Specialist Coaching - Views Sought by Bill Gault

For the last two years we  have attempted to introduce specialist coaching for our athletes during the  winter months. This has included high jump, long jump, hurdles and throwing disciplines.  This has not been successful, possibly for the following reasons.   Firstly, most young athletes could not manage to include an extra evening or  weekend session; secondly, the sessions were generally only 'tasters' and following this we did not plan for a series of training events to bring athletes to an acceptable competitive level.

We would like to try introducing specialist training again and where possible avoid the above pitfalls.  I am  happy to set up the specialist coaches and work out a programme for the next 6  months to cover the various disciplines.  The aim should be to give athletes an  opportunity to try new skills and where possible be capable of representing the Club in areas in which we have been weak.  It should also be fun.  Realistically the winter training would only be effective during next years Track and Field.   Previous experience has shown that unless we have a co-ordinated programme which  includes the use of some of the normal training sessions to cover the early stages of the disciplines and reinforce early specialist coaching, then the  learning points are soon lost.  Before doing this I need the following  information, mostly from coaches but also from athletes themselves and any interested parents.
- Names of athletes who are interested, their  availability and their specific specialist interest
- Coaches who would like to learn the basic skills of the specialist events and their availability
-  Parents who could assist with transport on occasions to locations such as Grangemouth where some of the sessions would be held

To give two examples of what might be required to bring an athlete from novice to acceptable (and maybe exceptional!) level.

Hurdles
About six sessions of about  45 minutes duration going through the rudiments of hurdling skills with the training pamphlet Fiona Laing has produced and working with own coach perhaps at the University track. Alternatively, the Clackmannan young people moving their training sessions to Grangemouth on Monday nights and those who wish to do  hurdles training using the facility while others do their usual training.  Once  up to scratch and this would be about February those who wish to continue join  Fiona's training team on Monday nights at Grangemouth. Organising the occasional longer session at weekends in the early spring to hone the skills and then winning everything in sight during the track and field season!

Throwing events
This should be easier as we have at  least 2 coaches within the Club who could provide the specialist training for  most of the throwing events.  We need again to allocate time and have the coaches agree to a programme which would bring more or less novices to a competent standard.  I would take the advice of the coaches but would again   consider we need about 12 concerted sessions to ensure that we are giving young  athletes the opportunity to consolidate their training and back this up with  some reinforcement in early spring.  There should be some measure of who is doing the training and how they are progressing.

A similar pattern would  apply to the jumps disciplines.

Any productive views would be well received but would appreciate an early response. Need to know the interest  before setting up the sessions. I  would also appreciate if you could pass this proposal to those not on yahoo group or on internet

Editors note - Anyone wishing to respond to this should contact Bill by email willcgault@aol.com

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2nd November 2003. New York City Marathon. Congratulations to club member and postie, Brian Hodge, who has just returned from the States after taking part in and completing the New York Marathon. Brian found the event to be an amazing experience and was pleased with his finishing time of 4hrs 49 mins 24 secs. He might have been slightly faster if he hadn’t agreed to deliver some mail whilst on the route and discovered that one of the addresses was at the top of the empire state building.

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8 STAGE INVITATIONAL ROAD RELAY 16 NOVEMBER 2003. Only two years after first being invited to take part in Scottish Athletics Invitational Relay, Central Athletic Club's Team produced a magnificent performance to lift the bronze medals.

This race had superceded the traditional Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay Race as the race into Glasgow was deemed to be too dangerous.  The new road route for the race was from Ingliston to Caldercruix then via Avonbridge to end in Callendar Park, Falkirk, covering some 45 miles.

Ewan Gault ran the first leg from Ingliston, starting at 8.30am, coming through the leg with a fine run for an excellent 6th place.  Robert Russell also had a superb run on the tough 7mile 'uphill' leg from Broxburn to Bathgate, with the third fastest time on this leg, bringing the team into third place.  Alastair Hay also underlined his class with a brilliant third leg run, coming through into second place, with the second fastest time of the day on this leg to Blackridge.

Jamie McDonald provided another excellent performance, again the second fastest on his leg, holding on to second position at the changeover in Caldercruix. Alasdair Anthony had some of Scotland's leading runners on his leg, and although being passed by two rivals, he held his run together well to take the baton to Avonbridge and keep the team in contention for medals.

Alex Milne tackled the sixth leg for the Club and was only one second outside the fastest time on this leg as he swept through California into Reddingmuirhead, bringing the team back to third place. Steve Laing rolled back the years with a storming run into Falkirk, the third fastest run on this leg, holding on to third overall.

Lewis Millar tackled the 'glory leg' with a hard run up Glen Brae on his way to a fifth fastest time on this final leg, bringing the Club home to their well deserved third place.

Special mention to all those who supported the team and took on marshalling duties, in particular John Millar, Mary Cram, Cameron Campbell, David Hay and Bill Gault. Thanks are also due to Team Manager and Coach, Derek Easton, for excellent selections and bringing the team to a high level of fitness.

Stage Approx. Distance Athlete Time Position 1 5.4 miles Ewan Gault 28 min 46 sec 6 th 2 7.0 Miles Robert Russell 37 min 24 sec 3 rd 3 6.6 miles Alastair Hay 38 min 26 sec 2 nd 4 5.5 miles Jamie McDonald 25 min 46 sec 2 nd 5 6.5 miles Alasdair Anthony 37 min 04 sec 4 th 6 4.5 miles Alex Milne 24 min 48 sec 3 rd 7 5.5 miles Steve Laing 26 min 15 sec 3 rd 8 4.0 miles Lewis Millar 23 min 14 sec 3 rd

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East of Scotland Cross Country League. Kirkcaldy. 30th November. The Club picked up three excellent individual wins in the East District Cross Country League Races at Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy on Sunday as well as a fine first place for the Club's Ladies Team. The Under 11Boys team again provided one of the highlights for the Club with second team place.  David Hutchison produced another accomplished performance for third place (backing up his win at Gauldry from the previous week).  Excellent team points were provided by Roddy Irvine (7th), Martyn Paterson (12th), Ross Milne (18th) and Kelly Carruthers (39th). Mhairi Gillespie was another to have a fine run, replicating her 6th place from the first league meeting in the Under 11 Girls race. The Under 11 Girls Team was completed by good runs from Rachel Mills (17th) and Stephanie O'Neil (27th). Central were somewhat underrepresented in the Under 13 Girls race as Becky Hay took 27th place over the 3000metre course. Matthew Gillespie was the first of the Central winners taking the Under 13 Boys in his accustomed run away style, while his younger brother Anthony had another fine battling run for 10th in this age group. The Under 15 Boys race over 3,500 metres was the stage for the second Central victory with Michael Gillespie showing superb form to win his second successive race in this series. The Under 17 Girls race saw Rowena Bell-Scott having another good run for 7th with Lauren McNab finishing in 13th place. Michael Wright continues to impress and had another good run in the Under 17 Mens race for third place over a tough 6.4 kilometre course. Fiona Thomson led the victorious Central AC Womens Team home in 11th place overall (second Under 20) over the same 6.4K course used by the Under 17 Men.  Claire Waterhouse (17th), Ainsley Normand (21st) and Mary Kerr (43rd) all came through well to provide the excellent team win. The final individual win came in the last race of the day, the Senior Mens race over a gruelling 8.8 kilometre course.  Robert Russell underlined his undoubted class, opening up a 200metre gap by the finish to win this race in fine style.  This race also saw Central's best turnout of the day with further good performances from Alec Milne (24th), Steve Laing (30th), Lewis Miller (60th), Robert Hutchison (82nd), Roger Greenaway (86th), Derek Easton (97th), Fraser Purves (104th), Cameron Campbell (116th), John Miller (128th), Alan Gall (149th0 and George McHardy (173rd). The Scottish University Cross Country Championships were held on 29 November over a rain drenched course in Caird Park, Dundee. Alastair Hay found the competition tough but still finished in ninth position and it was good to see Ross Houston back in competition ahead of next week's National Cross Country Relay Championships. ...o0o...