Coaching Edge 25 Preview

AUTUMN 2011 ISSUE 25 PREVIEW

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EDGE

’s UINK G

LEAADCHINGE CO GAZIN MA

CHAIN REACTION How BMX is changing lives

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COACHING EDGE |WELCOME|

WELCOME Welcome to this preview issue of Coaching Edge 25.

If you’ve never dipped your toe into the world of Coaching Edge, then you really have missed out on a magazine which, in the finest traditions, aims to educate, inform and entertain... and all on the subject of sport, and more precisely, on subjects which are pertinent to you, the sports coach.

In the last few issues alone we’ve had articles which look at nurturing talent, at getting the best from parents and helpers, at the role of head coaches... and assistant coaches; we’ve looked at boccia, at swimming, at archery, and freerunning, at football, cricket, rugby, boxing, at the role of captains, at inclusivity, at coaching women, and at women coaches... and that’s just a few of the subjects, the list really can (and does) go on.

We have many more topics and sports to look at anew and also revisit, and we have the opinions and feedback from our readers to take us in fresh directions.

In the latest issue (Issue 25, Autumn 2011), we tackle a host of subjects with enthusiasm and knowledge. Our aim is to open up a subject which has many layers and inspire you to dig deeper with some of the suggestions and further reading, whether you’re starting out on your coaching journey, or if you’re experienced but willing to re-examine what you do (as all good coaches surely do anyway!).

To give you an idea of the content of Coaching Edge, we’ve given you a free preview of our cover story – which is more than just a look at the sport of BMX. We all know that getting involved in sport can make differences to a community, and this feature highlights a club which does just that. There’s some great quotes and ideas that may well help and inspire you at the club where you coach.

Issue 25 also features an interview with a true sporting great – Paralympian David Weir (right), a man making his first, tentative foray into the coaching world while also competing at the very top. We look at latest ideas on nutrition, at the way a coach can (or perhaps can't) influence a sporting encounter through in-play interventions, at the sporting foundations being laid through Multi-skills, and how technology is changing the way we approach what we do in a myriad of ways and across a host of sports.

We also speak to a man who has reached the top of his sport, rugby league, having never played the game at the highest level. His is a story which can, does, and should, apply to many other disciplines and sports. Indeed it’s this aspect which we always find fascinating, every single issue, and which we know readers do too.

Sports coaches, purely by getting involved, are open-minded characters, willing to learn just as much as they want to impart knowledge. And we know a hockey coach can pick up great tips from a trampoline coach, that the approach taken in sailing can mean better results in rugby and cricket... in other words, sometimes it’s the variety, and ‘thinking outside the box’ which gives us the ‘Coaching Edge’.

Tim Hartley, editor, Coaching Edge editor@coachwise.ltd.uk Follow us on Twitter: @TheCoachingEdge Cover image © Brandon Malone/Action Images Limited.

© Craig Brough/Action Images Limited

Coaching Edge aims to make a difference with every issue; we hope you enjoy this preview – and come back for more.

|INCLUSIVE SPORT| COACHING EDGE

PEDAL POWER BMX is very much a sport in the ascendancy – it is the newest discipline to be added to the Olympic programme, making its debut at the Beijing 2008 Games. But it is also one of the few sports that appeals to all ages and classes, and is bringing communities together, as Howard Foster discovered.

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arlier this summer, London mayor Boris Johnson donned a cycle helmet, climbed onto a BMX bike and negotiated two sets of tricky ramps.

He was launching the Walthamstow BMX course, just after it had been completed by an enthusiastic group of volunteers at this, one of a host of community sports projects designed to create a multi-million pound legacy from next year’s London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

© Peter Cziborra/Action Images Limited

The fact the Eton-educated, 47-year-old Johnson can enjoy – and participate – in the sport as easily as teenagers (and pre-teens) from all manner of deprived backgrounds says everything about this fast and furious sport.

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COACHING EDGE |INCLUSIVE SPORT|

Exciting action and rivalry, such as between Britain’s Shanaze Reade and France’s Anne Caroline Chausson is attracting a new generation of fans and riders

Noting the enthusiasm for BMX, Johnson told reporters: ‘If it’s true as they’ve been telling me that lots of kids came out here last night and started playing, then that’s a fantastic thought.’

As part of this greatly increased interest in the sport, more new clubs are springing up elsewhere in the UK. From a coaching and mentoring perspective, particularly for younger members, they would do well to follow the example set by the coaches, officials and members of Heywood BMX Club. Yvonne Mills’ official title is secretary with the highly regarded Rochdale-based club, but she jokes she could easily be called the organiser, transport

manager, general helper, and ‘meeter and greeter’ too.

youth and passing on their enthusiasm to their children.’

Her huge enthusiasm for the club, and the sport of BMX, shines through in everything Mills says.

Heywood’s youngest members are only five years old, and even at that tender age, Mills stresses that it’s not too early to coach them – but crucially, in the right way.

Talking of the club demographic, she says: ‘I suppose Heywood would be classed as a deprived area. At the club we have kids from Heywood and from surrounding areas, some more affluent than others. But this doesn’t show.

We are all equal. We are a family, and the sport and the club builds bridges between people who might not meet, or get on, in ordinary life.

‘Our club has a good number of “dads and lads”, 40 year olds, perhaps, reliving their BMX

These words were echoed by Walthamstow cycling coach Mike Beasant, who gave an interview to London24.com in which he said: ‘Bike riding gives you confidence. BMX is a technical sport, so the more complex it gets, the more confidence you gain. Teenage testosterone might make some kids feel overly confident with tricks, but the bike will level that out because you fall off. But you gain

|INCLUSIVE SPORT| COACHING EDGE

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BMX FACTS • BMX, which stands for bicycle motocross, was inspired by motocross – the motorised version of the sport.

• It first started to take off in California in the1960s.

• The sport made its debut at the Beijing 2008 Games.

© Brandon Malone/Action Images Limited

• The first Olympic Games BMX gold medals were won by Latvia’s Maris Strombergs and France’s Anne-Caroline Chausson.

confidence and enthusiasm and they apply in all areas of life.’

Heywood’s Mills explains how their club’s coaching model works. The emphasis is on simplicity... and having fun...

‘Basically for all our young members, whatever age group, we strip everything back down to the basics. We don’t assume any pre-knowledge of the sport, or about bikes or biking either.

‘Simple things like learning to ride in a straight line should not be taken for granted, and are a great starting point.’ She says that a coaching programme can be built from this, with other core skills that are so simple you may not think

‘Through balancing games, or slow races and the like, they learn invaluable lessons without even realising they are doing so – they are having such a good time.’

of them, being drummed into new young members to set them in good stead for the rest of their biking lives.

‘You’d be amazed at the things we cover: they even include how to lay the bikes down chain side up. A simple tip but a good one, and the kids benefit.’

Mills says the club’s coaches – her husband Craig plus Brian Barton – try to ensure learning is fun for all their members.

‘Through balancing games, or slow races and the like, they learn invaluable lessons without even realising they are doing so – they are having such a good time.’

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COACHING EDGE |INCLUSIVE SPORT|

A shining example of Heywood’s success in bringing on young talent as people and as team players, as well as sporting competitors, is 13-year-old John Cross, who, until recently, was number one in his age group for BMX across the north of England.

Mills explains: ‘John and his family would not mind me saying that he got up to quite a lot of mischief in the past. This included problems at school and a general lack of direction.

‘He started out on a club bike, and showed such promise, determination and good attitude that his parents saved up for a whole year to buy him his own bike.

‘As with quite a few of our young members, BMX was used as a bargaining tool. If they behave themselves, the reward is to ride their bike on the track, to compete and to have fun.

‘John really turned himself around. So much so, he acts as a mentor to other young members of the club now.’

This work involves teaching newcomers key tasks such as how to change a tyre and inner tube, puncture repair and general positive messages about the BMX way.

Mills’ message of the ‘family’ of the UK BMX community is a recurrent theme. We spoke to her before the community, including fellow northern clubs in Bradford and Manchester, were due to descend on Manchester for a competition.

‘We all look out for one another and we’re a tight-knit group.’

THE COACH’S EDGE

This message has been borne out closer to home, with Mills’ son Sam, 12, and fellow club

© Yvonne Mills

‘But he arrived at Heywood and with coaching and guidance soon became a BMX enthusiast and a highly skilled practitioner of the sport.

Members of Heywood BMX Club in action members Keiran and Will. They all attend the same high school, and recently put in place the togetherness the club has taught them when faced with the scourge of schoolchildren – bullying.

‘When one of the boys was being picked on, the others stepped in to help their club colleague out and put an end to it. Effectively, it’s about looking out for each other, a life lesson we teach at Heywood, and which can be used in all walks of life.’

The sporting success the club has achieved is well-regarded in the BMX world.

In last year’s British Championships, the club sent four competitors, in this year’s championship, recently held in Cheddar, Somerset, no fewer than 20 BMX-ers wore Heywood’s colours, most under the age of 16.

As Mills says, with her trademark enthusiasm: ‘This sport can be the making of people who take part in it, whether as a competitor, for fun,

One of Yvonne Mills’ top pieces of advice is to get your competitors to learn by example by bringing inspiring people to your club.

At Heywood, Olympic legend Chris Hoy has visited, and Mills describes meeting him as her proudest moment, especially when he said he began his cycling career riding a BMX, and that he had ridden at the Heywood BMX Club in the past!

‘Though not coaching as such, learning by example from people such as Chris, and Shanaze Reade (who also visited recently) is the greatest instruction our members could get,’ Mills stresses.

Reade – the three time UCI BMX world champion, eight time European and five times British BMX champion, has been a standard bearer for the sport in the UK and globally.

Her influence is something that Heywood’s youngsters can only learn from, and as an Olympic Games finalist when the sport made its debut last time round in Beijing, there’s a high bar to aim at for those following in her tyre tracks.

or as a coach or official, and the possibilities are absolutely limitless.’

Further Reading Fuller, N., Chapman, J. and Jolly, S. (2009) Positive Behaviour Management in Sport.

Leeds: Coachwise Business Solutions/The National Coaching Foundation.

ISBN: 978-1-905540-67-9.

Galvin, B. (2006) A Guide to Mentoring Sports Coaches. Leeds: Coachwise Business Solutions/The National Coaching Foundation.

ISBN: 978-1-902523-03-3.

NEXT STEPS To view the video linked to this article, visit: www.sportscoachuk.org/sitetools/workshops/about-ourworkshops/positive-behaviourmanagement-sport sports coach UK runs useful workshops related to this subject area called ‘Positive Behaviour Management in Sport’ and ‘A Guide to Mentoring Sports Coaches’. For details of your nearest workshop and dates, visit www.sportscoachuk.org What’s more, you can visit their website and download the all-new Managing Behaviour in Sport: Strategies for Coaches Top Tip. For information on working with young people in disadvantaged communities, www.streetgames.org is also a good port of call.

s ’ K UING

LEAADCHINGE CO GAZIN MA

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COACHING EDGE |PREVIEW|

ALSO IN ISSUE 25

NUTRITION

MULTI-SKILLS

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portsmen and women have always tried to gain an edge, and have often attempted to use scientific reason to back up their efforts.

Respected sports writer John Goodbody looks at nutrition in sport, and how tastes have changed over the years – from the world of steak and alcohol through to elimination of proteins and loading of carbohydrates.

Experts at the Bisham Abbey Intensive Rehabilitation Unit discuss how high sugar content isn’t always to be frowned upon, and John looks at how Dr Ron Hill’s diet theories of the early 1970s, which fuelled his massive running achievements, have been adapted. He also discusses the needs of a variety of sports, from cricket to weightlifting.

He also touches on the needs within a sport – and how bowlers and batsmen in a sport such as cricket now have diets tailored just for them.

o we get youngsters to specialise in sport too early, is there a better way, is there a way to get the fundamental elements of movement and enjoyment into a child early? Welcome to Multi-skills, and in Coaching Edge 25 Richard Jones speaks to a host of coaches who are real fans and proponents of the subject.

As these guys tell us: ‘What is the point of trying to teach a five year old how to dribble a ball when they have not yet mastered throwing, catching and basic movement skills?’

This is about the building blocks of sport, and if one is agile from an early age, then specialism can come later, but agility will be a positive boon in a massive variety of sports and games.

The coaches we talk to stress the importance of the approach, and also highlight ways in which they get youngsters started.

|PREVIEW| COACHING EDGE

STAR INTERVIEW

IN-PLAY INTERVENTIONS

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ame a great British Paralympian. Name a great British Olympian. If you had a list for the latter, chances are you’d have mentioned the likes of Sir Steve Redgrave, Steve Ovett, Dame Mary Peters or Duncan Goodhew. For the former, it’s likely that thanks to much better media coverage of Paralympic sports in recent years you'd have named Ellie Simmonds, Simon Jackson, Tanni Grey-Thompson... and David Weir.

Well David is making those first, tentative pushes into the world of coaching, and Matt Majendie caught up with the man who became a dad for the second time this summer.

He has his sights set firmly on more gold at The London 2012 Paralympic Games, but gives a fascinating insight into his relationship with his own award-winning coach Jenny Archer, as well as his approach to helping two young charges of his own. He sees it as a natural progression, and also shares his opinion on the number of top-level coaches working in disability sport.

o you think that tactical substitution you made at the weekend was a stroke of genius? Are you convinced that the nod (or shake) as your athlete rounded the corner gave the necessary message and influenced the outcome? In Coaching Edge 25, Mike Dale looks at those ‘in-play interventions’, and speaks to a variety of coaches with differing views on whether such efforts really do or can work. From a football manager throwing his goalkeeper ‘up front’ in the dying seconds, to the Ryder Cup skipper planning his final day line-up, it’s another fascinating insight into the thoughts and motivations of top coaches, and again provides inspiration to coaches at all levels, whatever the sport.

For Great Britain hockey coach Danny Kerry it’s a no-brainer, and he says he looks to ‘make gains with our team through my coaching. Not through some nebulous, unrehearsed “tactical masterstroke”.’

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