Last week was an exhausting time for our Year 9 Institute of Sport students as they undertook their high performance 'camp'. Unable to go to their original North Island destination, the class instead made great use of what was available locally. IOS students Zoe Butcher, Stella Dallimore, Maia Williams and Micayla Whiti report back on an action packed 3 days.

On Day 1, we traveled to Kaiteriteri. Firstly, we got some lessons from two professional waka ama paddlers, then soon after, hopped on the waka and traveled around some bays, such as Split Apple Rock.

IOS student Dakota-Rose Harrison said "I learned how to paddle as well as keeping in time with others."

She said that she learnt a lot about Kaiteriteri and the history behind it.

"It was difficult keeping in time with everyone else, but it became easier along the way," Dakota-Rose said.

Shortly after we arrived back at the beach, we had some morning tea, then headed up to the mountain bike park. We biked around on pump tracks, biked down ramps, biked over jumps, and got some tips from some experienced mountain bikers.

Cameron Potts, another IOS student, said "I enjoyed going down Big Airs. We were riding on rental mountain bikes, which was different for me because it didn't have full suspension like I'm used to."

Cameron said that he learned a few good tips along the way.

On day two we went to NMIT, the Center of NZ and the f45 gym.

At the f45 gym we did 45 minutes' worth of high intensity training with weights up to our own level. At NMIT, we did lots of tests, a depth jump, an oxygen test and a biking test. We also ran or walked up to the Centre of NZ. We then went to Tahunanui beach for a quick stop for lunch.

IOS student Stella Dallimore said "I have learnt how hard I should work myself with equipment that I have never used before. I liked doing the f45 and the tests at NMIT. I was surprised how fast I could get up the Centre of NZ."

Day 3 was possibly the most challenging day because we had the adventure race around Tahunanui. The adventure race included paddle boarding, and rogaining around the streets of Tahuna.

We started on the beach and had to run to our paddle boards .There were 6 checkpoints we had to paddle to on our paddle boards, including Fifeshire Rock, The Hallashore Island wharf and the sand against Rocks Road. 

 Once we had got around the checkpoints, we had too quickly carry our paddle boards back to near the Able Tasman statue. We then quickly set off on our rogain running adventure.

We interviewed Jane Townsend, one of our IOS teachers, to get her perspective on the trip.

What was the idea behind the trips?

When we planned the three days, we were in lockdown. So we had to plan ahead, not knowing what alert level we would be on. What we decided was, we will definitely be able to do day trips but we weren’t sure that we’d be able to do overnight. We wanted to make the most of our local area and make the most of what is in our local area, and also provide a worthwhile three days for students in the class.

What made you choose these particular activities for the students to take part in?

Some of them are what we (the teachers) have experience in before, like the f45. Mr Geddes (another IOS teacher) is very much into that sort of training and I’ve done some as well. We also looked at what was available that we thought would be worthwhile.

Normally, we would go to Auckland or we were looking at Wellington for the high performance camp. It was a matter of taking advantage of all the wonderful opportunities we have in this area for our students to be able to experience, particularly after lock down.

What learning took place?

A lot of it was how to work together, a lot of it was physical skills such as waka ama skills,  such as the importance of paddling in time and the different phases of the stroke. The students learnt mountain biking skills - cornering, ascending and descending. (The trip to NMIT allowed the students) to build on their learning in a practical context after the physiology we have been learning about in the last term. The adventure race then brought it all in together because it utilized qualities such as encouraging one another, problem solving, as well as  physical skills.

How will the skills learnt be transferable to the young athletes in the other sports they play?

I think just about all of our young athletes are involved in team sports. Even if they are in individual sports, they are still part of a team. So it is that decision making under pressure, that ability to learn and adapt, and to be able to bring out the best in your team mates is really really important. I think it was really important to bond as a class and have those three days together.

What were your personal highlights?

I loved going out on the waka, and seeing the students in action. The water was just beautiful and everyone was really open to learning about the place. Then the adventure race, that was a really really special event. I was really proud of everyone in the class and how they didn’t give up. That was shown by a couple of teams when they didn’t get one of the checkpoints they came into the finish, so they ran and spent the last twenty minutes getting that last checkpoint which just really shows those qualities of perseverance.