St Bede's athletes Cooper Moore (golf), Genesis Sherlock (rugby league) and Jayden Potts (softball) have been chosen as part of a group of athletes to receive the support of the Tātau Whetū Waitaha programme.

The organisation says their support is targeted at athletes "who are motivated and show leadership and role modelling potential". 

Selected athletes are helped to develop a plan for development in the key performance areas of psychology, medical, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, nutrition, leadership, funding and communications.

The organisation can also supplement funding for athletes in minority sports, so they have the same opportunities as those in well-funded codes. 

Cooper Moore has been part of the programme since April this year. His dad, Jayden Moore, says:

"The first step for Cooper was to complete a Raise My Game session, this is a sport specific deck of cards that create powerful conversations that help athletes plan for success. Following this, Cooper has been supported with weekly strength and conditioning sessions, monthly nutritional sessions to close any knowledge gaps he has around pre and during competition habits, plus he is about to start working with former Black Cap Todd Astle in the mental skills space, but also using Todd as a mentor to assist Cooper with dealing with expectations he places on himself plus the challenges of being a teenager and playing at a senior men's level both nationally and internationally.

"Tatai Whetu Waitaha is already having a positive impact on Cooper, helping him understand who he wants to be as an athlete, understanding how he can impact others and, most importantly, giving him clear direction as he continues to aim for a career as a professional golfer."

The Tātau Whetū Waitaha athlete development programme is partly funded by proceeds from the Workplace First Aid Training courses that staff at St Bede's College take part in.