the world stage.