The ASDC — Calgary Region and the Alberta Volleyball Association Develop Unique Partnership

(CALGARY – Jan. 25, 2011) The Alberta Sport Development Centre (ASDC) –
Calgary Region recently signed a partnership agreement with the Alberta
Volleyball Association (AVA) to coordinate and facilitate sport science
services as part of their High Performance Programs (Regional & Central
High Performance Camps).

The single year partnership started this past September and involved
providing a coordinated, consistent sport science element to the High
Performance Camps in the Grande Prairie, Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary and
Lethbridge regions. Alberta Volleyball will rely on the expertise of ASDC
consultants to educate the athletes on sport psychology, sport nutrition
and physiological testing and how these elements relate to sport
performance.

The partnership, which may be renewed in the future, will support all five
Regional High Performance Camps in December 2010 and three Central High
Performance Camps in February 2011 with sport nutrition, sport psychology
and physiological testing. It is expected that up to 300 male and female
volleyball players in the province will receive and benefit from
information and strategies presented in mental skills, nutritional
education and physiological testing.

“It allows us to create consistent programming from a sports science
research perspective and some continuity to how those resources are being
provided to our athletes,” said Ian Halliday from the AVA. “It’s a positive
since we haven’t had a lot of access to that in the past. A lot of the
times it was different people so there wasn’t the continuity there.”

The ASDC – Calgary Region will coordinate the sport science element of the
Regional High Performance Camps in December 2010, allowing the AVA to offer
a second sport psychology and sport nutrition seminar at the Central High
Performance Camps in February 2011. The information and additional
strategies presented at the Central High Performance Camps will build upon
the information presented to the athletes at the Regional High Performance
Camps.

“The ASDC network’s involvement in this project is a great fit as we (the
network) are in communities across Alberta to provide sport science support
to athletes,” said Miranda Sallis, regional coordinator for the ASDC-
Northwest region. “AVA now has access to this network of professionals to
ensure a streamlined and uniform product in their regional camps. It’s a
perfect fit for all parties involved.”

The athletes aren’t the only ones who are benefitting from the services
provided through collaboration between the ASDC and Alberta Volleyball.
Service providers and sport consultants across the province will benefit
from this partnership by understanding current challenges and opportunities
facing young volleyball athletes.

Athletes partaking in the Regional High Performance Camps in December were
delivered both a sports psychology and sports nutrition seminar. As part of
the psychology seminar, a “Mental Skills Inventory for Sports” assessment
was conducted on each athlete. It will be used to collect information and
data on emerging volleyball players in the province of Alberta to help
further develop programs and services needed to enhance sport performance.
Each athlete will receive an individual profile outlining strengths and
weaknesses as it relates to mental skills and additional group data will be
collected and used in determining future sport psychology seminars for
volleyball players in the province. Further seminars of sports psychology
and nutrition will be offered at the Central High Performance Camps in
February.

“In the development of athletes, it is wise to educate athletes about what
the mental side is,” said Frank van der Berg, a sports psychologist since
1998. “It’s good to give young athletes between 14 and 18 a good sense
about what the mental side is that will contribute to their performance and
what some of the skills are that they can start developing in adjusting
their mental states to perform well.”

The ASDC – Calgary region will lead this partnership with the support and
collaboration from the other Alberta Sport Development Centres across the
province.

For more information visit www.asdccalgary.ca.

Written by Bryce Forbes

About Alberta Sport Development Centre - Calgary Region
The Alberta Sport Development Centre (ASDC) - Calgary Region is a
partnership between the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks, Wildlife
Foundation and Mount Royal University to coordinate and enhance sport
science and sport medicine services to Alberta’s emerging athletes and
coaches. The ASDC - Calgary Region offers a fully integrated sport science
environment allowing rural and urban area athletes to develop and train at
a high level without leaving home. The ASDC - Calgary Region office is
located within Mount Royal’s Department of Physical Education and
Recreation Studies.