JWOC mid

[DIDSCO]

The Brits are going well out here in Gothenburg. Todays terrain is demanding stuff, and to get so many qualified was great. Clean runs tomorrow, as the course is likely to pass through a more technical area, and some of the runners should be pushing top 15.

Being here gets me thinking alot about the talent we've had pass through the British JWOC teams since the start in 1991. In nearly every team since then we've had athletes with good potential, that should make good senior elites, but have never made it. Of course nobody would expect everybody to make it, but generally it seems we're pretty bad at taking our talented juniors and making them talented seniors.
Just last week I helped train some of the British JWOC boys here in Gothenburg, they impressed me with their attitude and ability, and without doubt with the right coaching most of these guys could make it in the seniors. But the odds are stacked against them, it shouldn't be like that, the odds should be in their favour.
We seem to pump the juniors with training, advice, coaching and opportunities and then when they turn senior suddenly wave them on their way with no support or direction. The British club system is not developed enough to support the interests of their talented young seniors, there needs to be a more national set up, coming from the top (BOF) that aims to further the development of these JWOC juniors when they turn senior. A well organised under 25 group with a good set of commited coaches with a little BOF financial support could work wonders. In the past there's been the development section of the GB team but this has always been badly managed and without serious coaching, when perhaps that is what's most needed. Maybe an Under 25 group could be totally seperate to the squad and not have anything to do with UKsport its politics, and number restrictions, and be supported and organised by BOF and funded in part by its members.
With 8 of the 10 British WOC runners being over 30 it might be a good idea to try and develop some of the young talent we've got....

[El]

Wasn't that sort of the idea behind EDS? Although, I know that's just England (copying Scotland). I think it was the lack of anything structured for runners who are just below Squad level but have serious attitude and ambitions which prompted the formation of EDS. Problem is it takes people to volunteer time - I would guess that we're not totally swamped with coaches and those that we do have are either involved in junior stuff (regional, start and junior squads) or senior squad. NB I'm not saying it's not a great idea, just that it's hard to put into action - it would need some organisation/management outside of the athletes themselves because otherwise they're worrying about organising when they need to focus on training etc.

[DIDSCO]

Their maybe certain similarities to the EDS group but the big differences are:
- It would be a selected group (perhaps all JWOC runners are guaranteed selection for first 2 years of seniors?)
- It would be mainly 25 year olds and under, but flexible enough to allow an older athlete with potential.
- It would be a british group, aimed at providing Britain with top class orienteers - not Scotland, England.
-It would be organised by BOF and be the official development group for Britains best young seniors. It would be properly managed through BOF
- There would be a specific programme for each year for training and races
- The selected athletes would be coached, properly coached both at the races / training as well as away from them when perhaps the athlete needs most support.
-It could also be a group that helps get our very best proven performers back on track after injury or other problems and when they miss out on the elite squad, e.g Craney, BJ, Speaky

Although it would require a fair amount of volunteer help, lets remember orienteering in general works only because of dedicated volunteers. Before lottery funding came along the British Team managers and coaches didn't get more than travel expenses, so it can be done.

[T5]

Not knowing the specifics of the squad setup but, what DIDSCO is describing sounds like the Start Squad for seniors.

The Start Squad obviously has a business case (or whatever it's called in sport) to justify its existence (ie: funding). This sounds like the same thing - grab people who have potential and provide a framework to develop them to such a degree that they can join the main squad.

Surely a similar business case can be developed for this to attract funding...

[DanH]

A good point well made Dids. This is something I have thought for a while. I was fortunate enough to get selected for the senior squad in my first year as a senior on the back of performances at JWOC but got injured early on and with finals at university coming up decided to make myself unavailable for selection the following year (not that I had a cat in hells chance of getting picked with the injury problems I had).

However, others haven't been as lucky (Duncan Coombs, James Tullie, Joe Mercer etc.) all who clearly have had the talent but now are not on the scene in the international stage. This removal from the structure, training advice and motivation of the squad leads to the gap in performance becoming larger. This in turn leads to a de-moralising effect and the group of "semi-elites" becomes smaller as people become disillusioned and drift away from the sport.

Yes it is possible to bridge the gap if you have great motivation and the right people around you, as Neil Northrop amongst others has shown, but it does seem that if you become a senior and are not either in the squad or still surrounded by the training mentality of others that are (i.e. in Sheffield/Edinburgh) then it is incredibly difficult to break back into the fold.

In other countries, Sweden and Switzerland for sure, they have U23 squads as they recognise that not all of their juniors are ready to step up to the senior international stage at 20/21 but many have the potential to become top seniors with the right support/coaching. I believe this is something that should be considered in Britain - certainly on a selection basis, although the structure within BOF/UK Sport etc. would have to be considered as it's success couldn't be tracked until 3/4 years down the line when hopefully the potential is fulfilled.

Dan Halliday