However Jerome was not the only member of the BBC team with a vested interest in the game. SINI performance analyst and Tyrone girl Denise Martin has provided match statistics for the BBC Championship programme throughout the season.

When Tyrone qualified for the final Denise was in the fortunate position of not needing a match ticket although not many Tyrone fans would have exchanged their stand tickets for a position in a BBC truck under the Hogan Stand!

The game as a spectator was disappointing characterised by defensive tactics and tackling with only glimpses of the quality football both teams had served up in earlier matches.

Athletes must ensure that their medication:-

1. does not contravene doping regulations; and
2. if it contains a banned substance the correct ‘Therapeutic Use Exemption’ is obtained.

This can be done by emailing the Irish Sports Council at antidoping@irishsportscouncil.ie, or by visiting the UK Sport Drug Information database which can be found at www.uksport.gov.uk/did. They will confirm the status of medications.

If you find that a medication is prohibited, it does not automatically mean that you will not be able to use it but you must immediately obtain authorisation to do so. This authorisation is known as Theraputic Use Exemption (TUE), and can be obtained by outlining the details of your case history and sending it to UK:Athletics or Athletic Association of Ireland.

Remember than when being treated by your Doctor to remind him/her that you are an athlete subject to drug testing. However remember that the doping laws work on the basis of strict liability- you alone are ultimately responsible for everything that enters your body, however it gets there! UK:Athletics advise that

“As many athletes routinely take medications, both over the counter and prescribed, we would strongly suggest that you make a list of these substances and dosages of each and every item and that you carry this with you at all times. This will help you to recall the complete list (in the last seven days) should you be called upon to provide a sample for doping control purposes and not forget something at a time when you may be a little nervous at producing a urine sample, or in the excitement of post- race atmosphere. The list could be put on a small piece of card (credit card size) and this would fit easily into your purse or wallet, and could be carried within your kit bags.”

It is also important to remember that the list of banned substances contained on most of the small advice cards is not exhaustive, and contains examples of banned items. Therefore again highlighted the care required in dealing with this matter.

It has been said,

“ You can be on the right track, but if you sit there, you’ll get run over!”

This message is being stressed to our elite young players in Ulster both academic and professional. There is no such thing as ‘natural progression’ thought the various age group teams to professional rugby and a possible world appearance. Yes, the players within the Sports Institute rugby squad are selected because of their potential to excel, however, it takes more than potential to succeed. To realise dreams requires unique values – preparation, 100% commitment, passion, respect, discipline, ruthlessness, honesty and a single-minded desire to succeed. Easy written and easily said, but to make it to the top one must replace ‘hope’ with ‘work’.

“The first thing is to accept the nature of individual career development in this age,” said Peter. “I heard the writer Michelle Casto use a good metaphor to describe the process. She said that an individual’s career is like their wardrobe, where they try on different outfits throughout their lifetime and continually check in the mirror to see if there is a good fit that matches their current style and taste. The concept of a career ladder is antiquated; it is more likely to feel like a maze with many twists and turns, stops and starts. I try to help the athletes understand that a career includes many life roles and being an elite athlete is one of those at this particular phase of their development. They may be combining this role with that of being a student, or with roles associated with employment either in a part-time or full-time capacity. For this phase of their career they may be choosing to compromise on the rate of development of some of their other roles in order to pursue athletic success.”

It is interesting that the squads of athletes recruited to SINI so far display discrete characteristics in terms of career development. In Rugby and Gaelic Football, over 85% of the SINI athletes have been in the tertiary level education system. This system has some elements of flexibility and so the SINI athletes have an excellent opportunity to integrate the roles of elite athlete and student. The challenges they face are to plan this integration well in advance and to develop the skills to cope with periods that require condensed study e.g. catch up work necessary when lectures are missed due to travelling to sporting events. University Departments have been very accommodating to date in terms of meeting athlete needs, but for sustainability the athletes need to realise that concessions cannot only operate in one direction.

The athletics squad has been disparate in that approximately one third have been in secondary level education, one third in tertiary level education and the majority of the remainder in part-time employment. Only one of the athletes is combining the role of elite performer with full-time employment, while another is operating as a full-time athlete. There is evidence of a trend (especially among the females) in that individuals tend to have a compelling focus on their sport even though this may have a cost in terms of long-term development of other employment roles. For those athletes engaged in secondary level education there is recognition that the system is not very flexible. The danger is that the young athlete tries to fit too much in and there is potential that their academic performance could suffer especially if the individual has not developed high order study skills.

The hockey squads have provided an interesting contrast in that all of the male players have been combining international sport with full-time employment, while the female squad has been split between tertiary education and employment. The male squad was slightly older and saw their employment roles as very important given that they do not have the potential to gain financial reward from their sport. The challenge of integrating the elite sport role with that associated with full-time employment is onerous. It requires enormous commitment and the problem comes in sustaining that commitment over an extended period. Pressure to keep pace with peers within the employment sphere and to maximise earning potential may become critical factors in foreclosing an international sporting career. The women’s squad have had very heavy commitments within the last twelve months following build up and competition in the World Cup and European Nations Cup. One player quoted the total days off required within the last twelve month period to be sixty-eight. This has put strains on the goodwill of both education providers and employers alike.
A number of female players are choosing to opt for employment roles that they do not see ‘fitting’ longer term. They do so at present because the structure of the employment makes integration with their sport role possible.

The above trend, also earlier identified in the athletics squad seems to be characteristic of many of the female athletes in SINI. A significant number are happy to compromise their long term earning potential in order to follow their sporting dream. Informal discussions with other ACE colleagues within the UK network suggests that this trend might not be so evident among females elsewhere.

The Gaelic football programme commenced on Friday (3rd of October) with a baseline fitness assessment, while the rugby squad are in for a reassessment (post pre-season) on the 13th of October. The rugby players were previously assessed during the SINI rugby camp, which was held in July. Both squads will be assessed on varying aspects of physical fitness; including body composition, speed, agility, explosive power and endurance. The Gaelic footballers will also be introduced to the rugby specific “1-50” test. This maximum effort test assesses multi-sprint capacity, an important physical attribute for players of both codes, but is often overlooked during traditional Gaelic football fitness tests.

Once the fitness results have been collated and analysed each player will be given specific positional feedback and an individualised strength and conditioning programme. Following the success of the heart rate monitoring exercise in hockey, the technical sessions for both sports will also be monitored, using the new Polar Team System, to determine individual player effort at each training session. Although, this concept is relatively new to these young players, we are hoping to make them more aware of the need to increase the levels of effort they exert during training, to address the imbalance between current training intensity, and the intensity required to participate in competitive games. It is the responsibility of the coaches and sport science staff to optimise the training environment, so that is simulates the competitive demands of games.

The men’s hockey programme has now entered a transition phase following the recent European championships. The new programme is expected to be developed once the squad members have been finalised. The ladies programme, however, is continuing in preparation for their Olympic qualifier in New Zealand in March. Their technical sessions will recommence in mid-November, and similar to the men’s sessions, these will be monitored using the team system.

The athletics programme gets underway next week with SINI’s endurance athletes scheduled to attend UUJ for detailed physiological assessments, involving body composition, basic haematology (blood profiling), lactate threshold and VO2max tests. These assessments will be used to determine current levels of fitness and to prescribe appropriate heart rate training intensities. This process will hopefully contribute to enhancing the preparation of these athletes for participation in major events. Meanwhile, the remaining athletes, from sprinting, jumping and throwing events, will be put through a series of speed, explosive power and reactive strength tests.