The father of a 9-year-old boy asked me if I could coach his son 1-1 with his running technique.
I said, ‘No.’ Boys that age should be playing outside with their friends, not stuck in an awkward situation with an experienced coach and an expectant father watching on. Unfortunately, the boy attends a private school where children are discouraged from ‘mucking around’
However, I am happy to coach groups of young children and create an environment where I set tasks that allow them to develop their speed.
I save the 1 to 1 sessions for older children, who are ready for such tuition, and have the basics in place. Here are some drills I’ve been doing with a 15-year-old footballer/ triple jumper/ badminton player to improve his foot/ankle strength and reactivity.
Speed can be developed once a child has learnt to run and dodge with their friends. It cannot be forced onto them, no matter how much the parent pushes it.
If you would like to learn how to run faster, then you can either join our athletics group or ask for 1-to-1 training. Email me on Excelsiorathletic@gmail.com
I’m pleased to announce our funding success. Our weightlifting club has received £1215.16 from Grassroots Grants to support women in returning to exercise.
It will also pay for one of our existing female lifters to undergo their level 1 and level 2 coach education courses. She will then be able to coach, unsupervised, and help at competitions.
We are running two blocks of four sessions, starting on February 6th. This is an ideal opportunity for both women in Willand, Cullompton and Mid Devon to learn a new sport and for one of our members to get qualified.
Humans have evolved through adaptation to moving in their environments. I aim to help people learn to enjoy movement and make it part of their physical and mental selves.
Physical activity is often reduced to a number: “10,000 steps”, “walk a mile a day,” or ’100 reps’. By focussing on the number you eliminate joy, discovery and variety. That is a quick way to put people off.
Here is my Movement Manifesto that will hopefully encourage people of all ages to take part in and explore movement.
3 Mantras:
· Move well, move often.
· Variety is the spice of exercise.
· Monotony ages you, novelty invigorates you.
Locomotion: moving!
Rhythmical, continuous movements such as cycling, walking, running, swimming, skipping rope and rowing are essential for heart health and overall well being. They form the foundation of aerobic (with oxygen) fitness and the continuous, cyclical, rhythmical action is also good for mental health and stress relief.
Other activities such as gardening, climbing and dancing are useful too but are more intermittent by their nature.
Better than a treadmill.
Talking of nature, doing these activities outdoors, in natural environments has proven health benefits compared to doing the same exercises indoors. Walking in parks, fields, woods and hills is different from walking on a treadmill watching t.v.
Resistance Training: Overcoming Gravity
We need resistance training to improve our bone and muscle strength. Gravity is continuously working upon us and our posture suffers. We also need strength to perform activities of daily living such as shopping, laundry and picking up children.
Resistance training includes bodyweight exercises (jumping, climbing, hanging) and the use of external resistance (dumbbells, sand disks, medicine balls, Indian clubs, barbells and kettlebells).
The use of chairs and benches to perform sitting and lying down exercises is not recommended. unless you are injured. because they restrict movement. Train your whole body: from fingernails to toenails.
The heavier the load, the less variety you can incorporate into your training. A balance of simple exercises with heavier loads and expansive exercises with lighter loads is good.
Move like a child
Children learn to move by rolling and crawling. They love to hang from things and explore the environment. Every day is a learning day and they are delighted with every new skill.
Moving like a child will help connect your mind and body: you will be playful in attitude and purposeful when you learn new skills. Getting up and down and moving around the ground helps you coordinate and link all the parts of your body. This strengthens and stretches joints, muscles and fascia (the connective tissue under your skin) that upright activities are less able to do.
Weighted Hula Hooping at 76: can you do this?
Learning new things breaks up your routine and habits. This stimulates the mind and body and forces them to adapt and become more adaptable. Learning is also fun. Try one new exercise or variation every week or work on a new skill until you are competent and then try another.
Change the speed
Move fast, move slow, change your speed. The simpler the exercise, the easier (and safer) it is to move fast or to add some resistance. Sprinting needs to be done fast! Squats are a simple exercise that can be loaded through resistance or volume.
Forward rolls, the downward dog stretch and jumping over obstacles require different speeds but are all finite in the amount you can do.
Have some slow movements that require control and balance and stretch you.
Have some fast movements that require a greater effort and then rest.
No one mode of movement is the answer to everything.
We all have our preferences and it is great to do more of what we like. Including a little bit of everything else will help you maintain a healthy, balanced enjoyment of movement throughout your life.
If you are a runner, lift some weights and try yoga.
If you are a weight lifter, go for a long walk or a swim.
If you are a tennis player, try climbing (you have to use both arms) or learn to do a handstand.
You can still learn to a handstand when you are 50 or older!
Summary
We are all different and so following a single plan is unlikely to succeed. Our modern environments are, for the most part, safe and ordered and we easily adjust. Our movement needs to change to create change within our bodies and minds.
Move
Overcome
Learn
Change
Enjoy
If you wish to learn more then come to one of my movement workshops or email me at excelsiorathletic@gmail.com
My latest book, ‘Coaches’ Corner,’ is now available to buy on Amazon.
It contains over 50 essays about athletic development, coaching, and physical education based on my work over the last ten years as Head Coach of Excelsior Athletic Development Club.
How and what I’ve coached has changed dramatically in the last decade: I’ve moved from being a ‘Strength and Conditioning Coach’ to an Athletic Development Coach.
I’ve learned where the textbooks are outdated and improved my delivery when coaching young people in gymnastics, athletics, and weightlifting.
Part of this has been due to reflective practice, part of it has been due to the time spent with other excellent coaches from around the world: people more experienced than me and experts in their fields.
Feedback from other coaches and P.E. teachers.
The book is an accumulation of my best work. I hope it helps younger coaches or those P.E. teachers stuck in a rut, banging their heads against the wall of an outdated curriculum set by people who have no contact with children!
Instead of following endless fads led by social media, I have set out clear ideas and thought-provoking pieces to help coaches improve what they do. National Governing Bodies (NGBs) have too long been driven by forcing every participant into a ‘pathway’ that fits the few rather than the many.
Post-Covid, things needed to change, but they haven’t. This book will help you navigate the new landscape, putting children and participants first, not the NGB (or pushy parent).
Coaches Corner was the number 2 best-selling coaching book on Amazon.
Kath is the parent of one of our club’s gymnasts. She asked about doing some volunteering a couple of months ago and whether there was a course she could do. Here are her reflections from the day.
Kath (right) with Brent and Chris
“I’ve been thinking about volunteering for a while now but as it’s been a long time (30 years!) since I formally coached children and young people, I was curious to know how things have changed in that time and also a little apprehensive about being so out of touch to be neither of use nor ornament!
So, it was with some trepidation that I signed up for the Gymnastics Helper course, run by British Gymnastics, and as recommended by James. I needn’t have worried though, as of course the basic requirements for someone to be a good helper are the same as ever, such as being friendly, approachable, enthusiastic and patient, alongside a desire to support people to do their best and, most importantly, safely enjoy their chosen sport or activity.
The course consists of two parts: online pre-work and a full-day face-to-face group session. The e-learning modules were interesting and very accessible. They can be done piecemeal so very easy to fit in around work/life commitments and content is available to review at any time afterwards.
The day itself was very enjoyable with a good balance of physical activity, theory (covering technical knowledge and other topics) and group discussions. As a mixed ability and age range group, all participants were encouraged to listen to our own bodies and be aware of our limitations.
Nothing was compulsory and progressions and alternatives were always suggested – just as happens in the sessions James runs – so for me, whilst I could’ve cartwheeled all day long, hanging around on the bar was simply not going to happen! And that was fine.
Brent Stephens (right) helping out at a club session.
The course leader, Chris, was a very engaging tutor and she is clearly passionate about both the sport itself and enabling young (and young at heart!) people to contribute appropriately to support it. Chris incorporated the important safeguarding messages regularly, with careful sensitivity to the mixed group of people participating.
As someone who is committed to inclusion and broadening participation, it was also great to learn about how sessions and activities can be adapted to be more accessible to all and heartening to hear about the ways that British Gymnastics champions this.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable course and I would encourage anyone considering it to go for it! Having a better understanding of what is, and isn’t, the role of a helper and clarity about how I might appropriately contribute to the fantastic general gymnastics and freestyle/parkour sessions our children enjoy so much has given me greater confidence to take forward the possibility of helping out at our club.
Another main highlight of the day? Mr Stephens’ headstand. But don’t tell him I told you so.”
Anyone wishing to join our club, or volunteer to help, is welcome. Details are here.
Playing sports at any level requires making decisions. Sometimes they are tactical decisions such as when and where to pass the ball. Sometimes they are training decisions such as which technique to prioritise or how much weight to lift.
Players need to be allowed to make decisions in order to develop and succeed. The sooner they start, the sooner they can start taking responsibility and ownership, and the sooner this will translate to the field/court/arena.
Giving players choice and autonomy is one of the three key points that ensure athletes enjoy their sessions and want to return (Wade Gilbert).
Watching players grow and develop into independent thinkers is one of the best parts of coaching. I can’t think of anything worse than standing on a sideline micro-managing every move. But, like everything else, the players need good coaching to help them rather than leaving everything to chance.
Choosing when to go in a partner agility
Here are some ideas that I use to get players involved in decision-making.
1.Start off simple. The easiest coaching tool is exploration. e.g. before coaching a specific throwing technique, I ask the players to find as many different ways as possible to throw an implement. The safety parameter is to throw in a certain direction. I might add a restraint such as ‘two-handed throws only.’
Then I get them to choose the type of throw to get the implement the furthest and practice that. In a group of 10 athletes, there might be 2-3 options chosen. I can then link the similarities to why they worked. I can also ask if that type of throw is the best for accuracy.
This can also be done with kicking and striking (racquet/bat sports).
An example of getting secondary school boys thinking about movement in space
2. Limit the choices
Anyone who has done the weekly shop with a toddler will understand the benefits of having limited choices available in supermarkets, with clearly marked and labelled prices for easy comparison.
The same thing applies to sports. By creating a drill with two main options, the athlete can choose and see which works best. It also forces them to work on skills that they might otherwise neglect.
This is especially good for beginners who have a limited skill set.
e.g. A small-sided football game where they can only score a goal with their weaker foot or their head.
A two-handed throw either overhead standing face on, or standing side on and throwing with a long arc.
Both these examples help guide the athlete into performing basic skills that underpin good play later on but allow them to adapt to what they think works best.
Simple choice: who goes on top?
3. Allow the athlete to create routines/games themselves. It is important to allow athletes to take control of their own training as their skill set develops and they mature. This could be within a warm-up (see here) or in the session design itself. Autonomy does not mean anarchy.
It means the coach sets up situations and guides the players.
e.g. Gymnastics: create your own routine that must include a balance, a roll, a jump and a movement on hands.
In teams of three, work out a passing move that you could do in the middle third of the pitch and then one in the attacking third. Test that against one, two and then three defenders. Did it work? Why/why not?
Weightlifting: select a weight that you feel comfortable doing for 3 sets of 3, then 3 sets of 2. Or, here are the four exercises we are doing in the session, you select the order in which you wish to do them. This last exercise goes against every principle of a ‘numbers’ coach who insists that there has to be a specific sequence in order to maximise results. But, allowing the athletes to choose the order themselves gives them a feeling of autonomy. It can create a ‘holiday’ atmosphere in a sport where the repetition of the same exercises is physically and emotionally hard.
Allowing children the chance to throw differently improves skill and decision-making
Summary
I have given a few examples of tasks that can be set up within practice to help your athletes learn to make decisions. Not all will respond, some just want to be told what to do, especially if they are tired and their brains hurt after school. Others will thrive and look forward to these parts of your training more than others.
It still requires coaching, but more of an overseeing rather than directing mode. This allows you to watch the practices and understand what is happening rather than ‘do’ the practices where it is easy to lose sight of the overall session.
If you have any other suggestions on decision-making, please leave them in the comments below.
In our Freestyle Gymnastics classes, the young gymnasts spend the first ten minutes of each class working on their favourite skills. Some of them do so with a laser-like focus, repeating the same skill as often as they can, while others drift from skill to skill, using different pieces of apparatus for a few repetitions each.
I watch and interject with advice if I think I have something useful to add.
Before that, I ask, ‘What are you working on?’
It is strange that sometimes the gymnast says, ‘I don’t know.’
Other times they say a skill like Cartwheel, and I then ask, ‘What part of the cartwheel?’
‘I don’t know.’
The gymnast who doesn’t know what skill they are working on lacks intent.
The gymnast who doesn’t know what aspect they are working on lacks attention.
Molly and Rosanna working on their side somersaults.
How coaches can help athletes get better at practice
During the last half-term, I tried to change how the gymnasts practised in the warm-up but not what they practised (that is their choice). I explained to them that two things will help them improve their skills:
1. Intention: knowing what you are trying to do and why.
2. Attention: knowing what to think about while you are doing it.
Example: The aerial
The aerial is the common term for a no-handed cartwheel. It requires the gymnast to be able to move at speed, upside down, without hands. Many of our freestylers have the physical capability to do this but struggled to complete the whole skill.
I used this as an example to show them how they could improve their practice.
First: did they know what an aerial looks like? If not, show them a video or another gymnast doing it (there are a couple of variations).
Two: Can they think of themselves doing the skill before they attempt it? I did introduce the term visualisation here. I got them to practice this with simpler skills too.
They now have a clear intent: to perform an aerial.
Three: We then discussed what foundation moves they need to be able to perform an aerial. They came up with:
Hurdle step, speed, one-handed cartwheels (both sides), and bravery.
Four: I then challenged them on the speed, ‘What makes you faster, what part of your body has to move fast?’ They gave me answers such as feet, legs, hands, and arms. All of which are correct.
Five: I then asked them to think of moving one part of their body as fast as they can when they practised the preparations.
This was the attention: they were thinking of a specific body part that had to move fast.
We also did this for a couple of different preparations and practices that then lead to being able to do an aerial, such as using some equipment.
How to progress and create a collaborative practice
Molly and Ellsie collaborating
A couple of weeks of this, with my asking, the same questions, led to a much more focused warm-up. I then asked them to partner up and share a skill. They had to say what they were working on (intent) and what they were thinking about (attention).
This last part meant that:
a. No one got stuck in a rut, they had to practice their partner’s skill.
b. They interacted and shared ideas.
c. They had to be clear in their own mind before explaining it to their partner.
d. I can stand back and observe the whole scene rather than being sucked into one skill/ person.
Summary
This method can be applied to any sport. I did this with gymnasts aged 10-14 who were comfortable working with each other. It may or may not work with younger people.
Take a skill, ask what you are trying to achieve (intent) and then what to think about to achieve it (attention).
Last week, a Primary School teacher told me of their experience teaching tag rugby to year 3s (7-8-year-olds),
‘We practised passing down the line a lot but, when it came to the game, they didn’t know what to do.’
Compare that to the advice given by the Department of Education and Science:
‘At about nine years of age, they may be ready to play many simple games, with three or four a side, with the object of scoring points and goals.’ (1972).
Developing spatial awareness through educational games
Have children developed a greater sense of gameplay in the last 50 years? Can they be put into competitive matches of 7+ a side because they are more skilful, athletic and tactically aware than the children of the 1970s? Is physical education being taught that much better at Primary School?
In my experience, no. Children love playing games but they still need the time to develop (you can see how these year-3/4 children are learning the basics but need help with movement).
Again from the DES,
‘Children at a young age play alongside each other rather than with each other.’
Trying to teach pupils sport-specific skills or rules without having the foundations of games sense and skills in place often leads to frustration among pupils and teachers alike. Many sports clubs teach only their sport and ignore underlying movement patterns (physical literacy for want of a better phrase).
Example 1: The overhead tennis serve.
This is a highly complicated skill requiring the use of both hands and an implement, before even
thinking about accuracy. Teaching this to year-one pupils is likely to result in failure for many.
Before attempting this skill, the pupils should be able to do two things:
1. Throw overhand properly (contralateral leg and arm, shoulder and chest rotation, elbow and
wrist lag behind hip rotation).
2. Throw and catch to themselves using the non-dominant hand (for the toss-up).
By working on these two throws in the early years, amongst other skills, when it comes to time to try this complex skill, they have a chance of success. The alternative is to put the racquet and ball in their hands and let them try and work it out. This may lead to success for some who possess the underlying skill or get lucky, but many will get frustrated and stop. Especially if they only have a few attempts each due to time/ equipment shortages.
An example of doing some general ball basics can be seen in this video.
Working on ball accuracy and striking: general before specific.
Primary school p.e. is the perfect place to teach this physical literacy and that enables ALL children to learn how to move. This builds their confidence so that they can play sports if they choose or have the opportunity to do so.
What has happened to physical education teaching in the last 50 years?
Unfortunately, the dismantling of the teacher training syllabus that now leaves them with 4 hours of Physical Education training, has created a wasteland of well-meaning teachers who lack confidence and knowledge. This has opened the door for outsourcing to sports coaches who try to teach their sport to children at too early an age.
National Governing Bodies (NGBs) are desperate to ‘increase participation,’ and have the resources to offer beleaguered Head Teachers looking for a solution to a problem they do not understand.
Children queue up to learn rules and terminology rather than move, learn, and have fun. The teachers are given colourful ‘flash cards’ and ‘resources’ that they can read from.
But, if they don’t understand the premise behind physical education, then the chances of children learning are haphazard: a few will get better, some will get better DESPITE the lesson, a few will misbehave and most will come away a bit tired (optimistically) and have learned nothing.
Each NGB is fighting for a piece of the pie so they try and recruit early to get ahead of the other sports. The poor children (and parents) are then caught in the race to specialise early. This is problematic for two main reasons:
There is no evidence that specialising early leads to success at an adult age.
By focussing on sports rules, only the early developers and those with exposure elsewhere ‘succeed.’ Everyone else gets disheartened, bored or finds something else to do.
How sad is it to hear children say, ‘I’m no good at sport,’ at 8 years old?
They shouldn’t be good/ bad, they should enjoy playing games. And that’s where Educational Games come into play.
Helping Children Develop Their Games Sense
Using balloons to help learn how to receive objects
Premise: skill development and decision-making for games players are interlinked and should be
taught together.
By using a framework to operate from, teachers can plan lessons easily and allow pupils to be more involved, and creative and learn at their own pace.
Playing specific games requires the learning of often complicated rules that require the child to
memorise as well as trying to control their own body, control an implement and deal with opposing team members.
Developing the children through Educational Games means that they are then able to learn sport-specific skills and apply the rules more easily if they choose to participate.
Outline:
Below is the framework for teachers to use to plan their lessons. Each workshop I run draws on different aspects of this framework to show how it can be used in daily teaching.
I teach different lessons depending on the age/ stage of the children and explain which aspect I aim to develop in each lesson.
The aim is for the teachers to see the overall strategy, see how it is implemented in a single lesson and understand how to develop the children from there.
Movement underpins every sport
Every lesson has some movement aspect in it: the children can not be too physically literate. There are nine themes that I use (based on Laban’s work) and they can be integrated into every lesson.
Instead of a series of drills that have to be memorised, the children get to develop their own patterns through some guided discovery, exploration and solving of tasks. This requires less demonstration/correction from the Primary School teachers (much to their relief).
One of the reasons that children struggle with physical literacy and games sense is that the teachers lack the confidence to teach them. Every teacher can read and write, not every teacher can throw, catch, skip, run, jump and strike a ball.
It is very rewarding to coach children and see them develop. It is almost as rewarding coaching teachers and seeing them grow in confidence as they realise there is more to physical education than rules, queues and shooing chickens.
In the last month, I have been asked by three different parents of young athletes ‘what is the best way to lose weight and get fit?’
Excelsior Athletic Development Club was set up to help young people develop their athleticism and skills but adults wanting to get fit have different requirements. Earlier in my career, I was a manager at three health clubs where 90% of the members wanted to lose weight or get fit.
I shall give some ideas to help you get started below. I am approaching this from what will work for you. I am not selling you anything, nor am I a zealot who says that you must do, ‘Activity X because that is what I like.’
If anyone tells you that you must do something, beware. Just because the Park Running, Kettlebell- swinging or Zumba-shaking enthusiast enjoys their activity does not mean that it is right for you.
No single exercise or activity is the answer to all your needs.
But any single exercise or activity is better than nothing!
Lacing up your trainers is a good start
Where to start?
Don’t feel too bad: only 1 in 5 adults meet the current guidelines for aerobic exercise and muscle-strengthening exercises() worldwide. (Aerobic exercise means activities that are continuous, raise your heart and keep it there for several minutes and get you slightly out of breath).
2. Consistency is key: so only start something that you can keep doing. What is the least amount of work that you can guarantee that you can do every day? Is it 10 minutes, or is it 1 minute? Most people fail to create an exercise habit because they overreach at the start. They quit within days (or weeks if lucky) because they try to go from zero to hero in one gigantic leap.
Stacking success leads to a sense of achievement and a positive feedback loop:
‘I did it. I can do it again.’
You then keep going and might be able to add more later on. This allows your body to get fit gradually. Of course, exercising for 20 minutes a day is better than 1 minute a day, but you have to be able to keep it up.
3. I think walking is a good place to start for most people (and underrated) If you are overweight and unfit then trying to run will lead to misery: the shuffling pace that beginners set leads to injury and misery. It is better to walk briskly than to slog. Again, as you get fitter and your weight decreases, running might become an option.
A lateral lunge in the park
When the weather improves, cycling is another great way to lose weight with minimal impact on joints. You don’t have to wear lycra or buy carbon-fibre earrings, just get on a bike and enjoy the countryside.
4. Muscle-strengthening exercises are as important for your health as aerobic exercise. Bodyweight exercises are a great start because they require no equipment and can be done at home. Here are some ideas that our club members use for warm-ups.
Start off slowly and do them regularly. Don’t worry if you only do 2 or 3 reps at the start. Again, once you get into the habit and build confidence and strength you can add dumbbells or other tools to get stronger. Don’t forget all the equipment in the park that you can use too.
Try the exercise equipment in the Parish field
5. Controlling what you eat has to be part of the plan to lose weight. This video explains how I lost 8kg and have managed to keep it off for four years.
Some sensible eating ideas
Find a training partner
Having someone to walk around the village with or to help with recipe ideas is a proven factor in success. You may not feel confident in joining a class yet (and you have to pick what is right for you) but having a friend who walks or squats with you helps to keep you going.
Conversely, avoid those with bad habits who constantly seek to drag you down.
You are trying to make a positive change in your life. Well done. Keep going and good luck.
How did people get good at sports before the existence of pathways and ‘talent’ academies?
Training for health, training to compete: why do NGBs focus on the latter? Both are human beings.
If you read biographies of a previous generation of sporting superstars there is usually a mention of a dedicated p.e. teacher or coach at a local sports club. Children discovered their love for the sport locally and affordably. They might have had a keen parent, like Tim Henman or Seb Coe, but most stumbled into the sport through normal p.e. and games or by going with a friend to a local club.
The sport was fun, and well-coached and this lead to some successes and a desire to do a bit more training. There were no academies or pathways. ‘Sport for all’ was the Sport England motto.
This changed with the introduction of the National Lottery and the mechanisation of sport in the UK, especially after the ‘failure’ of Team GB at the Atlanta Olympics. Medal tables and podium places took the place of ‘Sport for all.’
Funding was dependent on National Governing Bodies (NGBs) meeting top-down objectives, including having a ‘pathway’ despite there being no evidence of such a thing working in reality. In his book, ‘The Talent Lab,’ Owen Slot summarises the report into Britain’s subsequent (and expensive) pursuit and attainment of medals thus,
‘There is no one single element of success, no one cap that fits all.’
The goal of UK sport was to win more Olympic medals and that was achieved: between the Atlanta Games and Rio (2016), GB won 96 medals.
However, just 12 people won or contributed to 49 of them.
Over half the medals were won by just a dozen individuals.
Or, to put it another way, is this a good use of public money?
Where is the Olympic Legacy?
In the ten years after the London Olympics, there has been a decrease in sporting participation. Part of that can be blamed on the Covid-pandemic and the various lockdowns. However, the pandemic may have hastened the decline rather than caused it.
There are two stark facts that should be first and foremost on the minds of parents, teachers, coaches and public health figures:
The reported levels of anxiety and depression in adolescent athletes in the USA are higher now than they were pre-Covid.
In other words, 80% of adolescents are not doing enough exercise to stay healthy.
Those that do play sports have more mental health issues than they did prior to Covid even though they have returned to activity.
And yet...
There are more ‘talent pathway managers’ than coaches in NGBs nowadays. More ‘scholarships’ and ‘academies’ and ‘talent programmes’ than there are minibuses to ferry the kids around. As soon as a child shows an interest (or an early growth spurt or specialisation) then they are ‘identified’ and told they ‘must’ attend a training/ selection camp miles away from home.
Those working within ‘Talent Pathways’ operate in an echo chamber where they attend conferences with other people in similar roles from different sports and share ‘best practice’ ideas! For those on an NGB salary, it is understandable that no one raises their hand and says,
‘Hold on! Shouldn’t we be focussed on helping young people get healthy and active and supporting them rather than cherry-picking from an ever-decreasing pool of participants?’
They would risk losing their job and their salary, so they stick to the company line.
Too much, too early
NGBS are continuing to encourage young children to specialise, especially girls because they are afraid of losing ‘talent’ to another sport (see the Talent ID Bun Fight). They might not say so overtly, but when a child is told that they must attend weekly ‘talent’ sessions miles away and go to regular camps involving overnight stays, time and logistics prevent that child from doing anything else.
When I worked with England Golf, the regional (under-16 coaches) were told to:
1. Only select those girls who would definitely play for England at the senior level.
2. Select them at under 13 so they would ‘be in the system for longer.’
These young girls had barely started secondary school and they were put into the system. They were ill-equipped physically and emotionally for this intense training and expectation. Many of them quit the sport or just returned to their home coaches and courses.
The perverseness of the NGB means that the child is in danger of dropping out of all sports: burnout, injury, or competing demands such as schoolwork are the major causes.
The increased cost of fuel and a squeeze on family incomes means that even fewer children can afford to travel big distances, let alone afford overnight stays, to play sports.
And, it is worth repeating, there is no evidence that early selection at a young age leads to representation at a senior level: in fact, the opposite is often the case.
In German football, those playing in the National Team specialised later and played more ‘pick-up’ games with their friends than those just playing in the Bundesliga. The players who specialised earliest and had less ‘free-play’ ended up playing in semi-professional teams below the Bundesliga.
At some point, specialisation and more investment in training will be necessary: but it is at a later age than you think and only when the child is ready.
Playing a variety of sports, locally, with friends still works at a young age. If they are still sleeping with a teddy bear they should not be specialising.
Too young to compete, some kids want their teddy bears
Questions for parents to ask
Parents are bombarded with information from NGBs and often told that their child ‘has’ to be on the pathway in order to become successful. I suggest that parents ask the NGB the following questions:
1. Why?
2. Is there evidence that these ‘pathways’ work?
3. Can my child be successful without attending this academy?
4. Did any of the elite performers in your sport use a different route?
5. How much will it cost?
6. What happens if they are de-selected: will you help support them back at their club?
The answers that could be given are:
1. To show that the NGB is ‘doing something.’
2. Yes: for some people but not for all (as does every method). And there is a recency bias.
3. Yes: if given the right support and encouragement locally.
4. Yes, of course, they did. Some didn’t even start the sport until their late teens.
5. A lot: fuel, time, accommodation. Money that could be best spent elsewhere (unless you are wealthy).
6. No. The risk of dropping out entirely is high because the child perceives themselves as ‘a failure’ if they do not make the next set of teams.
Excelsior Athletic Development Club
No pathways just people wanting to get fit and healthy
Our club philosophy is to help every athlete get better. It is not to produce champions nor is it to be part of a ‘pathway.’ Every person has different motivations for training including:
· Goal/success driven
· Feeling fit and good about themselves.
· Looking good
· Hanging out with friends
· Learning a new skill.
All of these are valid and worthwhile. The problems only occur when there is a mismatch between their motivations for training and their willingness to train enough or if the coach’s expectations don’t match the athlete’s.
A goal-driven athlete who doesn’t want to train frequently will be frustrated when they don’t succeed.
The athlete who wants to feel fit and hang out with friends will be frustrated/ upset if the coach (me) tries to make them compete.
This comes down to communication and education. If our athletes can meet their expectations at our club they will continue to participate and see the benefits. This is led by them and facilitated by the coach.
It is not driven by an NGB setting targets.
We coach people at our club, not statistics. It is worthwhile remembering the old motto,
‘Sport for All,’ and helping the young generation along their journeys of discovery rather than forcing them into someone else’s pathway.
