John Armstrong has thoroughly enjoyed his five-plus years stint as chief executive of the Illawarra Academy Of Sport.
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But come this Friday he will happily step away from the role safe in the knowledge the IAS is in a great place moving forward.
"I've been here five-and-a-half years and I'm happy to place the academy in what I think is a really good position going forward," Armstrong said.
"I'm very comfortable in where it's at right now and it's probably the right time for me to say, 'okay, smaller retirement, maybe that I can give myself the opportunity to do a few other things that I'm keen to do'."
Armstrong is not quite sure what the next chapter looks like but he envisages a lot of time on the golf course improving his swing, and perhaps doing some work in the 'cycling space'.
"The next chapter really is retirement but there is every chance that I will be doing some things within the cycling space over the next period of time.
"I have in the past been heavily active in cycling advocacy and cycling coaching and I fully anticipate that I'll involve myself and engage myself in some of those areas in the future. Exactly where that sits, I'm not sure, but that probably and just maybe even improving my golf swing certainly."
Looking back at his time leading the IAS, Armstrong said he had many fond memories and too many highlights to recall.
"A lot of good things have happened but I'd say one of the main highlights is about the structure and the shape and the professionalism that we've been able to engender. We've got a great team of people," he said.
"We're the first regional academy to initiate strength and conditioning training as a core responsibility by the appointment of a strength and conditioning coach or a head of physical performance.
"We do the physical conditioning for the UOW Tottenham Hotspurs and Crusaders' program, we do the physical conditioning for Illawarra-based athletes from NSWIS, New South Wales Institute of Sport.
We're the first regional academy to initiate strength and conditioning training as a core responsibility by the appointment of a strength and conditioning coach or a head of physical performance.
- Iallawarra Academy Of Sport chief executive John Armstrong
"So we've integrated free access for athletes to access their local gym at no cost to them and under supervised sessions and with scheduled and progressive specific tailored strength and conditioning programs for their sport and their age.
"So we've enabled that and we've probably improved our communications markedly through having a communications officer incorporated into it.
"That has markedly improved our broader interface with the public and probably in many ways, the way in which we've been able to engage with the broader community of the Illawarra.
"It's been fantastic, as has the sponsors and the broader community who have been really supportive of the Illawarra Academy Of Sport.
'Let alone the impending support for Para athletes through the raising of funds through the Great Illawarra Walk
"There's been a number of areas where we've shown marked improvement.
"They include genuine improvement in education delivery in social media and nutrition and even now the capacity to provide high performance outcomes for the high performing athletes, we're merging into that space now even further and that's a really good, strong level of progression.
"These are the areas that can make a genuine impact on the opportunities that are provided for athletes so that when they leave the academy, they are physically and technically proficient to go into that next stage of development, be it the NSWIS or another high performance sport area.
"That's the area that I'm really proud of. I think we've got really good structures to enable that and it's working. We're really proud of the way in which the athletes have been able to progress and in truth, probably just as proud of the manner in which the athletes have responded."
Armstrong said most importantly the aim had been to ensure the youngsters turn out to be good people, not just athletes.
"We put some really good markers in place to try to enable that and the kids respond incredibly well. I'm really impressed with the way in which they engage with being part of the community," he said.
"They're grateful, they're appreciative, and it's great to see some of the kids actually just wanting to come back to the academy to support in coaching roles and administration roles.
"We've had that happen where kids come back and be assistant coaches to the program because they've got so much out of it.
"Those sorts of things are really heartwarming. I think as a sports administrator, we need to see that sort of engagement."
Armstrong added that the people of the Illawarra and the local councils had supported IAS immensely during his time at the organisation.
"The athletes are a reflection of the community and we are embedded into the community of Illawarra, and all of the regions in the Wingecarribee, the Shoalhaven, in the three areas around Shellharbour, Kiama and Wollongong........and we got great support from all councils.
"And the truth is we've got great support from the community, and that's really heartening.
"I love it. I love this level of support and assistance that just emulates from the community. It really supports the athletes and what we do.
"So I'm very appreciative of the people of the Illawarra. It's a sense of parochialism and spirit that you rarely find, but we've got it here."
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