Earlier this week as I walked into the Ramada Hotel the Christmas tree and the music were a sudden reminder that Christmas is just around the corner. Staff and athletes have been particularly busy recently either in the gym, at the sports injury clinic or travelling to conferences. Christmas gives us all a brief respite and all at SINI wish you a great Christmas and hope that you get a chance to recharge your batteries as we move into 2004.

For some 2004 has been in clear focus over the last few years with the lead up to the Olympics in Athens. For those who doubt whether all the hard work will be worthwhile I am reminded of an athlete diary I was shown recently. The diary was written by an athlete who competed in the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia in 1998.

“ Another day gone and another step closer to fulfilling my lifetime ambition. I start to panic again. How could I control this? What techniques should I employ to combat these negative thoughts? Why am I even putting myself through all this? Why don’t I pack it all in right now? I would have time to do other things like playing hockey and athletics in school.”

“ Thankfully I didn’t give up. On 31st August the plane took off for Malaysia. After moving into the Games Village I soon realised there was still lots of work to be done. We stuck to our diet and rehydration programme and gradually acclimatised.”

“ The atmosphere in the Commonwealth Stadium was electric and the buzz and excitement reached a crescendo as the Northern Ireland team finally marched into the stadium. This was the proudest moment of my life.”

“ In the competition we finished top of our pool and sixth overall behind the top Commonwealth Nations. The realisation finally dawned on me, I had finally made it and my ambition was well and truly accomplished. All the training and hardship had been worth it. I had no idea of the degree of exhilaration and passion that would be displayed and how I would feel. We had the party of all parties – great memories.”

This young athlete's experience can be replicated by many others in sport. Ask Peter Canavan, Jonny Wilkinson, Keith Wood, Paul McKee or Lynsey McVicker. But the one thing they will all agree on is that – to maximise their results they had to put in maximum effort.

BEST WISHES FOR 2004

HISTORIC FIRST AT SLIEVE RUSSELL

Ulster Council GAA were delighted with the turnout of 100 coaches and administrators at the Coaching and Games Development Symposium held at the Slieve Russell, Ballyconnell on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th December 2003. The Symposium staged joinly by the Council and SINI aimed to help forge understanding between administrators and coaches. This type of event was a first for Ulster GAA, and many key issues regarding the future of Uster games were discussed. The friday night session had a keynote speech from Dr Niall Moyna Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology at Dublin City University. Niall raised challenging issues such as the risks of player burnout, and the need for a mandatory close season. Saturday morning consisted of a series of workshops - presenters included Philip Kerr, John Morrison, Thomas Lismore and Dinny Cahill. The Symposium also featured poster presentations by Sharon Madigan (Nutrition)and Declan Gamble (Sports Science). Director of High Performance Eugene Young wrapped the weekend up with a summary presentation and also expressed his thanks to the key Sponsor Quinns plus other subsidiary sponsors. Further details of the conference will be featured on the SINI website over the coming weeks.

DOMESTIC CONSIDERATIONS

After the excitement of the World Cup and the euphoric triumph of England on the World stage, rugby union has further increased in popularity, both to the ‘wanna-be’ player and the new generation of supporters. There has been little time to draw breath since the dramatic final, especially for those English players who seven days later turned out for their clubs in the English Premiership. The intensity continues - next weekend sees the first round of European Cup matches, a competition Ulster will be striving to impress in, building upon their excellent Celtic League & Celtic Cup performances.

Domestically, the All Ireland League continues – but for how long in it’s current guise? As part of the review of Irish rugby, one of the key issues is to review competition levels for senior rugby. The Strategic Planning Group has identified three main options to stimulate discussion, in an attempt to find a cost effective and sustainable model, which ensures a continued, effective pathway between domestic rugby and the professional game.

Option 1: Retaining the Status Quo

All Ireland League to consist of:

· 14 teams in Division 1
· 17 teams in Division 2
· 17 teams in Division 3
· League to operate as per current regulations
· Qualifying Leagues to remain in all aspects including promotion & relegation to the A.I.B.League

Option 2: Premier Division & Regional Divisions

All Ireland League to consist of:

· 14 teams in Division 1
· 17 teams in Division 2
· 17 teams in Division 3

Division 1: To operate on All Ireland basis with bottom team to be regulated to Division 2.

Division 2: To be divided into 2 North and 2 South, operating promotion and demotion.

Division 3: To be divided into 3 North and 3 South, operating promotion and demotion.

OR

Division 2/3: To be combined in a single Division 2, operating promotion and demotion.

Option 3: The Non Divisional Model

All AIL clubs revert to senior status and play in 3 regional leagues at start of season.

· Eastern x 16, South/Western x 16, Northern x 16
· Connacht teams divided between 3 regions
· Each regional league divided into sections of 8 teams.

Thereafter, depending on finishing position, teams would divide into All Ireland play off leagues to determine – All Ireland Championship, All Ireland Bowl and All Ireland Pennant.

Whatever decision is made there is a need to find a format which reduces competition costs to clubs and takes into account the social pressures and demands of work, family and lifestyles on players.

SLUGGING IT OUT AT STORMONT

Normally the Stormont estate is reserved for the political heavyweights battling it out, however on the 10th January World Class Cross Country returns to the picturesque venue. The BELFAST INTERNATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY will be the 27th in a series, which has long been established as the best meeting in the British Isles. World, Olympic, European and Commonwealth Champions have provided thrilling competition at Mallusk, Barnett Demesne and the present venue at Stormont.

Legends like Steve Ovett, Steve Cram, Brendan Foster, John Ngugi as well as Paula Radcliffe, Liz Mc Colgan and Catriona Mc Kiernan have all taken part in the race. This year will be no different in terms of quality, however Northern Ireland Athletics are keeping their cards close to their chest until the press conference in early December.

Last year saw the return of television coverage of the event for the first time since Paula Radcliffe’s two victories went out live on ‘Grandstand’. Sky television will again broadcast the event in 2004 which forms part of the Reebok Cross country series. This series runs throughout the winter in the UK and attracts visitors from as young as 12 years old to Northern Ireland to compete in this prestigious event. Hopefully there will be good crowds as always to make our visitors feel welcome and to roar on the local runners!

Heading the Northern Ireland teams at Stormont will be SINI athletes Dermot Donnelly and Kelly Reid. Both athletes had excellent performances at the venue last year and aim to show World Cross Country team selectors how successfully their winter programmes are going. The first race gets underway at 11am and entrance for spectators is free.

In preparation for the Olympic Qualifier in Auckland, New Zealand from 19th-28th March 2004, Irish Coach, Riet Kuper, has announced a squad of 25 who will continue weekend training at the National Hockey Stadium in Dublin until 14th December. She will then reduce the squad further as she continues with her preparations through to Auckland. The entire SINI women’s squad has been selected.

1. Suzanne Beaney (Belfast Harlequins)
2. Elaine Bromell (Catholic Institute)
3. Jenny Burke (Hermes)
4. Deirdre Casey (Cork Church of Ireland)
5. Linda Caulfield (Hermes)
6. Fiona Connery (Hermes)
7. Eimear Cregan (UL)
8. Kristin Farrell (Waterford)
9. Mary Goode (Pembroke Wanderers)
10. Nicky King (Old Alexandra)
11. Susie Martin (Pegasus)
12. Katharine Maybin (Pegasus)
13. Nicky McCaughran (Ballymoney)
14. Jenny McDonough (Belfast Harlequins)
15. Cathy McKean (Loreto)
16. Bridget McKeever (Ballymoney)
17. Lynsey McVicker (Ballymoney)
18. Ciara O'Brien (UCD)
19. Linda O'Neill (UCD)
20. Jill Orbinson (Portadown)
21. Pamela Orr (Randalstown)
22. Jenny Osborne (Hermes)
23. Angela Platt (Ballymoney)
24. Orla Ryan (Loreto)
25. Nikki Symmons (Loreto)

IHA is also delighted to announce the appointment of SINI’s Sally Bell as Assistant Coach. Sally worked with the girls as part of the Management team in the build up to the European Cup in Barcelona last September and will now assume the Assistant Coach role for the Qualifiers in Auckland.

WORLD CLASS COACHING CONFERENCE

Fourteen staff and coaches attended a three-day high performance conference at the Belfry. The top 350 coached from across the United Kingdom were in attendance at the conference organised by UK Sport. Day one was dedicated to key note speakers with the other days given over to workshops on the following subject areas:

· Pathway to the Podium – David Whitaker
· What can you do with your Medical team – Various Medical Practitioners
· Coaches role in Psychologically Developing Champions – Bill Sweetenham, Kirsten Barnes, Rhona Martin and Bill Beswick.
· Prioritising up to the games – Jonathan Males, Ken Kelly, Yogi Breisner and Gary Hall
· Delivering Performance – Mark Tilston, Stephen Park and Udo Quellmalz
· Springboard to Turin and Beijing – Chris Shambrook, Russell Keiller and Stephen Park
· Institute of One – Simon Timson, Jan Bartu, Sue Slocombe OBE and Rod Carr
· Creating Champions – Peter Keen OBE
· Integrating Blood Profiling into your programme – Brian Moore, Bruce Hamilton and Alan Storey
· Herding Cats: Managing talented but difficult individuals – Bill Beswick
· Athens Acclimatisation update – Gregory Whyte, Paul Davies and Rachel Williams
· Physiological measures of peaking prediction – Bill Sweetenham, Henryk Lakomy and Gary Phillips
· How we Train – John Anderson, Graeme Randall MBE, Dave Titmuss and Steve Foley
· Developing teamship through effective cultural change – David Whitaker OBE and Jonathan Males
· Peaking - One moment in time: Teamship when it really counts – Steve Bull and Simon Timson

With the theme, Teamship – “ the winning attitude” most of the workshops were based around issues leading up to Olympics in Athens in 2004.

Staff are currently working on producing a report from the workshops attended but many were impressed by the contributions made by Sports Psychologist and Assistant Coach at Middlesborough FC. Bill Beswick, Performance Director at British Swimming Bill Sweetenham and Peter Keen Performance Director at Lucazade Sports Science Academy to name but a few.

Some of the quotes noted from key presenters were:

“Talent can win – attitude WILL win”

“You need to produce MAXIMUM effort to get MAXIMUM results”

“Compromise is the cancer of achievement”

“You win on your strengths, you lose on your weaknesses”

“Winning is a habit performed everyday”

“Don’t be on time – be early”

“Is good ok, when better is possible”

“ The harder I train, the luckier I become”

“Make the leap to change the culture”

“Communication relieves anxiety”

“Make sure when you fall you get up again”

Don’t be surprised if these start to appear around the Strength and Conditioning facilities in the months to come! In general the conference was excellent, giving staff and coached from SINI an opportunity to discuss high performance issues and confirm the direction in which institute programmes are going.

Middlesbrough Football Club assistant manager Bill Beswick emphasized the importance of assessing athlete lifestyle in a presentation to coaches assembled at the recent World Class Coaching Conference. Beswick, who is a qualified and applied Sports Psychologist, explained that while handling athletes is individual and contextual, there are a number of operating principles that work consistently. He explained how he and the staff at Middlesbrough meet weekly to consider each squad player from three perspectives – physical, mental and lifestyle. Under lifestyle he stressed the importance of gaining an understanding of the network that the player functions within. In addition it was key to be able to recognize instances when individuals need support in order to maintain balance in their lives.

“ Bill spoke about understanding the players and their motivations. He recognizes that physical, mental and lifestyle issues can all impact on the energy that the player is able to give to performance,” said SINI ACE Coordinator Peter McCabe. “Developing adult to adult relationships with the players and their immediate networks helps player maintenance and builds their sense of belonging”. “I was interested in Bill’s comments that coaches also need balance in terms of their personal lifestyle management. Modern sport has the potential to become all-consuming and this can lead to problems. Ability to identify periods when it is appropriate to “switch off” and indeed strategies to facilitate “switch off” can be crucial in terms of stress management”.

Another comment that struck a chord with McCabe was Beswick’s description of the use of ‘transition zones’ to help athletes “switch on” and “switch off” before and after performance. As part of SINI’s facility planning it is hoped to create a small athlete lounge to serve such a function. “Hopefully we will be able to incorporate this concept into our new facility” said McCabe, “I am already well aware of how such an area is used creatively in the US Olympic training centres and believe that in time it will be a useful addition to our environment”.

The importance of carbohydrate ingestion post-exercise, in relation to recovery, has been known for some time. However, the role of dietary protein in enhancing the recovery process has unfortunately not been identified. Moreover, amino acids (the building blocks of muscle fibres) have been shown to play a crucial role in repairing muscle damage. Importantly, three of these amino acids, leucine, isoleucine and valine, which are commonly referred to as the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), have been shown to play a favourable role in the regulation of muscle protein metabolism during and post-exercise. This revelation has been interpreted to suggest that the BCAAs could enhance anabolic processes (i.e muscle building), including acceleration of recovery during training. A number of recent investigations have illustrated the potential of these amino acids to facilitate recovery. However, these preliminary results need to be supported by further evidence before any solid recommendations can be put forward. This work is ongoing and readers will continue to be informed of the latest developments through the SINI newsletter.