Newcastle Joins Elite Athlete Friendly Universities

Tuesday 16 May 2006

Elite athletes at the University of Newcastle now have support to combine their studies and training, with the University joining the Elite Athlete Friendly Universities (EAFU) network.

The EAFU network is administered by the Athlete Career and Education (ACE) division of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and participating professional associations, state institutes and academies of sport.

As a member of the EAFU network, the University of Newcastle now has a support scheme for its elite athletes and has developed a number of systems to ensure that there is sufficient flexibility to create a supportive environment conducive to the achievement of academic excellence.

The University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Kevin McConkey, says as a result of the Network, elite athletes are being identified at the start of their enrolment.

"They're gaining assistance with timetable planning and integrated scheduling of sport and study. Athletes are getting help and staying on track before it is too late."

"It is the goal of the University of Newcastle - with its excellent sporting facilities, reputable academic programs and now the E-A-F-U agreement - to become the University of choice for elite athletes looking to begin tertiary study."

The University joins 28 other universities across Australia in the network, which complements the existing arrangements in place between the University of Newcastle, NUSport, and organisations including the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS); the McDonald's Hunter Jaegers national netball team; and the Hunter Academy of Sport.

NUSport is an NSWIS Official Program Partner and The Forum Sports and Aquatic Centre is an NSWIS Official Training Venue.

Current athletes include Kate Gill and Lauren Colthorpe (Soccer - Matildas); Commonwealth games athletes Prue Watt (swimming), Katherine Proudfoot, Rosemary Hayward, Heath Francis (Athletics), Michael Brown (Shooting); McDonald's Hunter Jaegers Lara Welham, Emma Koster and Sepi Langi; Newcastle Knight Trent Salked; NSWIS athletes Brett Lee (Triathlon), Dominique Georgiou (Cricket), Wayne Brown (Basketball); Kellogg's Nutri Grain Iron Woman Amanda White; Women's Rugby World Cup National Training Squad member Rebecca Trethowan; and Open Water Swimmer Shelley Clark.

The launch of the University as an EAFU network member will be held on Wednesday 17 May at 10.30am at The Forum Sports and Aquatic Centre. Media welcome. Athletes will be available for comment.