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Gateshead College Academy for Sport hosts Local Coach Development Events
Sunday 14th October saw Gateshead College Academy for Sport (GCAS) play host to two local coach development programme workshops and the inaugral North East coaching forum.

Speed Workshop

National Coach Mentor for speed Tony Hadley and National Coach Development Programme (NCDP) mentee and Gateshead College Athletics coach Matt Wood delivered a workshop entitled “Speed – Using Relays To Develop Sprint Athletes”.  The workshop was praised by one coach in attendance for occuring in “excellent” facilities and providing “great insight into speed development”. 

Tony and Matt delivered a combination of theory and practice regarding the planning of training sessions for sprinters focusing on the “7 second rule”. They also demonstrated how the progression of sprint relays can improve top speed mechanics and the “coaching eye”.

Following on from this session Matt Wood will be delivering open relay sessions at the GCAS on the 24th November, 26th January, 16th March and 27th April with a fifth session date to be confirmed.  These sessions are open to all coaches and to athletes from the under 15s age group and up. For more information contact Matt Wood on matthew.wood@gatesheadcollege.ac.uk. 

Youth Endurance Workshop

National Coach Mentor for youth endurance Jenny Harris (pictured top) and local club and coach support officer Nick Ridgeon delivered a workshop entitled “Youth Endurance – Physiology & Physical Preparation for Young Athletes”. Jenny outlined the physiological impact of endurance training on young athletes and offered guidance on what to plan for young endurance athletes. Nick explained the importance of physical preparation for endurance athletes and described and demonstrated relevant physical preparation techniques using basic equipment. He also spoke about how to design training programmes for endurance athletes that incorporate appropriate physical preparation exercises. One coach described the event as having a “very good balance of theory and practical”.

Workshops coming soon

Following on from this, on Wednesday 21st November there will be a “Functional Assessment & Fundamental Movements” workshop.  This will be led by Strength and Conditioning expert Nick Ward and will give coaches important information about how spending time revisiting the fundamental movements and associated skills of running can improve performance of athletes of all abilities across a range of distances.  In addition there will be a session on functional screening of athletes which can identify areas of weakness and prevent injury.

Further down the line on Saturday 19th January Area Coach Mentor for endurance Stan Taylor and former Olympian and current coach to London 2012 representatives Ross Murray and Andrew Osagie, Craig Winrow will be delivering a workshop on loads, intensities and coaching style at GCAS.  This workshop will outline an approach to the progression of loads and intensities through the various competitive seasons an endurance athlete has to tackle, followed by facilitated group discussion about the need for different coaching styles when working in a mixed ability group. 

North East Coaching Forum

The inaugural North East Coaching Forum brought together a range of like-minded coaches from National Coach Mentors to National and Local Coach Development Programme mentees in order to discuss their philosophies and practical application of planning.  The coaches in attendance discussed topics including why they plan, how they mentor their athletes, how they monitor themselves, and explained the process they undertake when planning for individual athletes and groups. 

One coach said that the forum was a “great start” but also suggested that the forum “needed to increase its numbers”.  Dates for the North East Coaching Forum will be announced on this website and sent out to your local club contact.

For more information or to find out what was discussed at the forum please contact either of the local club and coach support officers, Nick Ridgeon (nridgeon@englandathletics.org or 07968 498710) and John Stacey (jstacey@englandathletics.org or 07912 594292).
 

Northern Power Grid – the company that owns and operates the electricity distribution networks in Yorkshire, northern Lincolnshire and the North-east - is proud to support England Athletics through its corporate sponsorship programme.  The company are proud to sponsor the “Get Switched on to Athletics” programme which aims to help aspiring athletes from the region reach their full potential and follow their dream to compete in the 2012 Olympics and beyond.

You can visit Northern Power Grid’s England Athletics micro-site, which includes interviews with some of the region’s young athletes, training plans and a body mass index (BMI) calculator, by visiting http://athletics.northernpowergrid.com/page/index.cfm

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