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Alot has happened over the last few weeks... too much to put in just one post. World Champs 2007 (in Munich) have come and gone, the school season here in SA has just started (very quietly) and Spring has arrived with it's slightly less freezing mornings and toasty afternoons.We've just come off a training/selection camp at the Vaal River. With my age group of 25 girls, John and I have had our hands full. I wanted to get the selections for my top Coxed Quad over with in the first two days, and so we held erg tests on the previous Friday (2000m test) and Saturday (6000m test)... water trials (single's races & seat races) were on Tuesday.
The athletes were so close that it was tough to decide between who should be in the top 4 and who would make up the second string boat. To add to all of the stress and confusion of selecting between almost identical rowers, three of the top girls were sick and hacking their lungs out every session. We settled on a crew in the end, but I'm not sure that it's the fastest that we can field... we'll just have to wait until everyone's 100%.
I was amazed at the standard of competition and the fight in some of the girls though... like we have an age-group of pit bulls pulling at the chains to make it into the top crew and savage the competition. Some of the girls from the J16 A and B crews last year have been relegated to the D & E boats. It's a shock to them and a bigger shock for John and I when the time came to announce the crews.
It's one of the toughest things to do as a coach, telling some one that they're just not fast enough and seeing the light go out in their eyes. What I hope for when I break the news is their anger... not with us, but with themselves. An anger that fuels their minds and bodies for the fight back into the top boats... a drive makes them crush the competition in the hope that John and me will notice. We made two simple rules on camp regarding the announcement of selection results: 1. John and I would talk to those who didn't make it alone before the announcement to break the bad news, so that there were no huge surprises to those who would be disappointed, and 2. Questions and explanations would only be considered the morning following the announcement to give the girls time to think on it and to eliminate 'heat-of-the-moment' comments and angry questions. These were a huge help in making the selections and announcements easier and more stream-lined.
I wish that there were 25 places in that 1st crew... that everyone can be a part of the excellence and glory that is being the fastest and best in the club. There are only 5 spots, and it's a fact of life that the athletes and coaches have to live with.
All that John and I can ask of our athletes is to fight... fight for that spot in the top boat, and to keep their spot, because it's competition like that that will make the crews and individuals stronger... it's a dog-eat-dog world and they'd better eat or be eaten.
2 comments:
I've been fighting for about two and a half weeks to make my club's top crew.. and i've been disappointed in previous seasons about not making a top crew. At camp i was choosen as part of the top 5 rowers out of my age group to be trialed.. i was upset that i was not fit enough to perform on the day of the final trails.. i didnt realise until after reading this that my coaches have given every chance to make this crew. i (like many girls) am disappointed about the crew we've been selected for. I was angery with myself for coming out seond best once again after being obsessed ,for 3 months, with making the top crew. i fianlly gave up.. i didnt want to try any more.. until i read this.. It was up until now that I thought we were being coached my medal-hungery coahes.. i never realised the passion they have is to make US faster.They dont love winning... they love seeing US win.. i cried after reading this beacuse it hit me that my coaches are more stressed about selecing crews , than we are trialing for them, they worry about making a wrong chocies, they are more disappointed when we arnt fit enough to perform , not because they didnt get results.. but because they see our disappointment in ourselves.They get angery when we dont push, not because they know they didnt win but because they know we have more potential,.. they know we are better than we think. they beleive in us when we've stopped beleiving in ourselves... my coach told me to stay hunger for that seat .. i thought ' ya right' now i see that they have more passion than we will ever have to make ourselves fatser. they want us to prove them wrong to be like 'ya u see how fast i am.. make them look guys make them look. i see how difficult it was to select these crews and never realsied wat stress went behind it. Our coahes see everything so make them look.. thanx for being the best coahes.. and for keeping us inspired everytime we think we've failed.. i think that every crew is important ... its not about you making it into the top crew ...its about makeing your crew into the top crew.stay hungery guys ..lets kick ass guys
You are why I coach... wow...
I have to say that I'm a bit shocked that we seemed 'medal-hungry' to you guys and so I'm sorry if we were a bit intense at times.
We all want to win... and that means different things to everyone. I know what it's like to win medals and break records, and it becomes a bit addictive if you let it. But not everyone can achieve that... less than 10% of the athletes that participate in Schools' Champs in SA win a medal at that regatta, and if you percieve winning to be the benchmark of success, then it seems that our sport is dominated by losers.
We all just have to work with what you've got... we have to set realistic goals that become our 'gold medals'. For some the mere fact that they are participating is their perception of success, for others it's to win medals and perform... and which of these two types do you reckon achieves their goals more often? I think we need to find a balance between these two and refocus ourselves not on winning or making the top crew, but having fun or getting your PB on the erg, or having good, hard, solid sessions that make you feel alive and fast.
Keep fighting... your attitude to al of this is one of the most mature and down-to-earth I've ever experienced. Thank you... and keep that light in your eye...
Matt
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