With UUJ and QUB performing admirably in the McKenna Cup the future looks bright for the students. In fact UUJ were poised to book an historic semi-final place until a late Ciaran O’Reilly goal sealed the issue for Fermanagh. A mouth-watering fixture against Tyrone would have been their reward. In the other section Queens were unlucky to go down by the minimum against a resurgent Monaghan who now find themselves in the final awaiting the winners of Tyrone and Armagh.

However this was the best McKenna Cup campaign to date for both Universities and it augers well for their respective Sigerson Cup aspirations. In particular the SINI athletes were to the fore in both camps and enhanced their aspirations of playing Sigerson and inter-county football later in the year. For UUJ Ruairi Murray, James Colgan, Paul McGuigan, Finnian Moriarity recorded a number of solid performances in defence while Emmyvale’s Brendan McKenna continues to improve at midfield. In attack Johnny Bradley has been a model of consistency with Bernard O’Brien and John Boyle posting a number of neat scores.

With QUB in the running for a final spot up until the last game there was plenty of thrills and spills during their campaign. Their SINI representatives acquitted themselves admirably with Paul Courtney solid at the back and James McGovern, Eoin McCartan, and Michael O’Rourke contributing handsomely to the attack.

Two other SINI players were asked to turn out for Antrim due to the absence of a large chunk of St Gall’s players. Sean McVeigh lined out at full back while Conor McGoldrick saw action at wing half. By all accounts both enhanced their prospects of regular first team football in the months ahead.

Meanwhile injury continues to prevent Gerard O’Kane and Joe Keenan from turning out for their respective teams. However the good news is that Gerard is back in training and is hoping to feature in the near future. Andrew McClean is All-Ireland Club tied at the moment and all at SINI wish him and St Galls well in their semi-final battle with reigning champions Nemo Rangers.Finnally Ciaran Donnelly is featuring with the Tyrone U-21s in their games around the country while Paul Kernan is impressing with the freshers.
With Gaelic games enjoying unprecedented popularity everyone is looking forward to a new season with bated breath. Our SINI athletes are full of optimism and excitement as they approach Sigerson, U-21 Championship, Ulster Senior Championship, All-Ireland series, not forgetting the club scene. Everyone at SINI wishes them every success in achieving their objectives and aspirations.

Roger Keenan
Gaelic Football High Performance Manager

The Irish Under 19 team begin their preparations for the World Cup with games against Wales and England towards the end of February. Under normal circumstances these games would be seen as ideal planning, but this years World Cup takes place in Dubai and conditions will be very different to that of a British winter.

In an effort to accustom the players to the conditions they will face in Dubai the Irish management has booked the Acclimatisation Chamber at the University of Ulster which can duplicate the exact conditions the players will face.

Traditionally Irish players don’t cope well with extreme heat. In a senior international played in Samoa in 2003 two players left the field with heat stroke, though admittedly both were ginger!

The Acclimatisation Chamber will also give the medical team an opportunity to carry out a series of tests on how the humidity will affect the players. The information from these tests will ensure the team are well prepared and have a distinct advantage over many of the other teams attending.

The Irish Under 21 side prepared for their upcoming 6 Nations Championship with two games against a very strong Leinster A team. In the first game they were well beaten by 43 points to 12. In the return match played only three weeks later the Irish side, captained by SINI athlete Stuart Philpott, won the match by 40 points to 12. In the first match the Irish players had been overawed by their older and bigger opponents and had been beaten before the game had begun.

In the training camp before the return fixture the squad spent valuable time studying the match video and realised they were capable of a much better performance. The fact that they won the game is a credit to all those involved and should give the team confidence for the fixtures ahead.

Gary Longwell
Rugby High Performance Manager

It goes without saying that these successes would not be possible without the valuable input of individual coaches and I would like to extend congratulations to them on their results and thank them for all their hard work.

Congratulations to all involved.

BADMINTON

Erin Keery

Erin has been selected to the Commonwealth Games squad for Melbourne and will compete in double and mixed doubles.

CYCLING

David McCann
Tommy Evans

Both these Associate athletes are stalwarts of the NI Commonwealth Games team and will be looking for solid performances in Melbourne. David recently returned from the Tour of Siam in Thailand where he finished 17th.

JUDO

Lisa Bradley

Lisa is working towards the Commonwealth Championships which will be held in Northern Ireland In July 2007. In 2006 she won Gold medal at the Irish Open Championship.

RYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

Kara Hare

Bangor school girl Kara Hare has had a very successful year culminating in her selection for the Commonwealth squad for Melbourne.

ROWING

Orlagh Dudy

Orlagh has made phenomenal progress over the last 12 months. She has moved quickly up the Irish rankings and is now placed in the top 4 female skullers in Ireland. If she can continue this progress she is in a good place to secure a slot on the Irish squad to compete in the World Cup.

Orlagh Duddy Testing

Richard Archibald

2004 Olympian, Richard Archibald was part of the successful Irish Light Weight 4 that secured a silver Medal at the 2005 World Championships in Japan. He is working towards selection to the Irish squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

SAILING

Matt McGovern
Russell McGovern

The Mc Govern Brothers, Matt and Rusty have had a very successful year in which they up world ranking from 80th to 38th. They are currently training in Spain alongside other top International boats and are looking forward to the upcoming competitive season where they are aiming to crack into the World Top 25.

TABLE TENNIS

Peter Graham

Recently started working with the institute has been selected for the commonwealth Games squad.

SQUASH

Madeline Perry

Madeline has also had a very impressive season which has placed at number 11 in the world rankings. She also had a string of very impressive tournaments results with a couple of solid titles under her belt – the most impressive being the Buller Cup in Hong Kong. She is part of the Commonwealth squad heading to Melbourne where she will be ranked within the top 8 in singles and will compete with partner Stevie
Richardson in the mixed doubles.

SWIMMING

Clare Dawson

Claire Dawson has also had an impressive year. She narrowly missed selection for the Commonwealth Games squad and is now focussing her attention on the European Long Course in July.

Melanie Nocher

Melanie has had a very impressive year. In November she was named to the Commonwealth Games squad and her performance continues to improve. She has set 7 new Ulster senior records since October and has recently broken the Irish record held by Michelle Smith in 100m Backstroke.

TRIATHLON

Heather Wilson

Heather has had a frustrating year battling injury but through hard work and determination managed to produce the results to earn her a place on the Commonwealth Games Team.

Gavin Noble, is an Associate athlete who is based in Stirling. He will be competing in his 2nd Commonwealth Games and is currently in Australia preparing for the 2006 games.

BOWLS

The Northern Ireland Men’s Bowls Squad have recently joined SINI and are heading to the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. This experienced squad have already experienced a great deal of success on the International stage and are looking towards Melbourne with anticipation.

Neil Booth
Paul Daly
Niall Graham
Martin McHugh
Mark McPeake
Jonathon Ross
Jeremy Henry
Myles Greenfield

Jo Hopkins
Performance Manager for the Inividual Athlete Programme

In recent weeks SINI Sport Physiologist Declan Gamble has been involved in a series of presentations and workshops, which have been aimed at facilitating the preparations of athletes, coaches and officials, for participation in high level sporting competitions. Summary details of these sessions are included below.

The first presentation was given at the Ulster Council Referee Conference, which was held at the Glenavon Hotel, in Cookstown on the 13th of January. This conference evolved from the hugely successful Ulster Council Coaching Conference, that took place at the same venue in November, last year. Approximately, 100 delegates including current referees, assessors and county coordinators, attended the event. During the morning session Declan outlined the work that had been conducted to date within the referee analysis study. This study involved the use of a tracking system (SP10, manufactured by GPSports, Australia), that utilised global positioning satellites (GPS) to capture the movement profiles of referees during the Ulster and All-Ireland Senior Football Championships last year. Analysis of the information illustrated that the referees covered an average distance of 9.1 km during the games, exercised at an average heart rate of 168 beats per minute and sprinted approximately 55 times (the majority of the sprints lasting between 1-3 s). This summary data illustrated that refereeing games imposed a significant physiological load on referees, and was similar to that expected of midfield players.

In the afternoon, Declan outlined the significance of the findings and interpreted these in terms of training and hydration requirements. With the increase in the pace of the modern game, the traditional training practices of referees, i.e. continuous running at a moderate intensity, a couple of times a week, was clearly not appropriate to prepare referees for the high-intensity intermittent exercise profile that was illustrated by the GPS results. Therefore, one of the main conclusions was that referees needed to adopt appropriate training regimens that would recreate the demands of refereeing during games and facilitate increased performances during matches. In addition, evidence was presented that highlighted current sup-optimal hydration strategies. Dehydration has been shown to affect both physical and mental performance. Consequently, if a referee experiences significant dehydration during a game this could affect their ability to keep up with play and make the correct decision in critical situations, which would ultimately have a substantial bearing on both their own performance and the outcome of the match. Therefore appropriate hydration is paramount. Finally, the protocols currently used to assess the physical fitness of the referees were examined and discussed. Criticism of the traditional battery of tests has led to calls for a refinement of the assessment process and it is envisaged that future physical evaluations will be more specific to the demands of refereeing.

The second workshop, part of a series organised by the Sports Council for Northern Ireland, to facilitate preparations for the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games squad, examined some of the physical and psychological issues associated with competing in the forthcoming games in Australia. During the first presentation Professor Craig Mahoney outlined the importance of Mental Toughness and highlighted practical tips which could be used by athletes during competition. This session was highly evocative and challenged the athletes present to focus on wining and not just on competing! In the second session Declan focused on Fine tuning for Melbourne: acclimatisation and implications of long haul flights. This presentation detailed the environmental and travel challenges facing athletes and coaches travelling to Australia. For instance, the straight-line distance between Melbourne and Belfast is approximately 10,655 miles. If the stopovers in London and Singapore are included the journey time is roughly 35 hours. Therefore it is likely that the squad will arrive in Melbourne fatigued. More importantly, Melbourne is currently 11 hours ahead in terms of time (+11 GMT) from Belfast, and this has significant implications for athletic performance. For example, the squad arrives early in the morning in Melbourne. However because of the time zone difference, their internal body clocks will be programmed to Belfast time, which means that if they were back home they would be preparing to go to bed. This mismatch between local time and the corresponding time in the place of departure, is linked to a disruption in the normal daily biological rhythms of the body and therefore, the existing sleep-wake cycle. This phenomenon is commonly known as jet lag. Unfortunately, adjustment to the new time zones can take a couple of days and even weeks in some cases. Therefore, training intensity needs to be modified to address the reduction in athletic performance during the first couple of days at the new location. Some simple strategies were presented by Declan to facilitate this adjustment.

The second challenge facing the squad related to the environmental issues. The climate in Melbourne is classified as moderate in March (in comparison to the hot summers that most people associate with Australia) with an average temperature likely to be around 13-24oC (possible range 3 - 42 oC). Unsurprisingly Belfast is somewhat cooler with average temperatures of 3-9oC (possible range -12 - 19oC) expected at that time of year. Although unlikely, a worst case scenario could entail athletes leaving Belfast at sub-zero temperatures and arriving in Melbourne at +30 oC. Based on the average data however, it is unlikely that the environment will pose significant problems for most athletes. Nevertheless, if you are not accustomed to exercise in the heat, the hyperthermia and associated dehydration can have a detrimental impact on performance. Therefore, strategies need to be employed to address these issues particularly for athletes participating in outdoor events. Interestingly, Melbourne on average has more rainfall than Belfast, 56mm compared to 50mm, during the month of March. However, it is more likely to rain in Belfast (1/2 days) compared to Melbourne (1/3 days). From this data, both dry and wet gear may be required for training and competing. In light of this information, the coaches and athletes were encouraged to develop appropriate strategies to address issues such as nutrition and hydration requirements, regulation of sleep, modification of training programmes and incorporation of recovery interventions. Moreover, development of appropriate strategies could potentially contribute to excellent performances during the competition.

The feedback from both the referee Conference and the Commonwealth Games workshop was very positive. Information regarding additional workshops will be included in the forthcoming newsletter.

Declan Gamble
SINI physiologist

Recently a number of our athletes have been working on their CV’s as they apply for work placement scheduled for year three of their degree programmes. In this type of work I try to encourage the athletes to assess the transferable skills they have developed through sport.

Individuals often do not recognise the window of opportunity that exists to transfer skills honed in performance sport into the work environment.
By definition, transferable skills are the skills that an individual gathers in one area of experience that can be useful in another. Many of the skill sets developed through sport also have obvious appeal to employers e.g. self-management, social group, contingency capacity etc. The concept of transferable skills is as important for those seeking placement as it is for those facing career change in later life.

An honest self assessment is required if an individual is to identify their most developed transferable skills. Often ‘prompt tools’ such as those found in the performance lifestyle portion of the SINI website http://www.sini.co.uk/performancelifestyle/toolsandlinks.htm can help. Two documents filed there (Transferable Skills Recognition and Personal Skills Inventory) group skills under headings and help individuals to be specific about the skills they have. Remember it is important to be able to ‘evidence’ these skills by stating concrete examples of their demonstration.

For example an athlete may claim to be excellent at the skill of time structuring and management, citing the effective integration of their sporting and academic commitments to enable performance in both disciplines. Another may claim the skill of working co-operatively and constructively in a group environment, citing their experiences in a successful high level team. One final example, an athlete might claim skill in terms of coping and managing stressful circumstance and evidence with reference to highly charged pressure periods during major competitions and how they reacted to ensure that their performance was not adversely affected. These are only three examples but hopefully they illustrate the principle of transferable skills and their development in sport. A well organised individual who can work well in a group and maintain their performance under pressure is obviously the type of individual many employers seek.

Peter McCabe
Performance Lifestyle Manager

The Irish Indoor Athletic Championships return to the Odyssey Arena on the 18th and 19th February 2006. The fantastic venue will be used for the third time, after a gap of a year following last year’s Westlife concert intrusion. The event had been gaining some momentum, and hopefully this years event will improve upon the success of the previous two competitions..

Like last time the championships are open, and this will mean an influx of foreign stars. We have seen the battle of Darren Campbell and Mark Lewis Francis over 60m as well as some spectacular performers in the field events. Local athletes love the opportunity to compete alongside the top athletes in the World on home soil, as well as using the fantastic facilities, which are unrivalled in Ireland. The NIAF recently announced that World Triple Jump Champion Trecia Smith will compete.

The majority of the SINI squad will be competing at the venue, including Paul Mc Kee and Paul Brizzel who hope to use the event as a stepping stone to success at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow on the 10-12th March 2004. Interestingly Brizzel will have his first attempt at the ‘quarter mile’. Also briefly escaping from the muck of cross country will be double Irish 10,000m champion Joe Mc Alister who will hope to use this as a stepping stone to the World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on the 1st April. Club-mate Gareth Turnbull will also compete against Joe over 3000m, with Gareth preferring the World Indoors over 1500m as his likely target. Melbourne bound Anna Boyle will hope to follow up her spectacular 60m win from the Odyssey in 2004.

This event is supported by the generous assistance of the SPORTS COUNCIL FOR NORTHERN IRELAND, BELFAST CITY COUNCIL, NORTHERN IRELAND EVENTS COMPANY and DEEP RIVER ROCK.

David Reid

Athletics High Performance Manager