THE Solomon Islands National Institute of Sports (SINIS) says only athletes endorsed by various National Sports Federation (NSF) can access its High Performance elite training program.
SINIS issued the clarification in response to questions being asked as to what criteria can athletes from other provinces apart from Honiara can follow to be part of the elite training program.
SINIS High Performance Executive Director Aaron Alsop when responding to the media on provincial athlete requirement pathway through the institute highlighted that SINIS deals only with athletes that are selected through National Sports Federations.
“The key understanding we should educate the community on is that High Performance does not deal directly with grass root sports.
“There’s a big difference between grass root sports and what we do at the elite level.
“Athletes that have access to SINIS are either on emerging talent scholarship, which means that they are athletes that have been identified by sports federations with the potential to represent the country for the next four to eight years, or the level above that is the national squad.
“That’s what we call sports development, which is grass root through to emerging talent level coming through to elite level.
“That’s the whole pathway that needs to be aligned,” he stated.
National Sports Federations organize their respective National Championships including the Solomon Games; this is the direct link to the provinces for athletes’ recruitment.
Through these competitions, national sports federations will do their respective athlete selections and these selected athletes will then join the High Performance program for further elite training.
“SINIS does not select athletes for the elite program; it’s the Sports Federations’ task to do that.
“We support the national federation with the list of their selected athletes and have them go through our programs and support them with the available services provided for them,” Performance Manager Moses Au said.
By CARLOS ARUAFU
Newsroom, Honiara
