IGNITE Athlete Development Program

IGNITE Program Overview

The IGNITE Athlete Development program is designed to provide future national team and Olympic or Paralympic athletes with fundamental athletic skills to support and enhance their athlete development in a manner consistent with their Long Term Athlete Development stage, in a world class, high performance and multi-sport environment. The IGNITE Athlete Development program will connect like-minded athletes in an environment where they are able to work together toward their goals.

Program Curriculum:

The curriculum is divided into three main movement streams deemed important for long term athlete development as they provide the building blocks for future movement development and physical preparation.

The movement streams, delivered by experienced specialists in each area include:

1. Gymnastics – provides a unique opportunity for athletes to control, strengthen, and manipulate the body through space and around fixed implements. Developing kinesthetic awareness, mobility, landing skills, and whole body strength will prepare an athlete for unpredictable sporting situations and help decrease risk of injury.
2. Sprint Training – prepares athletes for efficient and powerful movement on land. Improved technical efficiency in basic movement patterns (running, jumping, balance, co-ordination, reaction time, speed, agility, quickness, and range of motion) will transfer to both sport specific and training situations. Technical efficiency in high speed running allows unique opportunities to operate with the force velocity spectrum.
3. Resistance Training – introduces athletes to a number of key bodyweight and barbell strength training exercises that form the core of many resistance training programs. By teaching young athletes proper technique in these movements, training efficiency will increase and the risk of injury will decrease. This will help maximize training time in the weight room, leading to greater improvements in strength and power.

PacificSport Centres and the Canadian Sport Institute across BC provide the platform for athletes to excel in these high performance training hubs.  PacificSport Vancouver Island (PSVI) boasts has a North Island Training Centre (Campbell River).