The English Development Squad

[Becks]

Hey all. Those who read Compass Sport will know by now that I'm planning on putting some wheels in motion as far as an English Development squad goes. For those who don't get it, the article goes something like this:

"Introducing EDS – A Step in the Right Direction

As a young W21 Elite, I can’t help but notice that my age class is looking a bit sparse. For the widest age group in our system, it’s usually one of the worst represented courses. In Sweden last summer a club summer evening event would have more W21s competing than your average British National, and at the Cesky Canada multi day in the Czech Republic two summers ago W21 had to be split into 5 classes due to the numbers involved. Looking down the age classes, it’s no longer much of a competition to get into the Future Champions Cup as a W20, and we have to ask, where are we going wrong? I would argue that at present our sport completely fails to cater for the older junior and younger senior who find themselves outside the seemingly ever shrinking GB Squad or the big university clubs. Where do you go if you’re a W20 in a non orienteering family or a new member looking to find their way around an event like the JK, if you want to improve your orienteering and meet your peers? There is no social network to retain people in the sport or help them improve their skills unless they go to a big orienteering university, and definitely nothing other than getting filthy in a forest in some (albeit slightly slinkier) pyjamas to attract prospective orienteers in their early twenties. We need to create a buzzing, competitive yet sociable atmosphere to hook people in, and as such, I’m introducing EDS.

EDS, or the English Development Squad to give it the full title, is still a concept. It was born out of numerous discussions on Nopesport on the subject of development, but also about the lack of spirit within the Senior English team leading them to get beaten on multiple occasions by their flag bearing, sloganeering and rather excitable cousins from North of the Border. The squad will be loosely based around the successful SEDS (Scottish Elite Development Squad) concept which was pioneered by Gordon Ross. Just like SEDS, EDS training will be open to orienteers of all nationalities over the age of 16 (with no upper age limit), but directed at English athletes with a personal aim to race in the Future Champions Final or the UK Cup. The first EDS training took place in the Lake District this January, where GB Squaddie Graham Gristwood and Martin “Bilbo” Bagness planned a week of top quality training for all disciplines, hill runs up the Coniston Old Man, curry and quiz nights and vast quantities of pasta! Participants ranged from GB squad standard athletes to recent university converts to the sport, with everyone benefiting massively from the productive atmosphere and top training.

After this successful trial, EDS will begin in full force in September 2007. The aim is to have at least three geographically spread long training weekends before the start of the main orienteering season in April, and repeat the week long winter training week. If interest is high enough, a summer tour to a European multi day with plenty of good running and cheap beer will be an option. These activities will start by being self funded and so costs will be kept to a minimum, but should we have a successful first year I will look into sponsorship to subsidise English athletes. Training weekends will be planned by top orienteers, with the opportunity for pub meals, socials, o chat and plenty of banter in the evenings.

What I need is feedback and support. What are your opinions on the sample programme set out below (these are well open to suggestion)? Do you know anyone who may have contacts willing to fund us? Are you willing to coach and plan any activities? And finally, are you interested in taking part? If so, make a point on nopesport, or e mail me direct at becky.carlyle@gmail.com. If you want to be on the mailing list, you can also mail this address. I hope to see many of you at the inaugural weekend in September!"

[Becks]

All the feedback I have had so far has been ultra positive, with loads of people wishing to get involved and a few offers of help. I've been looking at the Fixtures and have come up with these possible dates and locations. If anyone knows of any clashes I may have missed which are obvious, please let me know, the fixtures lists seems far from complete, and I have no idea when the SHIs are but I'm assuming they're after 22nd September?

What I need is advice on clashes, but more importantly, offers of help for weekends, be it driving, control hanging, knowledge of a good place to stay or planning etc etc. I'm going to be getting some help from higher up but the whole thing will be more successful the more people are interested.

I'm also putting together an EDS mailing list, let me know if you'd like to be added to it. If you're not sure it's for you and want to ask a few more questions, then let me know. The minimum age for the squad is 16, with no maximum.

So, the suggestion for the 2007-2008 programme is:


21st-23rd September - Pre (?) SHI Inaugural weekend - venue to be confirmed

23rd - 25th November - Winter running weekend, Sheffield

15th - 17th February - Advanced technique weekend - Lake District

7th - 9th March - Racing preparation weekend incorporating Salisbury National Event - New Forest.


Let the barrage commence!

[distracted]

Fixtures lists claim:

Oct 20-21: Senior Home International, Wales - Storey Arms and Llangatock

so September seems fine. Can't see any other obvious clashes, unless with big events abroad?

[Becks]

I must be blind. Does anyone know where that is (other than Wales!) Then the training for September can go somewhere relevant ish.

[redkite]

Becks
Llangatock is about 10 miles north West of this year's BOC near to Abergavenny.
Storey Arms was used as the training area for the Croeso 2004 and is between Merthyr and Brecon.

[Gross]

GO FOR IT

(and if you want a camp put on with cheap accommodation / food / beer then just ask.....)

[Becks]

Gross, might well be taking you up on that offer come summer next year! I refuse to go anywhere near those areas from last year's Kapa ever again though!

Cheers Redkite for the info!

[Gross]

KAPA this weekend is back on perfect sandunes on the coast... sub 5m/km for the big boys... perfect training for EOC next year just up the road in Ventspils....

Actually a good early season camp would be using some of the areas down at Druskininkai from JWOC... much faster than in mid summer when the leaves are out... except the relay area which couldn't get much faster...

Interestingly - the Lithuanians are holding their WOC test races down there

[graeme]

For those who don't get it,

As a young W21 Elite, I can’t help but notice that my age class is looking a bit sparse.

I agree with your analysis of the problem that the sport is weak for not-yet-elite 21s, but, sorry, I don't get it. How does taking established English orienteers away from double-header badge events (Caddihoe Chase, Double Dumpling) help? Surely these are just the places 21s have to go to establish a welcoming atmosphere (non-beardy) for people trying to get into the sport.

[Becks]

The clashes with those events are unfortunate, but consider that maybe 5 21s maximum would go to each one it's hardly taking away from the events. What I'm trying to offer is something for orienteers my age beyond turning up to a field and running, a England wide university club in some respects, as these are the most successful places for recruiting new members of this age group. If the social aspect is built on by weekends such as that that it will follow at the regional events where people will turn up to meet their friends and get welcomed in etc. EDS will also be a place where these university athletes who are generally fit but have had little technical coaching can get hold of it, none of which you get in a muddy field.

I do a lot but I can't be there with a smile on my face and a welcome sign at every Regional Event, be it a double header or not. And like it or not nothing is being done at these at the moment. This is at least a proactive move.

[Gross]

One of the great strengths of NEDS & then SEDS was it's social aspect. People wanted to come on training weekends because they were FUN Even training twice a day in technical terrain gives around 2.5 to 3.5 hours leaving another 20 hrs to complete the day.... you could make this stale with lots of boring 1 to 1 meetings and dry analysis of the trainings... or you could use group discussion over a couple of pints after a team cooking contest!!! (I remember probably the last GB Squad event I was at in Speyside - a joint effort with SEDS.... Diana easily won the cooking contest with her cold Lithuanian Salad [horrible tho it was] - GB Squad couldn't respond:))

But I guess those days are gone now.... if you have 16 years along you can't even share a glass of wine at dinner... neither can the older athletes if they are members of the squads..... or the coaches even..... still amazing how much team bonding can be done with tidlywinks:)

[Becks]

Having now heard a little more about the SHIs, I think I'm proposing we go to the MEROC sand dune event for September's weekend, with training somewhere in the north east around Bacup/Rawtenstall/Pendle. Unless anyone can think of somewhere with similarly open moorland like that isn't right down Devon/Cornwall way? I don't want to force people back into Wales down the same roads they went for BOC and JK again so soon.

[rob f]

try the peaks, or is there not an event on the yorkshire moors around then?

[Becks]

The Dales weekend is the weekend before, but one of the most important things is providing quality training aswell as socialising, which we can't really squeeze in on a double day competition. Getting permission for those areas can also be a bit (lot of) a nightmare.

[Neil M35]

I wouldn't get too hung up on making the training relevant to the SHI. The long term aim of EDS (to motivate a larger number of people to actively compete in the elite age groups) is not best served by plodding around a dull bit of moorland in east Lancs.

Quality training on quality areas with quality coaching (and a bit of socialising) are the things that hopefully EDS can provide that are not available to a lot of people at the moment. If enough people are getting that sort of experience then eventually the pool of people available to run in the SHI will improve.


I hope that sounds positive enough - I think you are doing excellent work and I hope EDS is a great success.

If you have to go to east Lancs go to Hurstwood.