Academy extends to women's sports | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

It's not only the location that's changed at the New Zealand Sports Academy. What it is teaching could raise interest for women.

For 13 years Jim Love and Darrel Shelford have been guiding league and rugby stars of the future.

But that's all about to change with the inclusion of netball and women's league and rugby in their curriculum.

After having to move from the Rotorua International Stadium back to the Eastern Pirates' Club at Neil Hunt Park because of the Rugby World Cup, the two sporting mentors say they are excited about the new changes.

Shelford, a director of the academy, knows all about being successful in sport. He previously coached the Bay of Plenty U19 team, is a former United Kingdom Saracens assistant coach and former Bay of Plenty and New Zealand Maori player as well as a former professional rugby league player.

"With Rotorua we've been involved with rugby and league now for the last 13 years - league the last two years - and [now] looking at netball as an option. [We'll be ] having females within the environment and having netball here and trying to help them," Shelford said.

"Hopefully, [we can] help give the netball girls a boost and get what some of our boys have been getting, some quality trainings, some good education and movement on to bigger and better things."

Shelford said the academy was also interested in starting a programme with women's rugby and rugby league.

"Off the back of the netball, with the 2016 Olympics having sevens rugby involved and women's rugby in particular, there is also that option of having women's rugby involved at the academy."

The initiative is a joint venture between the academy and Te Wananga o Aotearoa to support an increasing demand for sports programmes in the Rotorua and the wider Bay of Plenty area. The programme would see students gain a Level 4 Certificate in Applied Sports and is geared to help them reach higher levels of performance and representation.

The students would also gain knowledge and insight into professional sport by having access to high-calibre coaches such as Love, another director of the academy, who is a former Tongan Rugby World Cup coach and Maori All Black assistant coach/player.

"That's why we were named the New Zealand Sports Academy - it wasn't going to be just a rugby team. It's about including other sports, so technically it's always been in our plans. It was just when we would bring it into our programmes," Love said.

"Now's a good time. If you see what's been happening in the netball scene in the last three or four years, netball is starting to get a high profile and we are seeing a lot of Polynesians and a lot of Maori playing netball, it's just the right fit for what our kaupapa [plan] is."

Love said there was a lot of support for the new programmes at the academy, especially from the netball fraternity.

"We've had a lot of discussions with the coaches who coach the netball around this area ... I suppose the most important thing is getting Rotorua netball behind us. It's no use going into a venture like this without the support of the major bodies."

Applications are now open for the new one-year course which will start next year.

For more information on the academy's sports programme, check out the academy website www.nzsportsacademy.co.nz.