With many students heading off for a well-earned summer vacation one could be forgiven for thinking that life at the Institute winds down over the summer. On the contrary, whilst sports like Rugby and Gaelic Football interview and assess new recruits for the Institute, the sports of Hockey and Athletics build up for major championships over the summer. Three sports, Rugby, Gaelic football and Hockey are using Jordanstown and the Sports Institute as a base for their summer camps in July and August, another trial which might be extended in future years. |
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COACHES WORKSHOP - Heart, lungs and Muscle Recovery This Friday and Saturday, 13th & 14th June, the Institute hosts a workshop for High Performance coaches on heart, lungs and muscle recovery. The workshop is funded through a partnership involving Coaching NI, UK Sport and SINI and has attracted 25 coaches for the workshops. Dr Alison McConnell, Peter Herbert, Heiko Van Vliet and Paul Gastin will conduct the workshops. There are still 10 places on the workshop for any High Performance coaches interested in attending. Presentations from the workshops will be featured in the next edition of the newsletter. Click here to view the programme and reply slip. |
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| INSTITUTE IMPACT ON IRELAND U21 SQUAD For the majority, the competitive rugby season has come to an end, replaced by a short rest period before the Strength and Conditioning coaches begin to physically develop the bodies for another season. But for eight U21 players from Ulster, the highlight of the season has arrived – the International Rugby Board Under 21 World Cup, hosted in England. Ireland will face South Africa, the reigning world champions, on June 13th. This is followed by 2 other group matches against Scotland and Argentina before the knockout stages of the tournament decide final rankings. Four Sports Institute rugby players have been rewarded for their attitude and application by inclusion in a squad of 26 to represent Ireland. Rory Best – Hooker; Tommy Bowe – Full Back; Michael McComish – Back Row; and Glen Telford – Inside Centre. For one of the four inclusion is particularly special. In October 2001, while studying in Scotland and playing for Glasgow Hawks, Glen Telford suffered a career threatening injury – a shattered right patella. Many Specialists have been part of the subsequent 17-month rehabilitation process. As Glen’s performance manager I commend him for his determination and drive and I thank all the respective individuals for their belief and expertise. Specialists from orthopaedic surgery, physiotherapy, strength & conditioning, performance analysis, nutrition, technical coaches, sports science, ACE and administrators – your integrated efforts have ensured an exceptional talent has returned to the game. Now back in Ulster studying Optometry at University of Ulster, Coleraine, Glen is ‘bigger, better and stronger’ and after much heartache, sweat and tears he has once again the opportunity to realise his full potential. The management and players of Ireland U21’s go with our best wishes, in particular the four institute players and especially Glen. |
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IRELAND SERIES vs ENGLAND England came out top in the three Test series against Ireland over the weekend as both teams prepare for the forthcoming European Nations Cup finals in Barcelona. The English won twice and drew once in the games staged at Cannock, near Birmingham, to show they are marginally more advanced in their preparations. Six SINI athletes were away with the Irish squad, David Smyth, Patrick Brown, Mark Irwin, Mark Raphael, Errol Lutton and Chris Jackson plus Strength and Conditioning coach Phil Moreland and High Performance Manager Sally Bell who provided support over the weekend and attended as part of her Talented Coach Programme. Ireland drew 2-2 in Friday night's game, with Gordon Elliott and Stephen Butler scoring, in what was a very closely contested encounter. On the Saturday in a warm 24 degrees it was Mark Irwin who was the marksman in the narrow 2-1 defeat. A 2-0 defeat came when the English scored twice in a five-minute period in the second half from penalty corner conversions. Despite not having a victory over the weekend Ireland played some excellent hockey and felt the series was invaluable in their progress towards Europeans. Instonian and SINI athlete Patrick Brown was named Ireland's man of the series. A return series will be held in Dublin in a fortnight’s time. The games are to be held at UCD on June 13th at 7.00pm, June 14th at 2.30pm and June 15th at 12.00. Meanwhile SINI athlete Katharine Maybin will be heading for Hertogenbosch in Holland for Pegasus' European Club championship bid this week. Pegasus will face tough opposition against the best club sides from Holland, Germany and Lithuania. The Irish Women’s Squad commences their preparation for the European Nations Cup in September, in Dublin this weekend with the first of a series of panel sessions over the next four months. |
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SPORTS INSTITUTE PLAYERS MAKE SENIOR DEBUT Patrick Brady, Mark McKeever and Sean Brady who were members of the Sports Institute Gaelic Football Squad in 2002/03 made their Senior Inter County Championship debut for Cavan in last weeks Ulster Championship against Antrim at Casement park. Patrick started at half forward and Mark at wing half back the latter popping up in the forwards to take a great point and then pull off a great save from Sean Mc Greevy the Antrim keeper. Sean Brady came on as a substitute in the second half and had the ball over the bar within two minutes. The SINI squad consisted of those players just out of last years minors and others such as Ciaran O’Reilly (Fermanagh), Dermot Carlin (Tyrone) have progressed on their Senior County squads. We wish them well for the rest of the Championship Campaign. |
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INTERNATIONAL FORUM - ATHLETE SERVICES SINI’s Peter McCabe is headed for Massachusetts, USA to represent the United Kingdom at the second International Athlete Services Forum. Peter is one of a five strong UK delegation that represents the ACE UK Programme who will be flying out to attend between the 16th and 23rd June. The delegation is headed by UK National Co-ordinator Richard Parker and includes the Scottish ACE Co-ordinator and representatives from professional sports Welsh Rugby and English Cricket. ”This forum is a focus for service providers in the fields of career, education and sport performance development for elite athletes and coaches” said Peter. ”All five continents are represented and ten countries in all will present. We have been collaborating effectively as a UK team in preparing our strategy for the presentations.” ”Schedules are determined alphabetically and unfortunately when you are presenting as the UK you tend to get slots in the late afternoon. While this is not ideal I am confident that we can make a positive impact with the other delegates.” “My role is to focus on UK Education Programmes but the event will be a good opportunity to network with colleagues from around the world and establish contacts that might enrich the SINI service provision.” |
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MONITORING TRAINING INTENSITY - Application of Sport Science The search for a competitive edge has contributed to increasing the physical demands being placed on elite hockey players. For example, a typical weekly schedule for an international player at present involves participation in 2 strength and conditioning sessions, 2-3 on-field sessions, lasting 1.5-2 hrs, and possibly 1-2 competitive games. Nowadays coaches are reluctant to increase the frequency and/or duration of training sessions, and to the delight of players, their capacity to do this is restricted by the amateur nature of the game. Thus, it has become more practical and appropriate to increase the intensity of training to maximise the efficiency of each session. Training programs for hockey players should focus on skill development, whilst replicating competition demands during practice. Presently, most coaches use observations such as the total distance travelled, the amount of time involved, or the physical load to quantify training. Following discussions with Sally Bell, heart rate monitoring has recently been introduced into the men’s hockey programme at the institute. Basically, the process requires players to wear a heart rate transmitter (chest strap) and receiver (wrist watch) during training. This exercise allows the overall intensity of each training session and the intensity associated with different types of drills to be determined. Following training, each player is given feedback regarding their own performance and this can be compared to the squad average. This information is also disseminated to club coaches. In addition, Sally is given a detailed analysis of each session, and this knowledge can facilitate planning of subsequent sessions. The players have been very receptive to wearing the heart rate monitors and they are keen to continue the monitoring exercise. Additionally, preparations are being made to introduce this into the ladies’ program in a few weeks time. Finally, the support of the institute hockey coach and players has to be acknowledged as the potential of any sport science intervention can only be realised with the support of the coaches and players involved. Read the full story and view graphs. |
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ATHLETE CHANGE OF CONTACT DETAILS If any athlete's contact details have changed, address, home/mobile number or email address, please notify the SINI office, 028 9036 8295, so we can update our records. Alternatively for out of office hours, you can visit the athlete area of our website at www.sini.co.uk/athletearea and complete the supplied form. |
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COACHES WORKSHOP -
Polar Heart Rate monitoring, Powerbreathe Inspiratory muscle training
and Compex electrical muscle
stimulation - their impact on training programmes. 13/14th
June. |
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