Sports scientists Yale bound

TWO Ballarat sports science students are on their way to Connecticut in the United States to further their skills.

Liam Haintz and Micah Drake are set to begin internships at the prestigious Ivy League institution, Yale University, in July.

With American football team Yale Bulldogs, the pair will work as strength and conditioning coaches, and offer support ahead of the next Ivy League football season.

As part of their FedUni honours research project, Haintz and Drake are also planning to analyse athlete performance data.

“I’m really excited as this is a huge opportunity for me, not only for my studies but for my future career aspirations as well,” Haintz said.

“I’m extremely grateful to have the opportunity to be able to undertake this trip to such a prestigious university as Yale.”

Drake said she never thought she would have the chance to attend a world-famous university.

“There’s been a lot of work to make this trip happen but it’s finally happening and now I’m really looking forward to travelling to the United States next month,” she said.

The student internship initiative is led by FedUni’s exercise and sport science discipline lead Dr Scott Talpey who is based at Mount Helen campus, but is originally from New Haven, Connecticut, and has connections at Yale.

“Federation’s sport science and exercise team have helped many elite athletes and sporting organisations here in Australia and now, we are excited to have two of our students travel to Yale and share our knowledge and practices with one of the world’s most prestigious institutions,” he said.

“This internship at Yale University will provide an amazing opportunity for our students and is an endorsement of how highly Federation’s Sport Science discipline is considered around the world.”