Lecturers at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Human Movement Studies have been contracted to provide strength and fitness coaching for elite Indonesian athletes. Dr Stephen Bird and Mr Ben Barrington-Higgs have received a new contract from the Indonesian government’s State Ministry of Youth and Sport Affairs, with Dr Bird leading the Indonesian National Top-Tier Athlete Program for 2009. “We are very excited by this development because this is the first time that the Indonesian government has run the Top-Tier Program,” Dr Bird said. “This program supports the top 300 athletes in 45 sports across the broad categories of combat, target, field and water. We have two physical preparation coaches in Indonesia who we oversee, and in April we will travel to Indonesia as part of preparations for the South-East Asian Games in December 2009.” Mr Barrington-Higgs is in charge of the coach and athlete education program.