15 October 1996 Tertiary education and NZ Cricket come together at Lincoln University

Sir Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe, Lee Germon, Chris Cairns, Mark Greatbatch, all at Lincoln University? It's a fact! And it illustrates the surprising and exciting developments opened up by the meteoric expansion of professional sport in recent years.

And why are Hadlee, Crowe, Germon and others often to be seen on the Lincoln campus? Because that's now the location of New Zealand Cricket's new High Performance Centre – a live-in facility offering training, playing, recreation, accommodation and educational opportunities, established in an innovative relationship between New Zealand Cricket and Lincoln University.

The Centre has been created to deliver New Zealand's international cricketers for the future and stars from the past and present such as Hadlee, Crowe, Germon and company have an obvious interest in its success.

Innovative, progressive and full of potential, the Centre is today's investment in the cricket of tomorrow. It is also a sign of the times for Lincoln University.

"Professional sport is one of the fastest growing career options available to young New Zealanders," says Lincoln's University's Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Roger Field.

"The rapid expansion of professional sport has not only advanced opportunities for sportspeople themselves, but also raised requirements for personnel trained in commerce and management, science and the social sciences to provide a professional sports infrastructure.

"For Lincoln this has opened doors of academic and commercial opportunity."

The growth in professional sports opportunities has been paralleled at Lincoln University by a significant growth in participation by undergraduates in recreation-related programmes, particularly sports science subjects.

Lincoln University is recognised by the Hillary Commission as one of New Zealand's leading educators in the fields of sports science and recreation.

In addition to traditional expertise in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, Lincoln has introduced (co-operatively with Christchurch Polytechnic) a Diploma in Applied Recreation and offers subjects such as Biology of Human Exercise; Recreation facility Management; Exercise Programme Management; Nutrition and Exercise; and Issues in Exercise Prescription.

"The venture with New Zealand Cricket has highlighted the opportunities for further developing academic programmes which will attract and educate people in areas such as physical education, sports administration and recreation management," says Professor Field.

The High Performance Centre features a live-in Cricket Academy, "home" for a squad of 14 players living on the Lincoln campus for eight months. The Centre is also being used by New Zealand's men's and women's teams and the national Youth XI.

The Centre includes an indoor facility with six pitch lanes and an administration area; an outdoor ground with a practice area and a middle wicket pitch; a soon­ to-be-developed 30-bed accommodation block and access to the University's state-of-the-art recreation and fitness facilities.

New Zealand Cricket's Chief Executive Christopher Doig believes the venue will become the "best live-in coaching facility in the world".

"For the first time in New Zealand we are able to develop the technical, physical and psychological strengths of our elite young players in a comprehensive manner," he says.

While attending the Academy a number of the cricketers are taking courses at Lincoln University and others are being assisted in tertiary or skill-based programmes elsewhere.

"The coming together of a high profile sport such as cricket and a small, user­ friendly university such as Lincoln well illustrates the innovativeness and new relationships which characterise both recreation and education in today's world," says Professor Field.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.