The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is to promote continuous improvement in athlete performance testing standards with the release of its national standards scheme.
AIS said its AIS National Quality Standards Scheme (NQSS), was the next stage in the evolution of quality assurance in the Australian high-performance sport system.
“The aim of the NQSS is to promote continuous improvement in athlete performance testing standards, such as the measurement of speed, strength, and movement patterns, assisting to establish and maintain a national standard among all high-performance sport stakeholders,” the AIS said.
“It gives both athletes and coaches confidence that any data collected and used to inform decisions is valid, accurate and reliable,” it said.
The AIS said the NQSS was an evolution of the National Sport Science Quality Assurance program and a continuation of work that was started with the launch of the first quality assurance system in 1989.
It said the NQSS would operate a suite of quality assurance focussed programs, each with its own unique set of objectives, all of which would be aligned with the overall aim of the Scheme.
“The programs will be designed to be dynamic and evolving to continually target the most relevant and critical quality assurance needs of the high-performance system,” it said.
The AIS said the key features of the NQSS were an expansion to cover testing practices across all Sports Science and Sports Medicine (SSSM) disciplines; adopting a distributed model of ownership that encompasses the National Institute Network (NIN) and National Sporting Organisations (NSO); investing in technology; developing education and learning resources; and establishing a Quality Assurance Steering Committee.
It said the Scheme would be implemented in phases and through extensive engagement with NIN and NSO stakeholders to help develop national testing standards across all SSSM disciplines.
The AIS said expressions of interest in joining the Quality Assurance Steering Committee could be emailed to [email protected] before 21 May.
