Pāpāmoa Athletic Club - Academy - General information
Like a swimming club is to all Aquatic Sport, Athletic Clubs are to most land-based sports, through developing essential run, jump and throw skills and training opportunities. Our Papamoa Athletic Academy program is designed to support all sports, through providing training/technique/conditioning opportunities in a fun, inclusive, social environment. There is no expectation for these young athletes to compete in Athletics, more so to create a large training base that the Rangatahi enjoy being a part of… and hopefully stay active in any/all sports longer.
Academy Program:
- Mondays 5.30pm – 6.30pm Beach Sprints: Speed and Power on the sand at Pap Beach
- Wednesdays 5.30pm – 6.30pm Sprints & Jumps: 100m/200m & Hurdles. Triple/Long/High Jumps.
- Wednesdays 6.30pm – 7.10pm Throws: Discus, Shot Put and Javelin
- Wednesdays 6.30pm - 7.10pm Middle Distance 800m & 1500m
- Saturdays 8.00am – 8.45am 3km or 5km run with Papamoa Park Run
We have also partnered with Tauranga Athletic Club, combining with them 1 x Wednesday per month at the Tauranga Domain Facilities on the rubber track and train alongside a city wide group.
Concept
The above schedule are training opportunities, so Rangatahi can choose to come to as many or few as they like. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel or compete with other sports… we want to unite and compliment what other clubs are doing already. Our philosophy follows the Balance is Better model where there is no pressure or expectation, purely creating training opportunities, and giving the confidence and ability to choose to compete or not if they wish. We monitor and ensure all athletes are living a balanced childhood/social/training/recovery lifestyle.
Purpose
- Provide the athletic skills, techniques and conditioning component required for most other sports with specialist Coaches
- Build larger training group: it’s more fun, with more people your age, creating an environment the rangatahi want to be part of
- Balance is Better: Principles so no pressure on the young athletes to compete, more so give them the confidence and ability to choose if they wish.
- 11 – 14 year olds: remain connected and active in a fun, supportive environment.
- A locally run program: Reduced travel barriers through having a high quality option locally. Based at Gordon Spratt and Papamoa Beach
- Attend the sessions they like: The variety of sessions at specific times/days of the week allows our Rangatahi to attend the sessions of interest to them
The Papamoa Athletic Academy concept works in partnership with our local sporting clubs and schools, united in retaining or increasing 11 – 14+ year old participation in sport and should be alongside other sporting codes skills/teams training sessions, not instead of.
Specialist Coaching Team:
Head Coach: Pat Hellier leads the Academy coaching team, specialising in Throwing Events.
Pat is an accredited NZ Athletics Coach who has won NZ Senior Mens Titles in Shot Put, Discus and Hammer, as well as competeing in Open Mens level Javlin. Alongside his competition success, Pat is also a high performance coach, having coached the Cook Islands at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Sprint Development: Brooke Somerfield grew up in Tauranga, where she first got involved in athletics at age five through her local club. Since then, she has proudly represented New Zealand on the international stage six times. Her next major goal is to qualify for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Brooke is a New Zealand sprinter, specialising in the 100m and 200m.
Relays, Sprints and Jumps: Earl Cowley has been in athletics since competing in marathons in the 1980's. Earl completed C Grade Coaching and competed in the Masters Nationals from 2000 - 2013 and also competing in decathlon events. In 2008 Earl completed his level 2 coaching qual for relays, sprints, and jumps. From 2010 - 2017 Earl helped with Field of Dreams South Auckland hleping secondary school children get to Nationals who wouldnt have otherwise been able to attend.
Middle & Distance Coach: Selwyn Mawkes came back to Te Puke Harriers in 2012 and has run his distance program through to 2025, before joining with Papamoa Athletic Club. Selwyn is a Registered, Accredited Athletics NZ coach, specializing in Middle - Long Distance. He also has done papers in health and other high end sports subjects, aiming to have the best environment for all the kids to be comfortable.
Conditioning, Speed and Jumps: Ed Leung has been into athletics from a young age, growing up in both Hong Kong and the UK allowed him to be involved in different Regional and National championships. He continued to compete at a National level in triple jump after a few major injuries.
Ed's sport physiotherapy background allows him to utilise specialised skills and have a scientific approach towards training. He also had the opportunity to spend some time in Japan learning from international coaches and has worked with a range of athletes across different sports, from building fundamental speed and skills to getting athletes onto the world stage.
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