NDIS Exercise Physiologist Sydney: Club Sport Goals

For a lot of young participants the goal is specific. Saturday soccer for the local club. Getting named in a rugby side. Making an AFL squad and lasting more than a quarter. An exercise physiologist in Sydney working under the NDIS can build the training that sits behind that goal, and our 1:1 strength and conditioning runs from Five Dock in the Inner West and Gladesville on the Lower North Shore.

Turning "play club sport" into a goal you can train for

"Get fitter" is hard to build a program around. A goal like "train with the under-16s and get through a full 75-minute session" gives us something to measure: how far the participant can run before form falls apart, how they turn and stop, how many training nights a week they can handle alongside school, whether getting to the ground and back is part of the problem.

We often help families and support coordinators sharpen that wording before a plan reassessment, because the way a goal is written shapes what a planner can fund. Sport goals also tend to carry other things with them. A teenager who wants to play soccer usually also wants to travel to the game with teammates, change in the sheds without help, and manage their own gear bag.

Where sport training usually sits in a plan

Exercise physiology and physiotherapy sit in Capacity Building supports. Depending on how a plan is written, exercise physiology is commonly funded under Improved Health and Wellbeing or Improved Daily Living, and physiotherapy under therapy supports. Participants with agency-managed funding need to use a registered provider; plan-managed and self-managed participants have more room to choose who they see.

If you are not sure which line applies, bring the plan or your plan manager's statement to the first appointment. We will go through it with you, or speak to your support coordinator directly.

Soccer, rugby and AFL ask for different things

The three codes are not interchangeable, and a program built for one will leave gaps for another.

Soccer

Repeated accelerations over short distances, constant turning, and a lot of single-leg loading. Junior grades in Sydney often play 60 to 70 minutes rather than a full 90. Training tends to focus on acceleration mechanics over 10 to 20 metres, deceleration and cutting, calf and hamstring capacity, and adductor strength for kicking and lateral movement.

Rugby

Collision and contact sit on top of the running. Sessions usually build neck and upper trunk strength, hip and trunk control in wrestling and tackling positions, and the ability to get off the ground repeatedly without losing quality. Grip, pulling strength and body position under load matter more here than in the other two codes.

AFL

The largest running volume of the three, with kicking off one leg, aerial contests and tackling in both directions. Programs often work on aerobic capacity, single-leg take-off and landing, hip mobility for the kicking action, and trunk strength for contests.

What the first assessment involves

The first appointment runs about 60 minutes. We take a history: diagnosis, surgeries, medications, seizure activity, orthotics or a prosthesis, previous injuries, what has been tried before, and what the participant actually enjoys. Communication preferences and sensory needs get sorted out here too, not later.

Then we measure. Depending on the person that can include single-leg balance and hop, calf raise repetitions to fatigue, squat and hip hinge patterns, a timed 10 and 20 metre acceleration, a change-of-direction test, and a submaximal aerobic test on a bike or over a shuttle. For participants who use a wheelchair or run on a prosthesis, the tests change to match how they move and compete.

We write those numbers down. They become the reference point for the next review, and they go into progress reports at plan reassessment.

What a 1:1 session looks like

Sessions run 45 to 60 minutes, one participant, one exercise physiologist or physiotherapist. A typical structure is a warm-up that doubles as skill work, a strength block, then speed or agility, then something game-shaped.

In practice that might be a sled push and split squats, then acceleration starts from a rolling cue, then a small-sided passing drill under mild fatigue for a soccer player. For a rugby forward it might be trap bar deadlifts and neck work, then controlled contact positions on a pad, then repeat-effort get-ups. Loads and rest change week to week based on what happened at club training.

For autistic participants and participants with intellectual disability, we keep the session order consistent, use short demonstrations rather than long verbal instructions, and build in choice where it does not derail the program. Parents and support workers are welcome to stay or wait, whichever works better for the participant.

Working with the club

Most coaches want to include a player and are unsure how. We can put drill modifications in writing, suggest an interchange plan so a participant gets meaningful minutes rather than the last five, and stage a return to full contact after an injury. Sydney also has all-abilities and integrated competitions across football, rugby and AFL, so if mainstream grade is not the right fit this season, there is usually another way in. Your club or state body can tell you what runs locally.

Reports and plan reviews

Before a reassessment we write a report that shows the starting measures, the current measures, what training has involved, and what we think is reasonable to work toward next. That gives the planner something concrete rather than a general statement about exercise being good for people.

If a young person in your family has a sport goal in their plan, you can book an assessment at Five Dock or Gladesville and we will go through what training toward it would involve.