This
month the Sports Institute Northern Ireland acknowledges the recent
international success of some of our athletes. Janet Gray once again
produced an all-conquering performance on the water at the World
Disabled Water-ski Championships, while Ireland hockey teams laden
with SINI athletes improved their rankings in the European Nations
Cup in Barcelona. The Institute continued its commitment to support
elite coach development by the launch of an ‘Excellence in
Coaching’ programme run in conjunction with the Ulster Council
GAA, while Rugby Director of Elite Player Development Allen Clarke
headed for New Zealand for a study visit. Staff Peter McCabe and
Eugene Young represented SINI at the third International Forum on
Elite Sport and most importantly the Institute welcomed into its
ranks a new batch of Gaelic footballers and Rugby players. New additions
were not restricted only to the athlete population as David Reid,
the new High Performance Manager for Athletics took up post, and
two new placement students began work at the Institute’s Jordanstown
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JUST CHAMPION FROM JANET Reigning World Champion Janet Gray MBE had to overcome a respiratory infection to successfully defend her crown at the Disabled Water-ski World Championships at Crane’s Roost in Altamonte Springs, USA. The event ran from 28 – 31 August and saw Gray hold onto the title of overall World Champion as well as the titles in the individual disciplines of Jumps, Slalom and Tricks. Janet spent the two weeks prior to the championships with the GB team in Florida, but her preparation was hampered by a flair up of the respiratory infection that has given her problems this season. Despite this the Lisburn women was determined to compete and had no intention of relinquishing her crowns. The sixth biennial event featured more than 70 athletes from over 15 countries. Among the competing countries were Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. The star performer of the championship Janet was the highest coring girl in the competition and the highest scoring member of the Great Britain squad. Competing in 3 events she won Gold in the Slalom event and in doing so broke the European Record. She went one step further in the Tricks setting a new World Record in getting gold. Finally in the Jump event Janet also broke her own World Record to claim her third individual Gold. This left Janet with the overall Gold for the championships and Great Britain with Silver in the team event behind the USA. Speaking from Florida, Janet thanked those at SINI for all their help over the last 6 months. Help given for example by Sports Psychologist Dr Ailsa Anderson at the University of Ulster in the Slalom had proved invaluable. This event brought a close encounter with Italian Suzanne Prada. Both girls tied after the competition but Janet held her nerve in the deciding ski-off to win the overall Gold. Congratulations to Janet from everyone at SINI. |
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Defeats
against the pool favorites Germany and England were in some respects
expected. Crucially however the women forced a 1-1 draw
with
Ukraine which sealed them a place in
the 5th to 8th play-offs. Significantly they have secured themselves
a slot in the 'A' Division as the tournament is revamped for 2005.
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CLARKE’S TRIP DOWN UNDER Thanks to the support of the Sports Council Lottery Fund through the 'Talented Coach Programme' SINI’s Allen Clarke has just returned from a fact-finding mission to New Zealand. He is able to draw comparisons with the current approach in Ulster. Allen’s itinerary that was two phased – with an equal split between the final contenders of the 2002 NPC - Auckland and Waikato. He was given the opportunity to work closely with their respective NPC sides and share comparisons and ideas with their coaching and administrative teams. Allen also met with representatives of the New Zealand academy of Sport to contrast their infrastructure with our fast blooming Sports Institute of Northern Ireland, and enjoyed a memorable day with Laurie Mains, a former All Black coach. Allen reflects on his trip. “ My experiences from New Zealand in many ways confirm that there are no secrets in rugby. The strides to develop rugby in Ulster and Ireland in many respects are on a par, if not ahead of what is happening in New Zealand. Like us, they are contending with the strategic challenges to better serve the amateur and professional game, and like us there is specific emphasis on the identification and fast tracking of young talent. The critical difference is that rugby is New Zealand’s number one sport, therefore there are vast numbers of spectators. A standard league school match can expect to attract an audience of one to two thousand. The numbers supporting together with significant sponsorship provides the revenue to continue promoting the game from the grass roots up, while providing world class spectating, playing and training facilities. Since my return I’ve been asked for the ‘secrets’ learnt. There are no secrets- the common factors observed – dedication; drive; desire; honesty between players, coaches and administrators; progressive thinking; and attention to detail – can be applied to rugby and indeed any sport anywhere in the world.” |
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NEW PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR FOR ATHLETICS The Sports Institute Northern Ireland is pleased to announce the appointment of David Reid to the post of High Performance Director for Northern Ireland Athletics. David comes to the post following a period of two years working for Northern Ireland Athletics as Coaching and Development Manager and also brings four years experience of teaching physical education at secondary level. As an athlete David has represented Northern Ireland in 800m and 4x 400m relay. His coaching credentials include a UK Athletics Level3 Performance Coach Award in sprints and hurdles as well as accreditation as a UK Coach Education Tutor. David was assistant team manager at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 in Manchester and was team coach for Ireland in Latvia in 2003. As he settled into his new role David identified his primary aim as helping Northern Ireland athletes to win medals and gain points at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Also on the athletics front the Institute welcomed experienced distance runner Dermot Donnelly into its ranks. Dermot has been one of our most successful athletes on the international stage and hopefully his involvement with SINI will see further strong performances in the future. |
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INDUCTION OF NEW ATHLETES (AND STAFF) Last year the Institute inducted 57 athletes from the sports of Athletics, Rugby Football, Hockey and Gaelic Football. Having reviewed these athletes at the end of a year, some new athletes are being recruited to join those that are being retained. On Tuesday 2nd of September 2003, this process took place for the sports of Rugby Football and Gaelic Football. The following athletes were offered and have accepted places at the Institute based at the University of Ulster in Jordanstown. Rugby Football Phillip Coulter Gaelic Football Bernard Connell Other inductions for the sports of Athletics and Hockey will take place after the current international competitive season ends. Welcoming the athletes to the Institute, Professor Jim Allen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University said: “I congratulate those athletes who have been awarded places at the Sports Institute. You will now be able to access services from a professional team of staff who will be dedicated to helping you achieve the highest level of performance”. Commenting on the success of athletes over the past year Professor Eric Saunders, Chairman of the Sports Council for Northern Ireland said: “The success of athletes during the past year must be an inspiration to you as new recruits to the Sports Institute. The performances of Paul McKee (Athletics), Paul Brizzell (Athletics), Tommy Bowe (Rugby) and Glen Telford (Rugby), to mention but a few, shows the contribution that involvement at the Institute can make. Accessing services such as Strength and Conditioning, Physiotherapy, Massage, Sports Science and Athlete Career and Education will enable athletes to rise to the top within their sport”. Ronnie Smyth, Head of High Performance at the Sports Institute added: “The 6 month pilot programme last year helped us to deliver services to athletes and we received a very positive response from athletes on the quality of these services. At SINI we will continue to strive to improve the quality of services with the interests of the athletes central to our programme planning and implementation”. View more photographs of the Induction Evening At
this time SINI also welcomed two new members of staff who are
one year placements from degree courses at UUJ. The students
are Claire Doyle who has responsiblity for web maintenance and
Zarah Akilagun who has responsibility within the
business componant of SINI. |
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INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON ELITE SPORT III Institute staff Peter McCabe and Eugene Young have just returned from the third International Forum on Elite Sport held at Loughborough and hosted by UK Sport. This Forum, which meets every two years, brings together representatives from Sports Institutes and High Performance Training Centres around the world. Delegates from over 25 different countries attended seeking to achieve a truly global perspective on developing athletes in high performance environments. The format was a mixture of formal presentations and workshop sessions as delegate’s explored issues such as: · Measuring
Institute effectiveness Peter and Eugene contributed effectively to the programme - Peter acting as facilitator for three of the workshop sessions, while Eugene gave details of work at SINI related to development of interdisciplinary services. Keynote addresses at the Forum came from fellow Ulsterman and Team Jordan Formula 1 Marketing Director Mark Gallagher and Bernard Petrot ex-coach of Canada’s gymnastics team and now Creative Director with the World famous Cirque du Soleil. Mark talked on a wide variety of topics associated with Formula1 both technical and business orientated. He explained how investing in people, technology and teamwork can produce the “power of change” and lead to success at world level. Bernard drew contrasts between his previous work in sport (13 World Championships and 2 Olympics) and his current work in the Cirque du Soleil. He explained that many of the artists he now coached were previously National and International champions from the sports of gymnastics, synchronised swimming, trampolining and diving. The challenge is to enable these individuals to transform skills acquired in the past to a new environment. He addressed the psychological issues concerned with athletes moving from sport where they were individual stars to the world of entertainment where the performance is the star. Given the wide range of nationalities associated with Cirque du Soleil, Bernard was well placed to describe the challenge of managing cultural diversity and how to use it constructively. The Forum concluded with all countries present agreeing and signing up to a Charter for Collaboration aimed at formalising the relationship between High Performance Training Centres around the world. Such collaboration in terms of identifying best practice, enhancing staff development and exchange of knowledge can only lead to an enhanced service provision for athletes. |
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This analysis is carried out following consultation with team coaches who identify specific aspects for data collection. Performance at set pieces is a crucial component of successful match play and the edits gathered so far have enabled the coaches to access Ulster’s strengths and weaknesses in this department. Coaches are also interested in segmenting the match into phases. Having detailed feedback on performance during these phases is critical to enable them to access the effectiveness of game planning. The fact that the Inter-provincial series runs on six consecutive weekends means that by mid October it will be possible to give each SINI athlete a tape showing the highlights and lowlights of their individual performances. Performance Director Allen Clarke will use this information to construct technical and tactical development programmes for each individual. |
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RUGBY
HOCKEY GAA |
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