The ACT Academy of Sport (ACTAS) was launched in 1989. It is an endorsed

Australian Olympic Committee Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

and

Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...

National Training Centre and a member of the National Institutes of Network.

History

The establishment of ACTAS as a pilot program was announced in the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

's budget delivered in August 1988. ACTAS was allocated a budget of $100,000 as part the Community Development Fund. At the time of the announcement, the Australian Government was responsible for sport development in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

. The

ACT Government The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lea ...

took over responsibility after self government in 1989. ACTAS first Chairman was

Dick Telford Richard David Telford AM (born 2 April 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s, although he mainly played reserves. He went on to become as a ...

, head of Australian Institute of Sport Sports Science. ACTAS first executive officer was Jenny Roberts and it was located at the

Canberra College of Advanced Education The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

's Centre of Sports Studies. In 1994, it became a partner of the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as S ...

's Olympic Athlete Program, which provided $350,000 to employ eight full-time coaches. In January 1995, there were 11 full and part-time administrators and 10 full-time coaches and a budget of $1 million. In 1995 Ken Norris replaced Jenny Roberts as chief executive officer and ACTAS moved to

Bruce Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports ven ...

. In 1999, ACTAS was recognized by the

as an Olympic Training Centre. In 2015, ACTAS new training facility was opened as part of upgrade the National Hockey Centre.

The purpose

ACTAS aim is to assist Canberra's elite, and potentially elite athletes and teams improve their sporting performances. It provides a range of athlete performance services - coaching, training, sport science, athlete welfare and development and competition assistance.

Sports

In 2016, ACTAS offers has six sports scholarship programs: basketball, cycling, hockey, football, netball and rowing. It also offers scholarships to individual athletes. In the past these scholarships have been offered to athletes in a range of sports including: athletics, triathlon, judo, boxing, wrestling, swimming, orienteering, squash, table tennis, power-lifting, equestrian and volleyball.

Notable athletes

Since its launch in 1989, ACTAS has developed numerous Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games representatives.
Athletics
261000 - Athletics track 200m T20 Lisa Llorens gold medal podium - 3b - 2000 Sydney medal photo

261000 - Athletics track 200m T20 Lisa Llorens gold medal podium - 3b - 2000 Sydney medal photo

Olympics:

Susan Hobson Susan Elizabeth Hobson (born 13 March 1958) is a former Australian athlete. She competed at three successive Olympic Games and two Commonwealth Games. She started her competitive athletics career at the age of 27. She competed in the 10,000 met ...

, Matt Beckenham, Zoe Buckman, Lisa Corrigan, Stuart Rendell,

Brendan Cole Brendan Cole (born 23 April 1976) is a New Zealand ballroom dancer, specialising in Latin American dancing. He is most famous for appearing as a professional dancer on the BBC One show, ''Strictly Come Dancing''. From 2005 to 2009, he was a j ...

Melissa Breen Melissa Breen (born 17 September 1990) is an Australian 100 metres and 200 metres runner. Breen broke the Australian record for the women's 100 m sprint, when she clocked 11.11 seconds at the ACT Championships, held on 9 Feb 2014 at the Austr ...

, Lauren Wells
Paralympics: Angie Ballard, Andrew Laggner, Lisa Llorens, Richard Nicholson, Sharon Rackham, Murray Goldfinch, Roy Daniell, Louise Ellery
Commonwealth Games:

, Matt Beckenham, Lisa Corrigan,

, Stuart Rendell,

, Lauren Wells
Baseball
Olympics: Jeff Williams
Basketball Olympics:

Patrick Mills Patrick Sammy Mills (born 11 August 1988) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mills was born and raised in Canberra, and is of Torres Strait Islander and Aborigin ...

Paralympics:

Tristan Knowles Tristan Malcolm Knowles, OAM (born 25 April 1983) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and silver medal at the 2012 London Paralympics. He competed at 2020 Summer Paralympics, his f ...

Boxing
Olympics: Gerard O'Mahony
Commonwealth Games: Gerard O'Mahony, Steven Rudic
Cricket
Australian team:

Michael Bevan Michael Gwyl Bevan (born 8 May 1970) is a former Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left arm wrist-spin bowler. He has been credited for initiating the art of finishing matches. For several years, he was considered as ...

Cycling

Michael_Rogers_3,_London_2012_Time_Trial_-_Aug_2012

Olympics: Michael Rogers Oenone Wood,

Caroline Buchanan Caroline Buchanan (born 24 October 1990) is an Australian cyclist who has won multiple world championships in BMX and mountain biking. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's BMX event. Personal Nicknamed ...

, Gracie Elvin, Michael Matthews,

Tracey Gaudry Tracey Gaudry (née Watson; born 17 June 1969) is an Australian sport administrator, former professional cyclist and former chief executive officer of Respect Victoria - Victoria's first agency dedicated to the primary prevention of all forms of ...

Mary Grigson Mary Grigson (born 3 June 1971) is an Australian cross-country mountain biker. Grigson participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta coming 15th in the women's Cross-country event. She also competed in the women's Cross-country event a ...

Chloe Hosking Chloe Hosking (born 1 October 1990) is an Australian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Hosking has represented Australia at junior and then senior levels since 2007. Following success in a number of in ...

Dan Ellis Daniel Ellis (born June 19, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently a goaltending scout for the Chicago Blackhawks. He played in the National Hockey League for the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Tampa B ...

, Rebecca Henderson
Paralympics: Michael Milton, Jane Armstrong, Anthony Biddle, Kial Stewart, Sue Powell
Commonwealth Games: Michael Rogers,

Margaret Hemsley Margaret Hemsley (born 11 August 1971) is an Australian former racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mo ...

, Alison Wright,

Mathew Hayman Mathew Hayman (born 20 April 1978) is an Australian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2019 for the , and teams. During his career, Hayman was an experienced and respected domestique, as he typica ...

, Oenone Wood,

, Gracie Elvin,

Nathan Haas Nathan Peter Haas (born 12 March 1989) is an Australian cyclist. He competed as a professional road racer until the end of 2021. He started competing full time in gravel events 2022. Career Early career Born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australi ...

, Vicki Whitelaw, Michael Matthews,

Nathan Hart Nathan Hart (born 4 March 1993) is an Australian track cyclist. He qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and rode in the Men's Individual Sprint. Unfortunately, Hart, together with his compatriot Matthew Richardson, exited the tournament in th ...

Brandie O'Connor Brandie O’Connor (born 24 December 1973) is a vision impaired Australian paracyclist and has won medals at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games.. Personal O'Connor was born on 24 December 1973 in Brisbane, Queensland. She was born ...

, Thomas Clarke (pilot),

Paul Kennedy Paul Michael Kennedy (born 17 June 1945) is a British historian specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He has published prominent books on the history of British foreign policy and great pow ...

Others:

Peter Rogers Peter Rogers (20 February 1914 – 14 April 2009) was an English film producer. He is best known for his involvement in the making of the ''Carry On'' series of films. Life and career Rogers began his career as a journalist for his loc ...

, Deane Rogers,

Rebecca Wiasak Rebecca Wiasak (born 24 May 1984) is an Australian track cyclist. She represented her nation at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships where she became a world champion in individual pursuit. In January 2015 she was announced as part of ...

Football
Olympics: Peita-Claire Hepperlin, Amy Wilson, Sacha Wainwright,

Nikolai Topor-Stanley Nikolai David Topor-Stanley (born 11 March 1985) is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays as a centre back. He has played for A-League clubs Sydney FC, Perth Glory, Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers. He has also played i ...

Lydia Williams Lydia Grace Yilkari Williams (born 13 May 1988) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Australia national team. Williams previously played for Melbour ...

Other:

Julie Murray Julie Elizabeth Murray (born 28 April 1970) is an Australian soccer player who appeared in 68 international matches for the Australia women's national association football team during a 13-year international career. She played professional c ...

, George Timotheou
Hockey
Olympics: Anna Flanagan,

Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner (born 26 May 1947) played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel. Early life Glenn Turner was born in Dun ...

, Nicole Arrold,

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...

, Lisa Carruthers, Katrina Powell , Andrew Charter
Commonwealth Games:

, Lisa Carruthers, Katrina Powell, Ben Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Nicole Arrold,

, Anna Flanagan, Edwina Bone, Andrew Charter
Ice Skating
World Championships: Miriam Manzano
Judo
Olympics: Matt D'Aquino, Tom Hill
Lawn Bowls
Commonwealth Games: Adam Jeffrey
Rowing
141100 - Siobhan Paton swimming - 3b - 2000 Sydney podium photo

141100 - Siobhan Paton swimming - 3b - 2000 Sydney podium photo

Olympics: Sarah Cook, Sonia Mills, Kay Hick, Bruce Hick, Kerry Knowler, Jamie Fernandez, Nick Porzig, Brett Hayman, Craig Jones, Jane Robinson
Commonwealth Games: Kay Hick, Jamie Fernandez, Bruce Hick, Nick Portzig, Fleur Spriggs, Craig Jones, Mitchell Punch
Sailing
Olympics: Brendan Todd
Paralympics: Peter Thompson
Skiing
Olympics: Laura Peel
Paralympics: Michael Milton
Shooting
Olympics: Matthew Inabinet
Softball
Olympics: Joanne Brown, Sally McCreedy
Squash
Commonwealth Games: Stuart Boswell
Swimming
Olympics: Angela Kennedy
Paralympics:

Siobhan Paton Siobhan Bethany Paton, OAM (born 28 August 1983) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer who was born in Sydney. Paton has had an intellectual disability from birth which was a consequence a lack of oxygen. Paton decided to become a swimmer after ...

, Katrina Lewis,

Joshua Alford Joshua Alford (born 25 May 1995) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, placing sixth in the S14 200m Freestyle final. Alford represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics after a strong performanc ...

Table tennis
Olympics: Jeff Plumb, Alison Shanley
Triathlon
Olympics: Simon Thompson
Paralympics: Katie Kelly,

Nic Beveridge Nic Beveridge (born 14 July 1986) is an elite Australian triathlete with a disability. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics when Triathlon made its debut at the Games and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He represented Australia at the ...

Volleyball
Olympics: Ben Hardy
Wheelchair Rugby
Paralympics:

Garry Croker Garry Croker (born 2 November 1964) is an Australian Paralympic wheelchair rugby and table tennis player. He was born in Cowra, New South Wales. He participated in table tennis at the 1984 Paralympics and the 1988 Seoul Paralympics. He was pa ...

References

External links

ACT Academy of Sport website
{{AIS Sport in the Australian Capital Territory Australian Institute of Sport