Flying the flag in Houston

World Class line up at GAIN conference

I am off to Houston today to attend Vern Gambetta’s GAIN conference for the third year in a row. There is an excellent faculty lined up to present.

I am especially looking forward to learning from Steve Magness about endurance training to help the middle distance runners and Modern Pentathletes I coach.

It will also be Gary Winckler’s last coaching session before he retires. I will be picking his brain for speed development tips.

Combine that with Jim Radcliffe, Bill Knowles the physical education strand, plus all the practical workshops, discussions and Gambetta himself leads to a good start.

However, it is the opportunity for cross fertilisation of ideas and perspective from physical education specialists (different from games teachers!), physiotherapists, sports coaches, athletic trainers, athletic development coaches, authors, scientists and strength coaches from different countries that is the real benefit of this conference.

Apparently I am the only British delegate this year (fellow Brit Kelvin Giles is one of the faculty). I invest the time and money into going because I think my athletes deserve it. I pass this information down to them through programming: directly or indirectly.

I also share the information to the coaches I work with through their ongoing CPD programme.

Watch this space for more details.