Sport clubs at York are signing up for a new pre-season training camp ahead of the 2012/13 BUCS season.
The camp, which will begin on Monday 1st October, will see coaches of the highest calibre in the UK deliver talks, training sessions and fitness classes to students.
York Sport President, Charlotte Winter, said: “We have got speakers coming over including Alison Rose, who is Jessica Ennis’ physio, and Malcolm Brown who is the Brownlee brothers’ coach.
“We also have a number of other coaches coming in, including Tracey Neville for netball.”
The talks are set to cover a wide range of topics, from sports psychology to injury prevention, and coaches will also organise training sessions and monitor strength and conditioning classes.
Tracey Neville, who is the sister of former Manchester United footballers Gary and Phil, represented her country before retiring in 2008 and setting up her own netball academy.
Amy Moll, President of University of York Netball Club, said: “The netball club are extremely excited to have Tracey coming in for a two-and-a-half hour coaching session.
“Tracey is an ex England player, so the very best of the best. She will teach us new skills and drills which I know will be extremely beneficial to us throughout the year.”
“The session will be a huge bonus for us, especially as we normally start the season with a disadvantage compared to our opponents who have much longer to train than us before the season’s first games.”
So far, 14 clubs have signed up including hockey, lacrosse, netball and badminton, who are bringing an impressive total of 24 members.
The idea for the camp was conceived during Sam Asfahani’s reign, designed to nullify the impact of York’s late term start.
And with a 43rd-place finish at the end of last year’s BUCS campaign, Winter is keen to further improve York’s sporting reputation.
“I’m actually doing a bit of a campaign this year for us to get into the top 40 of BUCS and I’m hoping the camp will be a kick start for this. As we begin so much later than everyone else, hopefully this will help gel the teams a bit quicker.”
The camp will be based at the new £9 million York Sport Village, which opened to the public last month.