Relish your talent, champ urges

Regan Gough with the inaugural intake of Sport Hawke's Bay's Athlete Development Programme. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke's Bay's multiple world champion cyclist Regan Gough had an appropriate message for the province's most promising young sportspeople.

"Be ready to take your opportunities," Gough told the first 20 athletes to be selected for Sport Hawke's Bay's Spark Athlete Development Programme at the intake's launch in Napier on Monday night.

Gough gave a rundown on his trip to last month's UCI Track World Championships in Paris.

"I went for the experience and got the call-up for the track pursuit team which won gold. I can relate that experience to this programme ... take the opportunities this provides. There is so much talent in Hawke's Bay ... realise your talent and take your opportunities," Gough said.

Waipukurau's Gough wasn't expecting to be in the Kiwi men's 4000m pursuit team which won gold. He got the call when double Olympian Marc Ryan withdrew with injury and, at 18, was the youngest member of the team which won gold for the first time.

Sport Hawke's Bay's talent development co-ordinator Marcus Agnew said the programme provided a pathway to nurture promising talent in the province.

"In time we hope to see more Hawke's Bay athletes achieving on the national and international stage, bringing pride and inspiration to their communities.

"It has been a challenging, yet thorough process identifying the highest potential young athletes aspiring to Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth, and World Championships in HPSNZ, Sport NZ, and Sport HB prioritised sports."

Agnew said, as part of the national talent development strategy, the objective was to increase regional buy-in and grow support for athletes.

The programme is the first step toward Sport New Zealand's Pathway to Podium Programme, which a further eight Hawke's Bay athletes are part of.

"The vision of the Performance Hub is to provide a Hawke's Bay high performance development pathway, helping emerging talented athletes reach their dreams and achieve excellence in sport," Agnew added.

As part of the programme athletes will have educational workshops across psychology, nutrition, athlete life, physical conditioning and performance planning. These are all aligned with High Performance Sport NZ systems and the national talent development strategy.

-The inaugural intake is: Geordie Beamish (athletics), Wilfred Dickson (basketball), Demi Forshaw (netball), Eva Goodisson (triathlon), Abby Goodwin (yachting), Sam Hiha (hockey), Georgia Hulls (athletics), Amanda Jamieson (cycling), Georgia King (rowing), Christian Leopard (cricket), Saar Lichtenberg-Cloo (volleyball), Olivia Macaulay (netball), Amy Martin (BMX), Kelsey McPhee (netball), Rose Morton (football), Tanielu Pio (taekwondo), Rob Reynolds (tennis), Laina Samia (volleyball/Netball), Briana Stephenson (athletics/netball), Jessica Turfrey (rowing).