New Trans-Tasman sporting and educational partnership

Northland-based NorthTec ihas announced the establishment of an educational partnership with the Gold Coast Titans, as well as the launch of the Graham Lowe Sports Performance Centre.

NorthTec Chief Executive Paul Binney said he was excited that the NRL franchise had agreed to come on board as the initial strategic partner in a new sports performance centre that is to be launched in Northland.

Binney explained “the Gold Coast High Performance Centre of Excellence ... is world class and will be of huge benefit to our new sports centre and NorthTec in both the initial stages and beyond.”

The Gold Coast Titans will bring to the partnership the Titans 4 Tomorrow Limited, a non-profit charitable organisation which delivers the Gold Coast Titans community programmes. Binney stated “these programmes have proved to have a positive impact with disadvantaged youth in Australia, particularly in smaller rural communities. This collaboration between the Titans and NorthTec allows the utilisation of the Titans’ experience and expertise to help those in the Northland region with similar programmes to be delivered by highly qualified professional staff.”

Michael Searle, founder and Executive Director of the Gold Coast Titans, as well as founder and Managing Director of Titans 4 Tomorrow, added “we are excited about this joint venture with NorthTec and are looking forward to a long and successful relationship.”

Searle has been impressed by potential future NRL stars from Northland, hoping that some of these upcoming stars will play for the Titans in the future.

The Titans announcement is made in conjunction with the launch of the Graham Lowe Sports Performance Centre that will be based in Whangarei.

Famed rugby league coach and administrator, Graham Lowe, has joined forces with NorthTec, Northland’s largest tertiary educational provider, in a Youth Guarantee education venture. The programme aims to re-engage students who have athletic potential but who have become disconnected from education, and it will provide a performance training environment where they can develop and strengthen skills within their preferred sport.

This programme will be underpinned by a positive education outcome so that the participants have the chance to gain a qualification irrespective of what may be achieved in their chosen sport.

Through participating in the proposed sports performance programme, students will learn skills for budgeting, personal health and wellbeing, teamwork, time management, and self-awareness. They will also develop communication skills and gain the literacy, computing and numeracy skills required to confidently progress to higher tertiary training or employment. The course will be delivered in a sports performance context allowing students to also develop their athletic potential and to understand the requirements of professional sport.

Lowe explained “it has been a dream of mine for a long time to help those in the North who may not be in a position to enjoy what is available to those in other parts of New Zealand.

“Education is the key for our young people and sport is a language most young people understand.”

Lowe firmly believes that the opportunity to learn in a sporting environment also nurtures students sporting ambitions.

He adds “this programme will ensure that those involved receive the holistic development that will allow them to pursue future endeavours with confidence.”

Paul Binney sees that the Sports Performance Centre will provide an opportunity for a wide range of Northland youth, particularly those disengaged from education, to further their sporting and educational dreams at a tertiary institution. “

The Graham Lowe Sports Performance Centre plans to establish strategic partnerships with professional franchises in as many sports as possible to provide opportunities for students in multiple sports.

As Binney concludes “this will provide a pathway to a level of performance training and potential employment for the often neglected and underutilised young talent in the Northland region.”

NorthTec is the Tai Tokerau (Northland) region's largest provider of tertiary education, with campuses and learning centres in Whangarei, Kerikeri, Rāwene, Kaikohe and Kaitaia. NorthTec also has over 60 community-based delivery points from Coatesville in rural Rodney to Ngataki in the Far North.

Click here for more information on Titans 4 Tomorrow.

Click here to visit the NorthTec website.