DkIT Academy puts local athletes through their paces

D U n DAL k Institute of Technology (DkIT) were delighted to recently host their inaugural High-Performance Academy which was a huge success.

This unique multisports camp for teenage athletes enabled students to step into the shoes of a sports scholarship student and take a walk through the support network that is available to elite/Highperformance sports scholarship students at DkIT.

The DkIT Sports and Societies Team enjoyed welcoming 17 athletes from various sporting disciplines such as Drogheda Swimming club, Dundalk rugby Club, Louth u14 GAA, Stabannon Parnells, St. Fechins Camogie and LGFA and Dundalk Young Irelanders GAA.

The sports staff at DkIT were thrilled to share their expertise in the areas of skill development and sports related fitness. They called on local experts Sharon Courtney (All-star winner and Louth GAA nutritionist), Sarah Fagan (LGFA player and PhD student) and Ciarán Sloane (Louth GAA Strength and conditioning coach) to share their knowledge and experiences in the areas of nutrition, strength and conditioning, recovery and lifestyle balance for athletes.

Seventeen local athletes from various sports joined the academy.

All participants had a fun three days with Camper of The Week who was Alex Pepper from Inniskeen stating “I learned so much from all of the coaches and met a lot of new friends. I think we will all take what we learned this week into our sporting careers going forward”.

The organising committee were delighted with the success of the camp and Dr Bronagh McGrane said “it was great to see so many athletes from Louth and surrounding areas come together to develop, learn and get the opportunity to sample the brilliant facilities here at DkIT. The best part for me was seeing them make new friends and share their own knowledge with each other as well as learning from the experts. This HighPerformance Academy will most definitely become a stalwart of the DkIT Sports Calendar. We can’t wait to host it again!”