There is a lot of chatter on social media at present regarding the great success we are seeing at underage level and how we can ensure these great young athletes and their coaches are navigated through the post-junior years. Three articles in the past week have touched on the point.
Cathal Dennehy, writing in the Irish Examiner on Saturday, link here, said
"At some point, though, the association needs to dig deep into its coffers and appoint a full-time director of coaching, and it has to be someone of international repute, one whose results speak louder than a powerpoint presentation that can easily fool a boardroom".
Along similar lines, on his RTE Sport blog, link here, David Gillick said
"I think Athletics Ireland have an opportunity now to look at that talent and think: how do we nurture that? Is it a case where someone comes in and tries to manage it to the next level? Perhaps, because we always have talented juniors but the key is what happens to them next. Is it time to bring in a full-time relay or sprints co-ordinator? Obviously athletes in every area such as throws, jumps or distance running would want a similar investment, but when you look at the junior and U23 ranks, we’ve got a rake of good sprinters coming through. It might be time to invest in a coaching structure that can keep this talent in the pipeline, because we want to make sure our World Championship team in 2027 is just as strong, or better, than it will be in 2017".
Just today, Sonia O'Sullivan, along similar lines in her Irish Times piece here, wondered with the rich depth we have at underage, will that transfer to senior ranks
"When you have a strong foundation of young athletes like this it’s hard to fathom how Ireland can have such a small senior representation at the World Championships. These things do go in cycles but you have to hope that in the next few years with the right mindset and direction as these young athletes develop and grow, so too will the quantity and quality of Irish senior athletes."
Last Sunday, I threw up a pool on Twitter based on what someone else had suggested as regards raising ring-fenced funds for coaching.
Would you pay a €5 'Coach Tax' per year to fund full-time coaches in Irish Athletics? 60,000 members x €5 = €300k or 3 World Class Coaches— Jeremy Lyons (@Jeremy_P_Lyons) July 23, 2017
While not statistically representative, there were still 372 voters and 81% said they would be willing to add €5 to their annual register fee so as to fund three world class coaches. Money is often touted as the reason for our elite coaching shortfall, and it is indeed a valid reason, but lets assume the 'coaches tax' or 'coaches levy' was introduced and we had three world class coaches overnight, how would it work. Here are two models:
Poach and Coach
All top athletes for a certain discipline will be grouped and coached by this new coach leaving their existing coaches. All these athletes training together will create a superb training environment. The previous and grassroot coaches will feel disenfranchised.
Coach The Coach
The new coach will have oversight of all existing coaches of top athletes, providing oversight and ongoing mentorship. They will not directly coach athletes. Will allow growth of the existing coaches, creating disciples of the new coach and leaving a coaching legacy. However, top coaches want to coach and it could be hard to attract a top coach on the grounds that they couldn't coach athletes.
There are others models and more pros and cons of these two models, above is just a flavour.
The question is will this leap of faith take place? There are many people in our NGB, in paid and voluntary positions, who know this is the right thing to do but it just isn't happening. In fairness, money is the big road block. With 2017 budgets well and truly earmarked or spent it won't happen in 2017. With the next Congress in spring 2018, it is unlikely to happen in 2018 as 2018 budgets will be worked on in late 2017. 2019 maybe? Probably too late for a meaningful impact on 2020 but in enough time for 2024. The only fear is the success of underage will buy some time. Tick some boxes. 'We are doing great, the juniors are flying'. Complacency. Twelve years ago we had a one-two in the men's 1500m at the European Juniors. We were kings of the underage mile in Europe. The Level 1 and Level 2 Coaching Programmes have been a huge part of the underage upsurge. It's the next level and beyond that now needs focus.
In the meantime and assuming the change doesn't happen, the people driving on the performance side of the sport at the coalface, the coaches, will just keep on trucking, keeping on doing what they do.
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