SASI is inviting all South Australian high school students in years 7 to 10, to test their sporting abilities.

SASI’s facility at Kidman Park will be used for two of the testing sessions, along with sessions at the Lights Community Centre and Sacred Heart College. A testing session specific to Paralympic athletes will also be held during the October school holidays (day/time TBC).

Athletes’ physical, anthropometrical and physiological characteristics will be tested to identify whether they have the capacity to succeed at the national and international level.

The tests conducted range from generic fitness testing to sport-specific testing across a range of sports that SASI partners with.

As a result, SASI often identifies athletes that demonstrate the potential to excel in a sport that they have never tried before.

SASI Manager, Sports and Programs Simon Cain applauded SASI’s sports scientists for designing the unique testing protocols used to identify athletes who may thrive in a certain sport.

“We use testing protocols as identified by our SASI Performance support team,” Cain said.

“There's a close correlation from the results from generic testing in assisting our coaches to identify athletes for Olympic sports.”

SASI is also looking to discover more talent than ever before, with target sports such as archery and target rifle being tested for in the upcoming Talent Search sessions.

SASI’s Talent Search program has a rich history of unearthing elite athletes who have gone on to compete at the highest levels, including Maeve Plouffe, Annette Edmondson, Catherine McArthur, Rohan Dennis, Olympia Aldersey and Becchara Palmer.

“We've had a lot of athletes go on to represent Australia at the Olympics who have been identified through SASI Talent Search,” Cain said.

“An example of that would be the current Australian women's pursuit team in cycling. Three of those four girls are from SASI and were identified through the Talent Search.”

Athletes of all confidence and skill levels are encouraged to put their talents on display, including athletes who are apprehensive about participating in multiple sports.

“It's just worth having a try to see if you are suited to an Olympic or Paralympic sport,” Cain said.

“Going to the Games is a special thing and we've got Brisbane 2032 in under 10 years, so the timing is just right.

“We never ask kids to stop playing sports that they're already participating in.

“In fact, we encourage young kids to take up multiple sports for as long as they can, because the data tells us that those who have played at the highest level have often done multiple sports for long periods of time.”

Register for the October SASI Talent Search testing sessions