Triple Award joy for Athletics

[Geoff]

Athletics was a triple-winner at yesterday’s prestigious 2011 UK Coaching Awards, hosted by sports coach UK with three high profile honours going to the nation’s favourite Olympic sport.

To start with, four decades of coaching success were recognised when Bath university-based coach Malcolm Arnold was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

This year was another one of multi-podium finishes for Malcolm’s athletes. This summer Dai Greene added the World 400m Hurdles gold medal to his European and Commonwealth crowns. The Welshman’s victory took the tally of major medals won by Arnold’s athletes, who have also included Colin Jackson and Jason Gardener, to over 65.

Arnold was then part recipient of another award when he was named as one of four coaches of Dai Greene to receive the Coaching Chain Award, presented to coaches who have made a contribution to the development and success of an athlete. The other coaches in the chain were Leyshon Williams (should be Wynford Leyshon!), Darrell Maynard and Benke Blomkvist.

Finally, UKA and England Athletics were named Governing Body of the Year in recognition of the ‘comprehensive, researched, innovative and joined-up approach to the development of a cohesive, well functioning coaching system.’

http://www.uka.org.uk/media/news/novemb ... ortscoach/

Congratulations to Malcolm Arnold and Dai Greene's chain of coaches.

UKA/EA receive the governing body award for coaching! Living in Wales we haven't really got any coaching system yet so it is hard for me to comment on English coaching. I am generally in favour of the mentoring system but not sure I would describe the system/structure as ‘comprehensive, researched, innovative and joined-up approach to the development of a cohesive, well functioning coaching system.’

[boysen]

If they really are the GB of the yearwhat does it say of the others? With no women being nominated for Sportsperson of the year perhaps it calls intp question this "method" of "award"?

[BigGut]

I know this will do me no favours, but perhaps if people actually got behind the plans it might actually work. Maybe it is the bickering and stubborness that stops these ideas working not the validity of the ideas themselves.

[trickstat]

Well they are probably better than the RFU! Not that that is anything to get excited about.

[TheRealSub10]

Trust me when I say they are better than boxing also!

[Kermit]

Add Basketball to the "better than" list

[hank]

Netball seem like a decent NGB. Triathlon also.

[Pete S]

I know this will do me no favours, but perhaps if people actually got behind the plans it might actually work. Maybe it is the bickering and stubborness that stops these ideas working not the validity of the ideas themselves.

Which parts are not working? I recently saw a weekend gathering in Birmingham like no other, with hundreds of coaches meeting to discuss their coaching ideas and problems - the "getting together" part is obviously working. The rise in standards is extremely modest but at least it's going marginally up rather than down.

On the subject of the validity of the ideas, this has been debated at length elsewhere on this forum, where arguably some of the most experienced and successful coaches in our sport have voiced their concerns in a erudite and insightful manner. That is not bickering. Stubborn it may be, but you tend to get like that when you've got unsurpassed experience in something and someone with little or no experience tells you that your ideas are invalid. Only a fool would brush these ideas aside.

Low level dissent will always be present and can sap the energies of those involved in managing the sport - but it should not be confused with the input of learned and experienced practitioners - that kind of input is gold dust and the wise and successful NGB will afford it great value.

[BigGut]

Peter,

I totally agree, and it isn't people analysing the content I have a problem with. It's the people who add nothing but parrot comments made as attacks rather than try to be part of the solution. Sadly the main protagonists in this regard, and it isn't on this forum, seem to be people who have decades of experience but are more interested in attacking than building.

[Pete S]

Well I am obviously (thankfully?) isolated from this type of people or have learned to filter them out!

The only people I come into contact with are either those with massive experience who air their criticisms at the same time as they proffer solutions, or the people who just accept whatever is presented to them as long as it's on shiny paper.

The first group and they are small in number, give me hope.
The second group give me serious cause for concern, for the future of our sport.

As I think we both agree, it's no good "having a pop" at anything without suggesting better ways of doing things.