Ake’s Atiu mission to grow athletes

Enuamanu School on Atiu is well on its way to producing future Olympic athletes after a visit by dedicated and enthusiastic sports coach Ake Hosea-Winterflood recently.

Armed with her knowledge in sports, athletics equipment and her passion for sport – Hosea returned to her home island to share her love of athletics with the island’s school.

Hosea, who runs the ANZ Tamariki Sports Programme on Rarotonga, held a workshop for teachers at Enuamanu School on how to effectively deliver athletics courses and training sessions with the all important factor of fun.

Hosea says she was impressed with the wealth of raw talent on her home island and believes more needs to be done to cultivate the talent not just on Atiu but across the outer islands.

She coached everything from running techniques and styles to throwing and jumping skills.

Not only did Hosea deliver a track and field workshop, she also ventured into the water to coach swimming to both teachers and students.

This lesson held at one of Atiu’s sandy coves began with a talk on safety around water before swimming equipment such as goggles, kick boards and swimming noodles were introduced to the kids.

Hosea says that with continued support for the teachers the school should be producing some top athletes for future national representation.

To help support the school in growing future Olympic athletes, Hosea hopes to return to Atiu for follow-up programmes and to gauge how much the teachers on the island have learned and how well they are coaching the young athletes.

Hosea would like to thank her programme sponsor ANZ Bank as well as the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for their continued support of her sports programme for Cook Islands youth.