Performance Squads 2012

[Mrs H]

It's so quiet round here i can't stand it.

The new performance squads have been published here

what do people think?

[andypat]

Nicely worded Mrs H - I suspect you have an opinion you are keeping to yourself?

I suppose the omissions are as notable as the inclusions...

[Mrs H]

A cat may look at a king but I've never thought it my place to comment on elite matters - I was just asking for comments from those whose it was.

[graeme]

I think that all the performance people "preparing for 2012" are older than all the development people "preparing for 2015". Either they figure if you haven't made it by 23(?) you never will, or else the lists are retro fitted to some age-related criterion.

I also notice they managed to find out people's second clubs, which was meant to be impossible

[madmike]

A cat may look at a king but I've never thought it my place to comment on elite matters - I was just asking for comments from those whose it was.

You are much wiser than I Mrs H. I made the serious error of commenting on elite matters and was quickly informed i was the wrong sort of person to comment on the thread

[andypat]

I think that all the performance people "preparing for 2012" are older than all the development people "preparing for 2015". Either they figure if you haven't made it by 23(?) you never will, or else the lists are retro fitted to some age-related criterion.

Going by that theory has OJ retired from international competition?

[Becks]

I'm surprised Tess, and to some extent Hollie, are both in the second group. I think Graeme's theory may be spot on!

There's lots of exciting names in that second group - 2015 is going to be cracking. Can anyone based outside of Scotland make it to the team - that is the million dollar question!

Also on the retiring theme - if people have officially retired, it'd be nice to write a line or so to let everyone know, maybe with a couple of career highlights or something. There's a few names missing this year, and it's be nice to know what happened.

[andypat]

I suppose whats missing from the info thats been put out there (it may exist somewhere else of course) is some sort of statement regarding the composition of the squads for future WOC. Its doesnt actually say anywhere that you have to be in one of these performance squads to be selected. I guess there isnt really a sqaud for consistent ability to perform at world level without challenging the top 10

Obviously though its a good thing to be concentrating a lot of effort into developing talent to see who might make the jump to world class.

[Scott]

I'm surprised Tess, and to some extent Hollie, are both in the second group.

Yes, I was also surprised that Tess isn't in the top group - I think she demonstrated a couple of weeks ago that she has the potential to make the top 10 at WOC 2012!

I suppose whats missing from the info thats been put out there (it may exist somewhere else of course) is some sort of statement regarding the composition of the squads for future WOC.

I don't think there will be any requirement to be in a squad to get selected for WOC. There certainly hasn't been in the past - I think I'm right in saying that both Murray (last year) and Claire (this year) made their WOC debuts from outside the squad system.

It's intriguing that at least one junior athlete who I would have thought of as (one of) the best in their age group hasn't made it into any squad at all.

That said, it is great to see that a few of the names in the development squad are former top juniors who haven't quite made the step up to being top seniors yet. I think such athletes have sometimes been abandoned by the squad system before reaching their potential, so it's good to see the selectors making an effort to address that.

[harry]

2015 is going to be cracking. Can anyone based outside of Scotland make it to the team

Yes

It's nearly 4 years away! Anyone* who believes in it, makes a good plan, follows the plan and keeps on believing every step of the way can make the team.

*OK maybe not anyone...

PS Norway might be the best place to train for 2015, see results from 1999! Or at least Scotland in Winter, Norway in Summer?

[mallory]

An observation: 3 of the winners of the Future Champions Cup 2011 do not appear in any of the squads. Time to either overhaul or abolish if the competition is not aimed at identifying Future Champions? Incidentally BOF have not put any news coverage out about the FCC Final

[harry]

Some completely unofficial personal thoughts...

I wouldn't read too much into names on the list and exclusions or even the goals defined for us by BOF's secret strategies.

There are some obligations that go along with being part of a "Performance Squad" which simply might not fit with some people's plans. Likewise some people might not fit with BOF's plans. But as I understand it squad lists have nothing to do with who will be selected for teams, there'll be some selection policies for that and then it's just to perform well enough in some particular race(s).

Check out who's top 10 on this results list: http://www.jukola.com/tulokset/en/j2011 ... uusajat/4/
could also show a list of Dan Marston's results within Norway the last few years to demonstrate very high level performances outwith any GB team / squad. Just examples.

You can easily see someone who's at a high enough level doing their own thing and then rocking up to WOC tests and forcing selection. Perhaps especially for the long race; the 2015 list is full of athletes who will still be <28 in 2015, so be just getting to their best if everything goes to plan. WOC 2011 Champ Annika Billstam is already 35.5 years old and still on the Swedish elite group list for 2012.

If you still have the motivation then age is no barrier. But in terms of BOF's "long term development" strategy they'll have a hard time defending the idea of putting limited resources into developing a 30+ year old athlete.

What do squad lists mean? Maybe "Here is a list of people who we are going to help to achieve top 10s in 2012 / 2015". It also doesn't mean that it's an exclusive list: I imagine the list of people actually getting some kind of help (eg. invitations to domestic training weekends, selections/ entry fees to races within the programme) will be a lot longer than those published lists.

PS Is Yvette making a comeback? http://iof.6prog.org/WR_Athlete.aspx?aid=GBR17

[awk]

An observation: 3 of the winners of the Future Champions Cup 2011 do not appear in any of the squads. Time to either overhaul or abolish if the competition is not aimed at identifying Future Champions? Incidentally BOF have not put any news coverage out about the FCC Final

Well, it's been downgraded, shoved to an irrelevant time of the year, stripped down to a bare minimum bog standard event, and hosted in one of the least attractive parts of the country (sorry, Ebor, but it is from an orienteering point of view), and now ignored. I'd say that just about sums up what the powers that be think of it. Little wonder that pretty much nobody bothered. I'd rather that it was put to rest completely than carried on in this totally farcical, completely pointless way, wasting everybody's time, including organisers and competitors. In its time it served a valuable purpose, was a thoroughly popular and prestigious event (and to my mind still could be) but maybe doesn't serve the same or any other purpose now. Pretty much anything would be better than the way it's been handled this year.

[yted]

The gratuitous insult against all EBOR areas is a bit over the top..... Pickering/Newtondale, Cawthorne, Skipwith, Barnscliffe, Wykeham, Penny Howe.... are all good areas and certainly a good test for those who wish to progress to World Champs in tough areas like those earlier this year. Of course, if the limit of your ambitions is to decide which is the best way to circumnavigate a block of flats, you might find them a bit technically and physically demanding, but then some of us are orienteers and we love them.

[Tatty]

Andrew set the FCC up. It was a great competition, where the leaders qualified automatically for JWOC. He is a high standard orienteer (ran in the VHI's) who happens to love Urban orienteering. Please don't insult him Perhaps it is you who should not be called an orienteer!