CACA Newsletter Issue 3
Next meeting
The next meeting of CACA has had to be postponed due to the refurbishment of the facilities at Copeland Stadium. The next meeting will be in July on a date and at venue to be confirmed.
Last meeting
The second meeting was held at Sheepmount stadium, Carlisle on May 24th.
Present were:
John Clementson Carlisle/Border Harriers
Mike Doran Carlisle/Carlisle Aspatria
Barbara Fleury Carlisle/Carlisle Aspatria
Jack Harper Tarr Carlisle/Border Harriers
Stephen Hughes Copeland/Seaton Harriers
Terry Hughes Copeland/Seaton Harriers
Tony Ward CACA
Also present was Richard Metcalfe of Sports Coach UK who gave a short presentation on his role with the organisation in Cumbria.
Tony Ward gave a presentation on the theme of “How do we release our coaches to actually get down to coaching?”
He said that he had noticed what he called a “crèche mentality” where parents brought often quite young people to the tracks to be organised by quite well qualified coaches often to the detriment of the more serious athletes. How many of these very young people actually went forward in the sport?
Often because of the numerical lack of coaches there was no option but for this state of affairs to continue. But even if there was, a question that all the coaches so involved had to ask themselves was “would I want it any different?” In other words was this regimented form of coaching young people what they preferred? This was why CACA and the new NW Region had to be more pro-active in recruitment not only of potentially new coaches but also of those qualified coaches no longer active.
Introducing young people to the sport was definitely a specialist activity and nearly all the activity in this regard that he had seen in Cumbria had been devoted to running. This was because the vast majority of active coaches were qualified in the sprinting, hurdling and endurance events.
The lack of field event coaches in the county was detrimental to the development of the clubs especially in the area of league competition of whatever standard.
Britain’s first ever Chief National Coach, Geoff Dyson had once opined that where there were no pole vault pits (they were pits in those days!) there were no pole vaulters. The same could apply to coaching: where there were no coaches in an event there were more often than not no athletes either.
Conversely, where there was an active, qualified event coach groups of athletes in that event tended to emerge. He or she acted as a magnet. Locally he cited Mike Doran in the javelin as an example of this.
The question for all qualified coaches in Cumbria was “where do I want to go with my coaching?”
There were four key questions for coaches:
- Do I want to move to a higher level?
- Do I want to extend my range of events?
- Do I want to extend my knowledge?
- Would I like to work only with the best athletes in my group?”
The biggest problem in athletics to be faced in Cumbria (and elsewhere in the country) was that there were not enough athletes, officials or coaches to sustain the sport.
The best way forward was to pool resources at venues with Team Coaching. If an athlete wanted coaching in an event where there was no coach at the training venue then perhaps arrangements could be made for a coach from another area to travel (if they were so willing) to do so. Money for expenses would have to be found.
With regard to receiving young aspirants at a training venue he felt that a team approach was also needed. If more than one club trained at a venue then they should pool resources.
There should be a formal introduction to each venue with welcome packs for newcomers from each club. There should be a proper timetable so that young people running around do not clash with more serious performers. Good track discipline should be instilled from the beginning. Above all the introductory process should be FUN.
In the ensuing discussion there was agreement that team coaching was a positive way forward for the sport in Cumbria. At some venues it was already taking place with coaches training athletes from outside of their club.
There was also some agreement that a formal introductory process at a venue was desirable.
As to the four questions no one felt the slightest desire to move to a higher level. Most felt that neither they nor their athletes would benefit. What they required was to extend their knowledge which was not the same thing at all.
It was also felt that the biggest problem was the shortage of qualified coaches placing a big burden on those operating at the tracks. Some coaching squads were far too big. There was also a time factor involved.
Other discussion revolved around the county championships and league competition.
With only 7 of the 62 track events in all age groups in the 2006 county championships requiring heats it was felt that a clash with the televised football Cup Final could have been a contributory factor. It was agreed that CACA should contact the county association to suggest an experimental move to the Sunday of the same weekend in 2007.
The difficulties of Cumbrian clubs competing in the Northern, Junior and Young Athletes Leagues was also discussed and there was some support for the idea of composite Cumbrian teams competing in these events. It was agreed that CACA should also contact the county association (on which all clubs are represented) asking if the idea could be discussed.
The session ended with Richard Metcalfe giving a presentation on the work of Sports Coach UK. He revealed that professional coaches had been appointed in a number of sports in Cumbria. None were in athletics. He said that athletics had not applied for such appointments.
Dates to think about
Trafford Grand Prix inc BMC Gold Standard
Longford Park, Stretford 6:30pm 27 June/July 11/July 25
Electronic timekeeping Enter on the night
Contact- Mike Harris – 0161 881 4488 or traffordac@tiscali.co.uk
City of Manchester Open 28 June and 19 July
Sports City Manchester
Electronic timekeeping Enter on the night
Contact: Jack Frost; 16 Delahays Road, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire WA15 8DS
Glasgow City Open Graded Meeting July 12 Scotstoun, Glasgow
Statistical websites
www.gbrathletics.com
www.britishathletics.info
www.athleticsdata.com
www.athletics-results.co.uk
Other useful sites
www.noeaa-athletics.org.uk
www.ukathletics.net
www.englandathletics.org
www.iaaf.org
www.european-athletics.org
Extract
From High Performance Middle-Distance Running by David Sunderland
The Philosophy of Coaching
Summary
From a variety of training systems a coach will choose the ones which are best suited to the needs of his athlete and blend them judiciously into a successful training programme that caters for the athlete’s requirements. To do this successfully he must understand when and where to use the methods and what are the effects of a particular type of training. As well as having this knowledge the good coach also has to have expertise in many other areas.
Possibly the key area is his interpersonal skills with his athletes and the relationship he builds up which each of them. He has to demonstrate integrity in case the athlete is undergoing personal or emotional problems. He should be fair and impartial so that each athlete receives individual attention. Therefore he needs to be a good listener as well as a good motivator. He must get to know his athletes not just in the athletic sense but also know what their home backgrounds and personal situations are like. This will also give him an insight into the ambition of each athlete and an appreciation of what he is trying to achieve.
The coach should be perceptive and be able to pick up on the mood swings of his athletes. He should also be totally honest with them so that they know where they stand and are not led to believe they are capable of more than their abilities will allow. He should also be loyal to them, and through this, and his honesty, he should in return expect to earn their trust, loyalty and respect. The coach should also look and act the part, he should be well presented, punctual, the constant in the group and act professionally at all times.
As a coach he must have a great knowledge of the events in which he specializes and a good coaching eye which will enable him both to pick up any problems with technique or stress and alter the training accordingly. He must be able to see the potential of his athlete and develop it to the full. He is also the planner and the controller, not just of individual training units, but also for the whole year. He therefore must be constantly appraising both himself and his athletes. He should be creative in his coaching, looking for different training environments and different types of training when these are required. No coach is an island and when problems crop up he needs to know where to turn to for advice. Therefore he needs to build up over time a variety of support systems involving, for example, physiologists, physiotherapists and masseurs. With younger athletes he needs to be constantly aware of their biological development as opposed to their assumed chronological development. This means that all their training should be progressed systematically. With older athletes he should take into account how long they have been training and the physical demands on them of their employment. The coach also needs to be a good motivator to get the best out of his athletes. This means using his knowledge of each of his athletes and using a different motivational approach for each. Each athlete has different requirements and different strengths and weaknesses and therefore requires an individual training programme. Nonetheless, whatever motivational method the coach uses he should, above all, inspire his athletes.
Before a race, the coach is there to encourage and reassure. If the training has been going well the athlete will be confident. But if before the race the coach is nervous it will make for a nervous athlete. In this situation he needs to keep well away from his athlete until after the race. He should allow him to become far more self-sufficient in this situation. When the athlete achieves his goal and competes at a major championship it is unlikely that he will have access to his coach in the warm-up area. Therefore the earlier the athlete becomes more self-sufficient the better. If the race goes well the athlete should be praised but if it does not a candid assessment must be made to come up with the reason for the sub-standard performance. No athlete trains hard deliberately to perform badly. Therefore once some time has elapsed to give time for reflection, an assessment of the possible reasons for the poor performance should be made and a solution arrived at and acted upon.
Coaching comes from the experience of working with athletes at all levels. To give each the individual attention he deserves and to ensure that he fulfils his potential, the coach should not dilute his energies and expertise by having a group of more than six to ten athletes. Because time is the most essential commodity a coach has to give an athlete, if the coach has a larger group he will inevitably give less time to each. (my italics-Ed.)
The experience he gains in the field will show him that if an athlete is running and racing well he does not need to train any harder than he already is. Similarly, if an athlete is training hard but his performances are not reflecting this effort it could mean that he is becoming stale. This may have a number of causes, such as poor diet, insufficient sleep, too many races, an iron deficiency, fatigue from his daily occupation or emotional stresses. The confidence and self-belief that a coach has gained through his own experience in the field will help him and his athletes to overcome these problems. The athletes will become mirror images of their coach. A positive, confident coach will produce positive, confident athletes.
The coach should leave no factor unexplored in his quest for improvement. Through developing technique, mobility and drills he is making his athletes more economical. Through his progressive training programmes, conditioning and the development of the energy pathways he is making his athletes more physiologically efficient. Through his planning and preparation, tactics, motivation and the surrounding support systems he is enabling his athletes to execute this economy and efficiency through their performance in the competitive environment. In essence, Economy + Efficiency + Execution = Excellence.
Above all, the coach should be available. He will be the constant in the group, week in, week out, year in, year out. If he is not available and inaccessible his athletes will also be poor attendees or go to a coach who is available. His availability also extends to his being there on race days and also being constantly accessible by telephone for any problems, help or advice.
Any coach who feels that he knows all there is to know is misguided. No one should ever stop learning nor fail to realize that there are other methods and ideas which ma\y help and improve his athletes even more. Any coach who is in the sport for his own personal advancement and not that of his athletes will never be a successful and fulfilled coach. The successful coach is the one who takes a youngster from being a promising schoolboy through to international honours and major championships. The dialogue between coach and pupil will move from being one way in the early days of their partnership to a far more open two-way dialogue as the athlete matures. During this journey the coach is working towards ultimate redundancy, so that by the time his athlete is competing at a major championship he is no longer the coach but an advisor, confidant and friend.
High Performance Middle-Distance Running by David Sunderland. Published by The Crowood Press @ £12.99 (£10.39 on www.crowood.com)
Highly recommended
Details of CACA and Coaching Newsletters will appear regularly on the forthcoming Athletics Cumbria website.