The Australian Bite

Sports science – the competition behind the scenes

18 September 2009

Listen and download: MP3

Behind every successful athlete there’s a team of professionals helping them achieve their peak performance.  And this week on the Australian Bite, we drop in on the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra to find out what’s happening in the world of sports science and sports medicine.  We also meet some of the dynamic young women who recently attended the Australian Women in Agriculture future leaders’ course.  And doped-up kids – there’s disturbing evidence that that some Australian parents are giving marijuana to children as young as six in order to sedate them.

Doped-up kids a worrying trend

There’s evidence that some Australian parents are giving cannabis to children as young as six in order to sedate them. Social workers in Victoria and NSW say the practice, while far from being a wide-spread problem, is now starting to look like a trend. High profile Melbourne youth worker Les Twentyman says many children are now growing up in families where drug use is an everyday part of life – and that includes many children under ten, as RN Breakfast reporter Mike Woods reports. Mike Woods also speaks with clinical psychologist Michael Kirton

Young women farmers look to the future

Life’s pretty tough right now in many parts of rural Australia. Every day we hear about the drought, shortages of workers in agriculture, and tumultuous commodity figures. But while the big names in government, business and research are working on the problems, who are agriculture’s next crop of leaders, who will have to steer Australia’s food producers into a world of emissions trading and a changing climate?  ABC Rural reporter Mary Goode headed along to the Australian Women in Agriculture future leaders’ course to meet some up and coming trailblazers, including Eloise Paust from Curtin University’s School of Agriculture and Environment in Western Australia, Elise Hayes from South Australia and Eleanor Faulkner from New South Wales.

Australian Women in Agriculture (AWiA) is Australia’s peak organisation for women across all areas of agriculture.  You can find out more about them on their website.

Sports science seeks the winning edge

The Australian institute of Sport (AIS) is Australia’s top sports training institute. Based in Canberra, it offers programs in 26 sports, and grants scholarships to many of Australia’s finest sportsmen and sportswomen. Now as you would expect, the AIS has skilled coaches and world-class facilities. But another important aspect of the AIS is its cutting edge sports science and sports medicine services. I caught up with Professor Allan Hahn, head of the AIS Applied Research Centre, for a chat about the role of sports science and sports medicine at the AIS.

Music  (not in podcast)

Hidden Handsis the second album from musician Jen Cloher, following up from her 2006 Aria award nominated Dead Wood Falls. The song “Mother’s desk” was written in New Zealand, as Cloher grappled with her mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease, and a case of writer’s block.

Artist: Jen Cloher & the Endless Sea.

Track: Mother’s Desk

Album: Hidden Hands (2009)