KartSport New Zealand is investing in the future with an innovative new academy-style coaching programme with two key aims. "One," says KartSport Academy Director Graeme Moore, "is to strengthen and grow the sport in this country. The other is to identify and nurture our next World Champion."
Auckland's Wade Cunningham put KartSport in New Zealand on the world motorsport map when he won the World Karting Championship in 2003. But like the vast majority of Kiwi sportsmen and women before him he had to forge his own path.
Now, says Moore, the Driver Development Academy will be able to help. Under a charter developed by Moore and Academy Coordinator Niki Urwin the mission of the Academy is to; 'develop a suite of professional training programs and support material to attract and retain new entrants to the sport, and provide a development path which supports these members to whatever success level they aspire to, from consistent Junior to international success.'
To do this Urwin, a top level competitor in his own right who has been coaching motocross riders for many years, has created a three-level programme.
The levels are;
* 'Explore and Learn' for new entrants and juniors
* 'Hot Shots' performance enhancement for advanced drivers
and
* 'Top Guns' for elite drivers.
KartSport New Zealand executive member Graeme Moore and former pro-motocrosser Urwin have been working on the Academy 'blueprint' for the past 18 months and got the green light to set their plans in motion when the Lion Foundation agreed to help fund it late last month.
Urwin has hand-picked a group of fellow karters to work with him on the Academy programme, and for the first year they will focus on the Explore and Learn level.
Auckland's KartSport Mt Wellington club will host the first day-long course on November 11 with KartSport Manawatu hosting the second at Palmerston North in November 25 and the Dunedin Kart Club the third on December 2.
The courses are open to club racers (of all all ages), and junior competitors (from the age of six-years) and their parents/supporters. Identifying and catering for the needs of the parent/s and/or supporters is one of the things that differentiates the KartSport Academy approach from that of broadly similar coaching programmes in other sports.
But Director Graeme Moore says it is really only recognising the reality of the sport. "One of the real strengths of our sport, " he says, " is that it is a true team sport, particularly so for our Juniors. The driving seems to come fairly easily for most of them but it's everything else - from being organised enough to get out the door on a Sunday morning to the preparation, maintenance and set-up of the kart. That is where the Dads, Mums or fellow family members or friends come in.
Because the the very real camaraderie across the various age groups the sport also plays an important, but Moore says often unrecognised role in helping young people negotiate the sometimes difficult path from child to adulthood.
"We're lucky in a way in that our sport is one which is seen as 'cool' by kids but in saying that I think one of the best things about it is that the kids are constantly mixing not just with their peers, but also with those younger and older than themselves. Our Cadets are a classic case of this, always looking up to the kids in the next class and even the above to see how they act. To their eternal credit ,and I guess because they've been there themselves, the older kids always seem to be prepared to give the younger ones their time too."
Lobbyists trying to raise the driving age would do well to attend a kart meeting, and see just how well six, seven and eight-year-olds can handle a kart. "The kids know, too," says Moore."In fact we often hear from them that while its 'cool' to race on the track it is very 'uncool' to do it on the streets."
