Posted 15 September 2010
Ireland's next generation sports stars begin the UCD Elite Athlete Academy
17 athletes representing rugby, hockey, GAA, track and field, rowing, and pentathlon have joined the UCD Elite Athlete Academy for 2010. “The Academy supports student athletes so they can achieve at the highest national and international level in their sport while studying for their university degree,” says Professor Colin Boreham, Director of the UCD Institute for Sport and Health, University College Dublin.
Recognising that a dedication to sport at the highest level can sometimes prevent students from achieving the CAO points they require for their chosen degree, this scholarship programme offers student athletes a supplementary route to degree programmes at UCD. It takes into account a students' capability to simultaneously achieve in sport and academia.
Students who join the UCD Elite Athlete Academy receive financial assistance, campus accommodation, sports science mentoring, sport medicine and physiotherapy support, elite strength and conditioning training, nutrition and psychology support and tailored training and testing. They are also assigned an academic mentor who helps them to balance their academic and sporting commitments."
"This is our first intake of athletes into the Academy, and I have no doubt that they will become excellent role models for other student athletes at University College Dublin and nationally," says Professor Boreham.
| UCD Elite Athlete Academy 2010 Photo Gallery (click photos to enlarge) | |
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Some of Ireland’s best known sports figures studied at University College Dublin including: rugby players, Brian O’Driscoll, Paddy Wallace and Rob Kearney; track and field athletes, Derval O’Rourke & Joanne Cuddihy; GAA footballers, Brian Dooher, Alan Brogan and Paul Griffin; and international golfer, Peter Lawrie.
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
