Next Wave Future Elites – June 2023

Next Wave Future Elites- June 2023

A hot summer day at Bluefield High School saw some of PEI’s premier young athletes come together to train and learn under one roof. The day started off with the athletes listening to a presentation from PEI’s own Sarah MacEachern, who spoke to them about the physical and mental resilience that it takes in order to represent Canada on a national level. Sarah represented Canada at the 18U World Championships for women’s ice hockey where her and her teammates would capture a gold medal.

The future elites were then split into two groups where they would take turns hearing presentations from Meagan Ferguson, a mental performance coach, as well as from Colin MacAdam, UPEI’s track and field coach, who taught our athletes how to build and gain speed. Both groups were exposed to training and game like scenarios that flowed with the instructor’s presentation, with Meagan having her groups play a game that focused on high pressure scenarios while Colin had his groups went through various exercises revolving around hurdles to train and show the athletes about the importance of speed.

Registered Sport Dietician Nancy Fong, talked about the importance of the food that athletes put in their bodies and how the fuel that they put into their body is directly linked to their success.  After lunch, Tara Costello would give a presentation about mindfulness and how to manage stress. She informed the athletes about the importance of visualization and how it can prepare athletes for upcoming competition.

The athletes then were put to work by trainers Nick Lund, Owen MacWilliams and Shawn Francis. The athletes split into three groups where they would learn a different important aspect of strength and conditioning while running them through various drills.

Randy Goodman closed the day by speaking to the athletes about the importance of sleep. He was able to cover a variety of important topics about how much sleep an athlete needs as well as the damages that the blue light from our electronics does to our sleep patterns when we use them right before bed. The day was full of fun and laughs for all and it leaves us excited for our next opportunity to host PEI’s Next Wave Future Elites!