Core Academy backing our next generation

The Core Academy run by Core Gym in Coleraine is designed to give athletes the tools and professional guidance to reach their full potential in their given sport as Richard Kernohan explained.

“Core Academy is the brain child of head of performance Angus Warwicker-Le Breton,” he said.

“Together we have saw first-hand that there are a number of top, elite level athletes in the north coast area who for one reason or another are not receiving the required level of support in order to take their sporting performance to the next level.

“We saw it as a chance to establish a centre of excellence where young and experienced athletes could come and learn not only how to become fitter, faster and stronger under the supervision of a strength and conditioning coach, but also gain knowledge in how to improve and modify other aspects of their training and day to day lives in order to positively influence and increase their sporting performance and results.

“Currently we have three sponsored athletes. They are Erin Barry (rowing), Mark Morrissey (golf) and Naomi Morgan (athletics). The athletes have incredible potential to go on and make big waves in their selected sport.

“Below these three we have a number of junior academies, completing sport specific training programmes, with the goal of one day pushing through our performance pathway and becoming a Core Academy athlete themselves.

“We are extremely lucky to have the support of two fantastic sponsors in Waterside Dental Practice (main sponsor) and Under Armour (kit sponsor). Waterside Dental Practice have been extremely supportive and have been by our side from the beginning of the Academy.”

Waterside Dental are delighted to be pasrt of the Core Academy. A spokesperson said: “We hope that by educating young athletes early in their career, we will help improve the specialised programmes being provided by the Core Academy.

“Recent research from the London 2012 Olympics, has identified excessively high levels of the same chronic inflammatory markers, in competing athletes as a direct result of poor oral health. The researchers concluded that, poor oral health could have a negative impact on the training efficiency and long term goals of training and performance. We hope to work closely with Core to optimise the overall fitness of the athletes.”