the talent arguement is a crock. There is always far more talent out there than you can coach and support. Competitive clubs would be a good system but the problem is Government competition via lotteries for the funds that once could have gone to clubs- Bingo etc. Same problem in Canada.
How does the French, or any other similar system work then? Is it any better?
This is a genuine question!
Thanks!
There’s a comprehensive article in NSA about this…not sure what Vol tho.
A well known coach in South London who has 20years experience reckons that there is a potential world-class T&F athlete in every comprehensive school in London…I like this viewpoint!!
It is always better to think abundance and not scarcity.
I think there is a ton of talent out there…its very exciting. So many coaches use one-size-fits-all training, so for every one decent athlete who gets thru, ten are knackered or disillusioned. For all potential UK coaches out there, there has never been a better time to start!
Charlie,
My argument is not that the talent does not exist, but that the greater number of other opportunities may be shrinking the number of people coming into the sport.
A few more examples:
- Recently read an interview with a national level rugby player (either plays for England or is about to). He was a schoolboy shot put champion but chose rugby.
- Darren Cambell made attempts to become a pro footballer even though he was operating as a top class sprinter.
- At the same time as British endurance athletes have gone down the rankings I see some good triathletes coming up. In the London marathon you see virtually no British runners at the front except Paula R. Watch the equvalent major triathlon and see some UK women at the front. Could they have been good 10,000m runners instead ?
I realise a number of examples don`t make a rule but they make me think.
Onto a point about the size of the sporting population. British armed forces consider new (young) recruits to be less physically fit than previous generations. This is not my surmising but frequently quoted. This indicates the general number of potential sportsmen, and of course athletes must be shrinking. Some of these couch potatoes may have great genes that never get found out. USA and Carribean are full of hungry sprinters. Africa is full of hungry distance runners.
And finally on the subject of the number of top class sports talents available in the population. I left school 29 years ago. To my knowledge my old school of 1000 pupils has produced 1 olympic athlete and 1 premier league footballer in that period. So the pool of talent and the ability to take it to the top is truly limited.
None of this excuses poor coaching and inadequate funding, it shows the need for attracting in a shrinking talent pool and making the most of it. Which is of course possible - hardly anybody lives in New Zealand but they produce some useful rugby players…
Nikoluski,
On the subject of the French system. This observation came from a UK Coaching magazine. There may be an assumption in there that the French have had more success as a result of it. Whether true or not I don`t know. In business we often talk about the concept of de centralised versus centralised control. My feeling is that neither approach is right/wrong because of differences in process, but because of differences in culture encouraged by the approach.
1:If people aren’t coming into the sport- you need to go get them.
2:The general Fitness of youth coming in doesn’t matter at all. That’s the coaches job!
East Germany had the worst overall general health and heart disease record in Europe.
3: Your school produced two world level athletes from 1000 student pool. Now multiply that over all the schools in England- and multiply that by what you’d get if the ones in each school were well coached.
4: A centralized system just creates uniformity. if the thought process behind it is flawed, it’s a disaster. Even East Germany had multiple groups in the same events.
What you say about French athletics is exaclty the opposite of the reality, at least if you heard the complains here. If an athlete is picking up in a club he will soon join a group where there is a big name, and in sprints, there is not much big names in this country. What you describe for British system looks like what happens in France. Also, i don’t know a single coach dealing with international who is not (former!) PE teacher (but i don’t know all the distance runners coach).
Pierrejean,
The description of coaching structures was documented in the UK journal The Coach Nov/Dec 2005. Extracted from a special study.
The point I was making from the article was not that elite athletes graduate to particular squads. It addressed culture and funding. Eg UK athletics employs loads of people, national bodies in other countries employ far less. The money that is available is spent in clubs.
I can see your point. You seem to have a good grasp on the politics. How would you change the situation in the uk?
Where does the problem start?
A) Is the club system failing? Are club numbers down in any dramatic way? Has the club lost its appeal?
B) Or is the transition to elite not happening, no bridge?
C) Or are there not enough good coaches spending enough time with good athletes?
If so, is this because:
- good coaches aren’t funded well enough to be able to give of their time to athletics (instead of football teams)?
- Or is it because good athletes are not working with the coaches?
- Would this be because - again - there are no bridges, no conduits to link talent-to-talent?
Club numbers are down or at least not increasing as per other sports. Eg my local rugby club only had adults around a few years ago. Now the pitches are full of children on a Sunday. Local parks are full of young cricketers since last summer. But no growth in the numbers of young athletes at my local track.
The bridge for young athletes. Cant speak for this since I coach at non elite level. All I know is our local young hero (english schools champ) disappeared from view around age 21.
Coaching courses I have attended are rubbish. Not even suitable for advising middle aged semi serious runners. You learn a lot more around here.
Something I have heard from more elite levels is the decline in the numbers competing at serious level - so not enough competion around. Contrast that with USA sprinters and African distance runners.
I think we have just gone soft.