Russ on Athletics

February 2012 training schedules

The February 2012 Development Group training schedule can be downloaded here

I'm writing to my mates

HI Guys,
Most of you will be aware of the controversy about the new age limit rulings.
It appears to me that the only way to effect any change is for coaches to write direct to A.N.Z. (Brett Addison ) and ask for our feelings to be passed on to the board. I have sent the e-mail (below) to Brett Addison today. If you feel strongly enough about the new rulings I would suggest that you consider doing the same within the next few days.
Like many coaches that I have discussed this with I feel strongly that even though this has no doubt been circulated to the clubs the significance of the new age limit rulings are probably lost on any one but coaches. In discussing this with Auckland coaches I have come up against the following objections.

#1. Having to be 19 to compete in Senior National title irrespective of your ability seems out of touch with reality.
#2. What is the reason for the change of age limit rules ?
#3. Why is the minimum National competition age (under the new rules) older than Olympic competition requirements?
#4. Distance coaches seem to feel that for non stadia events the age limits are different. Would it not make sense to have one rule that covers all events.
#5. Why does this ruling have to apply to this season. Could it not be with held until the coaches opinions are really assessed.
#6. Is there a current active coach on the board that made these decisions ?
#7. It discloses a lack of communication between the coaching arm of our sport and their clubs.

Russ
From: Russ Hoggard
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2011 12:42 PM
To: 'brett@athletics.org.nz'
Cc: 'scott@athletics.org.nz'
Subject: New age limit rulings

Hi Brett,

Feed back from Auckland coaches on these recent rulings from the board indicate a strong reaction.
They appear to create a situation where it is possible for an outstanding athlete to compete in International events while being banned (on age count) from his own National Senior titles.
It doesn’t sound right to me and it did start me thinking about the whole age limit situation throughout the country.
and I believe that steps should be taken to re-evaluate the entire age limitation systems. Many branches of our sport have different age limits on varying events and this new perceived rule may be the catalyst for our sport to consider the whole deal instead of just one section.

As I am sure you are well aware my experience and interest in rules and regulations are pretty limited but I am motivated by the fact that everyone(mainly coaches ) that I have raised the subject with has had for many and varied reasons strong reaction to the new rules.

So where do I go from here Brett. I can image what will happen to any correspondence that I send to the board.
Where my head is, is that I will continue to contact members of the coaching fraternity and suggest that they contact you if they feel strongly about the situation. I am assuming that these changes have been forwarded to the clubs but it is pretty obvious that this point has been missed at club level . ( I am aware of A.N.Z staff and past A.N.Z. administrators who also missed them). What are the chances that should there be adverse reaction from the coaching community the board may well consider returning to the previous rules in this area and take a real hard look at the overall picture.

Regards.

Brett has got back to me with the official set in stone rulings covering this problem. It appears that all the clubs and the board have reviewed the matter and no one has objected. So why is nearly every coach I know up in arms about it ? Bloody good question. I have listed above some of the objections that Auckland coaches have thrown at me. Maybe you think that it is O.K. Lot's of coaches don't.

December/January 2012 training schedule

The December/January 2011 Development Group training schedule can be downloaded here

So you want to win a medal ?

So you want to be a champion ?

Ask any rookie athlete about this and nine out of ten will probably say YES !

What coaches never tell you at this time is just how hard it is to make this wish a reality. Every coach probably has their own approach to the question
My advice to all beginner athletes is always the same. “Come and train with the squad for a couple of weeks and if this is what you want to do join us and we will see what happens.

What I never tell them is,

#1. If you have any idea of winning a medal anywhere at any level you have to want it so much that it hurts.
#2. It will take a year before the average teenager (talented or not.) is ready physically and mentally to handle the strain of a medal winning training program.
#3. If your looking for a National medal the training demand that gives you a crack at this is 5 days a week…Year round…and Comps at least every Saturday during the Summer season.
#4. If you’re a middle distance or a distance runner make that compete almost every week end all the year round.
#5, Be prepared to train in the cold and the wet and the mud and the wind…It’s all part of the “Win a medal” format.
#6. Every part of your body is going to hurt
#7. You are also going to change shape.
#8. You are going to have to listen to and act on the most stringent discipline you have ever experienced. (one of my coaching friends described the difference between athletic discipline and everyday discipline as trying to compare Alcatraz with a Sunday school picnic.)
#9. Along the way you will probably suffer some form of injury and you will have to adjust your life style to guard against these injuries occurring
#10. If you haven’t deleted this by now there is also the fact that if you do all these things it will not guarantee you a medal.

Athletics is a great sport to have fun….Enjoy good company…Make new friends…Learn about yourself….Compete at any level…Learn new skills

But to be a medal winner you need to understand the 10 questions above…Embrace them …and give it your best shot.

There is room for everyone in the sport. You can enter at any age, but if you are in your late of early teens and are looking at the medal winners you should be talking to a coach about it right now !

November 2011 training schedule

The November 2011 Development Group training schedule can be downloaded here

Adressing one of our sports BIGGEST problems

LET’S ORGANISE AND ATTACK ONE OF ATHLETICS MAJOR PROBLEMS IN NEWZEALAND.

Is it exposure to overseas competition.
No…One of our early attacks on this problem was led by our middle distance group. They barnstormed around Europe, slept in cars, ran as pace makers and did a bloody good job of showing the rest of the World that Kiwi’s are flightless birds that can run.

Is it lack of money.
No…Our sport has had more money thrown at it in the last 5 years than it has ever had in it’s life. We even get coaches and athletes funded for overseas travel.

Is it lack of talent.
Good question…Our good ones are really good but they are pretty thin on the ground. In fact there are a few rumours flying around that we have a problem finding things to do with the money our high performance guru’s have.

Is it lack of coaches.
Yes… Coaches are people that produce first College…then National…then International athletes. It does not matter how they do this it just matters that they produce ‘em.

There is a fair amount of discussion going on about the few suggestions above and probably will be for eternity but I am going to plug for “RECRUITING” as our greatest problem. Sport is a percentage game.
Why are we the top Rugby Nation in the World ? ‘cause we have a huge base to work with. Ditto netball and Golf. The more ingredients you’ve got to choose from the better the cake. So let’s ask ourselves.
#1. How much money do we spend on trying to attract and retain young athletes in our sport.

#2. Do we have any professional people who’s job it is to build up the numbers in athletics and if we do are they producing anything.

#3. How far has our sport fallen down the ladder of attention getting in N.Z? I have a friend who is a retired journalist who over a life time in sport at all levels has a huge collection of scrap books covering Track and Field. They used to fill our sports papers. Now instead of athletics I see coverage for sports that have an immense following in N.Z. …Wildly popular sports like Baseball or American football.
Are the Journos to blame ?
Don’t think so ! The coverage is not there because other codes are spending “big bickies” on promoting their sport and we don’t even seem to think that this is a problem Locally two of those Barnstorming distance runners we mentioned earlier are moving a project called “Fields of Gold” that is working wonders in the Counties area. We badly need some movement like this Nationally.

Want some suggestions on how to fix it ?
You have to start small of course. And grow the thing until it starts to achieve results.
Who can handle this huge task ?
They need to have journalistic and management skills and positive connections with our sport. I can think of at least two people (one already engaged in this field.) The other sitting on his butt doing sweet Fanny Adams.

I might just flick them a copy of this article………………………………

"GOOGLE 'EM

LEARN TO ‘Google Em’Learned that phrase from my admin mate, Gill. I have worked with her for the last few years or three and contrary to rumors that circulate around the Academy she does not know absolutely everything but she does have a fair grasp on most things. Ask her a question and if you don’t get an immediate answer there is a couple of minutes pause and she will have enough knowledge on whatever subject you are discussing to fill your requirements. For a couple of months I thought she was communicating with some kindred admin from the spirit world but then I discovered she googled ‘em. I have not quite caught that habit yet but for a long time the net has been a weapon in my coaching armory. One of the many “On Line” publications available recently came up with great quote. It’s from Brian McKenzie who runs one of the better Pommy athletic websites.

“Athletes who train with out a program designed for their specific needs will never reach their full potential. It is essential that the coach and athlete clearly understand the objectives of the training program and how each training session contributes to these objectives.”

Nice one Brian!

Anyway I got to thinking, I wonder how many coaches use the net regularly or don’t use the net at all?
So I have come up with a questionnaire for brave athletes to fill in after talking to their coaches
This might create an “interesting look” into coach athlete relationships. that might help immeasurably in advancing communications. I should warn any athletes that decide to “throw their hat into the ring” that most coaches are a smart bunch of cookies who are pretty adept at telling “porkies” so I have supplied a few back up tricks to make sure that the answers you get to your questions are relatively close to the truth.

‘Google em’ questionnaire

Question #1: What on line magazines do you subscribe to and how much do you think you learn from them?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Back up trick. If your coach answers “Heaps”…or a lot. Ask them to name three athletic websites. If they can’t they probably never use them at all.

Question #2: How do you get your training schedules to your athletes?

1.    Contact e-mail
2.    Snail Mail
3.    Put it in their hand
4.    Don’t have a schedule
5.    Text
6.    Facebook
7.    Twitter

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Back up trick. If your coach says “It’s all in my head” just breathe a deep sigh.

Question #3: If you and your coach disagree on an aspect of training, do they

1.    Tell you what they think
2.    Say “This is what I think but I will e-mail a couple of mates and see what they think “
3.    Say “It’s all in my head”.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Back up trick. If your under 18 and not scared of getting a belt in the ear ask why to any of the above questions.

Be prepared to make some allowances.

There are some older coaches (and sadly there are many) who have trouble with cell phones, never mind computers.
If you don’t understand what your program is about or where you are headed don’t be surprised if your coach is not anymore interested than you are.

3. Let me take three coaches who spring to my mind. All good coaches.

Two of them use the net a lot for communication, knowledge sharing and gathering. The third would probably have trouble turning a computer on but they are All good coaches

FINALLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW A BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR COACH

Google ‘em

October 2011 training schedule

The October 2011 Development Group training schedule can be downloaded here

More on an indoor season outdorrs

Absolutely a no brainer. We set up comps ourselves within training groups so let’s do it.
Agree it was great to have so many athletes there on Friday but as MOST (and I don’t think is an exaggeration) were there for themselves rather than just to support the CYth group as our gang was, it clearly says they want to compete! We were prepared to be pace makers and to make up numbers for field events but most really did want to compete.
Hamilton can definitely host one or more but as you saw we can easily make it to Auckland if required.
Maybe 40, 60, 80, 300, 1000, 9 stride long jump, 5 stride High jump etc???? test yourself but don’t strive for rankings in the pre-season….
I am all for it and I know the other local coaches will be too….

From: Russ Hoggard [mailto:RHoggard@institutesporthealth.org.nz]
Sent: Monday, 5 September 2011 1:28 p.m.
Subject: FW: indoor meets outdoors

Loved the two meetings to farewell the Y.C.G. squad. Have a look at the attached article that I hoisted on my website and will transfer to the Cougars website.
I would love to know what you and Debbie and Kevin Bradley and any other Waikato track nuts think about the idea and if you would support it. Would not mind the odd article that I can throw up on what ever website. Mainly I would like to know .
(1)    What do you think ?
(2)    Can you support it.
(3)    Would Wiakato pick up one or two of the meetings.
(4)    David N. and I thought. Just have a sprint series. But Didier is hot for all year round comps. So we thought let’s just have a sprints and throws series and if some one said. What about the jumpers we would say. Bring along two officials and some one to rake the pit and that’s a go.
Let me know what the Waikato mob think …Time wise I am thinking last 3 or 4 weeks before the track season opens next year.

Hoe far ahead do you want to look ?

WHO’S FOR A BIT OF FORWARD THINKING.

Tonight I watched close to 60 athletes compete in a meeting on a cold Friday night to give a last gasp competition to the New Zealand team that leaves for the C.Y.G.’s tomorrow and I thought. This is as big as we get at some centre hot meets. The races were all very competitive. A small but gallant band of officials staged a pretty good meeting. And on top of that…We all had fun. There were throwers and Jumpers and hurdlers but mainly sprinters and throwers…

First thought was… how great it was that so many young athletes in the “Top Half” supported the departing team.!

Second thought was…Wonder why we don’t do this every year ?

Third thought was …Why don’t I run this past a few other coaches and see what they think about this is a regular occurrence…Travelling team or No travelling team.

Every Wednesday at the Millennium Institute the North Sport Academy sit down for an hour or so and talk about coaching problems that arise from time to time .So as soon as Joe Hunter is back from the Isle of Man I plan to run this idea up the flag pole and see if anyone salutes.

Many countries have an indoor season that precedes the Summer track program and I wonder if we could form some sort of a short series pre-season group of track meets next year. Maybe two meets in Auckland and two in Waikato. I know that all of Didier’s Poppe’s throwers would be into it like rats up a drainpipe…and if we sold it properly it could start the real season off with a bang. We could start a little later when the weather has warmed up a bit.

What do you think coaches ?

I’ll tell you what sort of reaction I got from the next coaches meeting as soon as we get it tabled but I would really appreciate some feed back from any coaches that pick this up.