JWOC

[Becks]

That's one to ask my Dad about at the O Ringen Mrs H!

[mharky]

RS>> As far as I am aware, the Junior and Senior squad budgets are managed seperately. Steve was employed by the senior squad. When I was in the junior squad on a joint weekend with the seniors he came and spoke to us for an evening. It was really good, he's really great at what he does. I've learned a lot from him in the few times we've spoken.

Having someone like Steve is priceless... unfortunately it isn't price-less, psychologists cost money. But I think it is worth it if the money is there. If the choice was technical or mental, I'd say technical should come first. But having a psychologist really can make a massive difference. After all, everything we do comes from our brain.

With regards to JWOC being a stepping stone, that is how GBR may see it. For many nations the juniors they send are already the "complete package" so to speak. Look at Junior World Championships in other sports, often the top juniors are very close to the seniors, if not just as good. I know it's risky to look at other sports and other nations, and it annoys me a lot when people do it on here, but often people make silly comparisons. At the end of the day British Orienteering is different to British Cycling or Swedish Orienteering. We have to find the British way of doing things, because we don't have endless quality terrain like Scandinavia. And building a velodrome equivilant isn't going to make us win half the gold medals at the world champs.