Jillaroos have appointed first full-time strength and conditioning coach
THE Jillaroos’ World Cup campaign has been boosted by the appointment of their first full-time strength and conditioning coach.
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THE Jillaroos’ World Cup campaign has been boosted by the appointment of their first full-time strength and conditioning coach, with Queensland police officer Simon Buxton on board.
Buxton, who helped Burleigh Bears to the Intrust Super Cup premiership in 2016, is working behind the scenes to get the Australian women’s squad in prime condition for the tournament later this month.
The police officer has been working part-time with the Jillaroos since last November, but took long-service leave and unpaid leave three months ago to become a full-time staff member as they ramp up their World Cup preparations.
It was clear as soon as he came on board how much the women’s team needed their own full-time strength and conditioning coach, with Buxton revealing that just seven of 30 top-level players did resistance or weight training.
With the Jillaroos aiming to claim back-to-back World Cup titles, Buxton is working to get them at their fittest and strongest.
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“Out of a group of 30 or so elite women, only seven of them did resistance training regularly,” he said.
“Now all the girls are on resistance programs. They all do weights.
“You have to be strong and powerful to withstand the contact. That’s one thing that we needed to work on ... that’s improved along with their training.”
Buxton, who studied a Bachelor of Health and Exercise Science before joining the police force in 1998, said the change in the way the women train is setting them up for a strong World Cup.
While his current contract ends in December, he has loved every moment of working with the Jillaroos because of how determined they are to win this trophy.
“It’s actually a breath of fresh of air,” he said.
“It makes my job really, really easy as a strength and conditioning coach because if they’re not diligent, don’t have a high work ethic or aren’t dedicated, they’re not in our system.
“The girls are very dedicated and it makes my job really easy.
“They’re very motivated. We have the results we wanted and it’s so far so good.”
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