Coaches and Athlete Service Personnel from throughout the UK took part in the conference and delegates were from a range of over 30 Olympic and Paralympic Sports.
Key members of SINI staff attended this conference including Athlete Services Manager Peter McCabe. Peter outlines his thoughts on the conference below,
“The Conference presented a great opportunity for SINI staff to capture, communicate and resolve challenges that emerge within the high performance sporting environment. The chance to network and compare progress within different sports and regions is vital, and acts as a catalyst to successfully overcoming the challenges we face in high performance sport in Northern Ireland.
We can learn fast from systems that are more evolved than ours at this stage but we also recognise where our approach is advantageous. Many of the broad messages from the evolved systems indicate that we (SINI) are right on track – this promotes confidence and encourages us to push through obstacles and continue to win over ‘those who are fearful of the pace of change in Northern Ireland’.
This year the conference had a theme of ‘Teamship’ and it focused on the link between the culture within a team and performance. Examples from within sport included workshops led by team sports such as Rugby, Cricket, Hockey and Synchronised Swimming. Individual sports were able to present examples of “Teamship” within staff supporting key athletes from the sports of Athletics and Diving.
Apart from workshop elements there were keynotes from ex-Marine, adventurer and filmmaker Monty Halls and former British Lion and now Head of English Rugby – Elite Coaching – Nigel Redman.’’
Peter continued – “This year a great feature was cross-community comparisons with views on “Teamship” from the perspectives of the military, media and performing arts. This type of input offers a chance for lateral thinking around the application of concepts, which will only help identify creative solutions.
One quote from Monty Halls struck a chord with me. He was commenting on his own role within the team he fronts. He said ‘You are there to do a job, to lift people. You need energy, enthusiasm and professionalism’.
That’s exactly the approach I want SINI Staff to project when they interact with athletes and coaches.”
