Coach heads back to school
An athletic development coach and former Wimmera student returned to his secondary school last week to run a high-performance testing session aimed at giving students a taste of elite sport.
Chris Radford graduated from Horsham College in 2009, before moving to Ballarat to study exercise and sport science at university.
After professional stints with AFL Western Bulldogs, Greater Western Victoria Rebels and North Ballarat Roosters football clubs, Mr Radford started his athletic conditioning venture, Radford Athletic Development, RAD.
The company now operates out of the RAD Centre, a high-performance facility in Ballarat.
At Horsham College, Mr Radford worked with students from Westvic Academy, Peak Performance
and AFL Academy sporting programs, providing a snapshot of elite training and conditioning methods.
He said he wanted to give regional students, particularly across western Victoria, the same access to sporting services available in metropolitan areas.
“To come back to Horsham College and take the students through a ‘combine’ testing session is pretty great,” he said.
“It is pretty much the same testing program they have at the AFL draft combine.
“It gives the kids a bit of a snapshot of what is available if they continue down an elite sporting route.”
Mr Radford said it was ‘good insight’ for about 90 students to experience popular testing techniques including 20-metre sprints, agility tests, standing and running jumps and the infamous ‘yoyo’ running test.
Horsham College physical education co-ordinator and Westvic Academy partnership leader Rod Kirkwood said it was fantastic to have Mr Radford return to Horsham College.
“For a Wimmera boy to come back and do this for us is just brilliant,” he said.
He said the performance-testing program Mr Radford offered his students would allow him to tailor individual sporting programs from the data.
“It is also great just to inspire the students,” he said.
“They can see what lies ahead for them in the professional sport and recreation industry if it is something they want to pursue.”