Sports Academy

1. Tell me about Sports Academy:

• The Greater St. Albert Sports Academy was established in 2003. Our mandate is to provide an athletic program for students who are passionate about sport and maintaining a very good academic standing. Athletes can choose one of 3 disciplines – Hockey, Soccer, or Gymnastics Cheer Dance. Our program allows athletes to have an outlet doing what they love during the school day. This partners well with academics because students know they have a good balance of sport and academics throughout the week. They also know that participation in the Academy is tied to their Academic standing and habits.

• For Junior High Student Athletes, the program runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons from 1 to 3. Athletes are picked up at lunch time and bused to the facility they will be training at. Families are responsible to pick their athlete up at the end of the training session.

2. How does the Academy Affect students Academics and Options?

• Student Athletes in the Academy take the same amount of core subjects as any student. Academy athletes also take option classes on Monday and Friday afternoons. There are a variety of option classes based on the teachers strengths. Academy time is allocated from Physical Education time, Health time, a part of lunch, and a short amount of time after school.

3. Do students in the Academy get to experience other Sports.

• Yes, students in the Sports Academy get to experience a wide variety of activities. Two days a week are dedicated to training in the athletes chosen sport. The third day each week is dedicated to developing physical literacy through a large number of physical activities. These activities include things like physical training, yoga, water polo, curling, golf, scootering, baseball, lacrosse, squash etc. It is our goal to help our athletes be comfortable with all sports. Later in life this will give them the ability to stay active and involved in their communities.

4. What kind of life skills does being in the academy promote?

• Our Motto is that Athletics are A dress Rehearsal for Life

• Things like time management and organization are very important to being a student athlete. Being extremely active and balancing good grades takes discipline and you have to be organized to succeed.

• Socialization is a big one for Academy Athletes. Being active gets you off your device and promotes face to face communication. It teaches today’s students to interact personally and positively without the aid of technology.

• Communication and teamwork are a big part of athletic and life success.

5. Do you have to be an elite athlete?

• No! The set up and size of our program allows us to cater to all athletes from beginners to elite. Athletes in our program have to have a passion for sport and be committed to getting better every day.

- Aerial yoga - Badminton - Baseball - Basketball

- Bowling - Boxing - Cup Stacking - Curling

- Flag football - Golf - Lacrosse - Martial Arts

- Ninja Warrior - Rock climbing - Rope Training - Scootering

- Speed and Agility training - Spin Biking - Sports Psychology - Squash/racquetball

- Swimming/Diving - Track and Field - Ultimate frisbee - Viper Training Volleyball

- Virtual Reality - Water polo - Weight Lifting - Yoga