The South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) will be a leader in delivering innovative projects over the next 12 months, receiving a share in $670,000 worth of research project grants awarded by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
Funding will contribute to the delivery of two initiatives that SASI is involved with, each aligning with a priority outlined in the recent National High Performance Sport Research Agenda:
Sports Performance Optimisation: Researchers from SASI together with researchers from University of Technology Sydney (UTS), University of Western Australia (UWA), AusCycling, the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS), UTS, University of South Australia, the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) and the AIS will look at improving individualisation of training, planning and implementation, with an interdisciplinary approach to periodisation and targeted athlete monitoring.
Practice enhancement: Researchers from the University of Canberra will lead a team of researchers from University of Western Australia, SASI, together with the ACT Academy of Sport (ACTAS), VIS, and the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS). The research will promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices into routine practice. The outcomes of the study will inform best practice in heat acclimation for athletes competing and training in hot environments.
SASI Senior Sport Physiologist Dr Jamie Stanley, led the application for funding for the Sport Performance Optimisation project and said the idea for this initiative came from the desire to find a solution to the recurring questions and challenges raised in high-performance sport.
“Openness in ideas sharing is what has brought this diverse world-class team together and will underpin how we will approach our research,” Stanley said.
“We’re focused on the fundamentals of what high-performance sport is about: holistically understanding each athlete so training can be more optimally prescribed and performance maximised.
“Ultimately this project will facilitate more optimal training prescription that is more targeted and tailored to the individual athlete.
“More tailored training will hopefully increase consistency in training and reduce missed training opportunities, resulting better overall adaptation and sustained progression in performance.”
SASI Performance Services Manager Keren Faulkner said the grants received are integral to helping SASI continue its work in collaborative practices, innovation and applied thinking that can benefit the wider high-performance sport system.
“We are proud of the partnerships we have in place with Universities and National Sporting Organisations,” Faulkner said.
“Our staff are experts at building networks and Jamie has brought together a world-class team for this innovative project – we are all excited to see the outcomes.”
SASI is involved with two of the six projects that were successful in receiving grants from a pool of more than 70 outstanding applications
Find out more about all the initiatives receiving funding through the AIS website.
