National Snowsports Training Centre officially opened in Jindabyne
Published Fri 07 Jun 2024
L-R Steve Whan MP, Mogul Skier Jakara Anthony, Premier Chris Minns, The Honourable Kristy McBain, Snow Australia CEO Michael Kennedy
Australian success in winter sports has received a significant boost with the opening of the National Snowsports Training Centre (NSTC) today in Jindabyne.
“NSW is the proud home of Australia’s first national, targeted high performance training centre for winter athletes,” Premier of NSW Chris Minns said.
“The training centre will not only provide a community facility for aspiring athletes to train alongside their winter sport heroes but it will provide an important source of revenue for the local economy, creating jobs and attracting tourists.”
The NSTC is a $12.7 million multi-purpose world class training facility funded in partnership by Snow Australia and the NSW Government with contributions from John Hancock, the Office of Sport, the NSW Institute of Sport and the Australian Institute of Sport.
“NSW Government is proud to have supported the development of this facility in partnership with Snow Australia to train and develop our next generation of winter sport athletes,” Minister for Sport Steve Kamper said.
“The National Snowsports Training Centre is a real drawcard for Jindabyne. It will deliver jobs, investment and tourism, with international winter sport athletes expected to flock to Jindabyne to train at this world class facility.”
The John Langley Hancock Building features a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning gymnasium, acrobatic equipment, medical and performance health treatment rooms, dedicated athlete wellbeing areas and an outside airbag training facility, which provides ski and snowboard athletes a unique opportunity to develop new skills in a safe environment.
“The National Snowsports Training Centre is a project that has been seven years in the making and has been a true collaboration between the sport, the NSW Government and our principal high performance partners, the New South Wales Institute of Sport and the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia,” Snow Australia CEO Michael Kennedy said.
“Uniquely, athletes can learn new skills off snow at the National Snowsports Training Centre and then transfer these skills on snow, which is only 30 mins away at the Thredbo and Perisher resorts during the winter months. There is a reason why athletes from all over the world are clambering to come here.”
The NSTC has already demonstrated its importance to sporting success with the nation’s winter athletes collecting five Crystal Globes for topping the FIS World Cup standings across Olympic and Paralympic disciplines and recording 53 World Cup podium performances, including 18 victories during the northern hemisphere winter.
“Inside the National Snowsports Training Centre, the New South Wales Institute of Sport and the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia will provide expert services to athletes including acrobatics coaching, strength and conditioning, medical, physiotherapy, nutrition and athlete wellbeing,” NSW Institute of Sport CEO Kevin Thompson said.
“And during the warmer months, the National Snowsports Training Centre is a location for our high performance summer sport camps, for sports such as rowing, athletics, swimming and canoe sprint as well as the Pursu32+ camp, a program for aspiring high performance athletes from regional communities.”
Olympic champion in women’s moguls, Jakara Anthony, who, during the 2023/24 northern hemisphere season, won three Crystal Globes and became the first moguls skier in history to win 14 World Cups in a season, described the NSTC as a game changer.
“The National Snowsports Training Centre is such an important training facility not only for our current top athletes but also those coming through the pathways,” Jakara Anthony said.
“Winter sports in Australia has just had a record breaking season so it is exciting to think about where the future is heading now that we have world class facilities like this on home soil.”
Images: MJD Photography
