Selections - Round 2 (Boat Race)

Selecting a crew sucks... What irritates me the most about it is what happens afterwards... some quit and some stay on but still have a despondent attitude that they deserve to be in the boat and that the selector is wrong.

Any coach in any sport will tell you that selections are based on a range of criteria, some quantifyable (objective) and other not (subjective). In rowing, there is often the scenario that the fastest combination on paper is not the fastest combination on the water. Things like technical skill and cohesion with the other athletes play a huge role in who makes a boat. Doing well in one aspect of the selection does not automatically qualify you for a spot in a particular boat.

When considering between one or two athletes for the last spot in a boat, I tend to include aspects like the person's attitude and commitment towards racing and training. If, for example, an athlete repeatedly asks a coach before the season if she can cox since she knows how difficult it will be to make a crew, I'm not going to think highly of her attitude towards getting some work done to make the crew, and that athlete will have to prove herself that liitle bit more to make that boat. Coaches will use everything they see, no matter how insignificant it seems at the time, to select between two athletes with nothing between them... and it helps to perform on the day since, like racing, you only get one shot at selections to show your worth.

The most interesting aspect of this post-selection period is the number of athletes that quit the sport. I have incredible respect for those who, when they have not made it into a crew, try to fight their way up, and nothing but dissapointment and a small amount of anger for those who cut and run. Coaches and team-mates have invested a considerable amount of time and effort into making an age-group or club as strong as it can be, and these are the people who are let down by quiters. The resignation is always accompanied by statements that the reason for leaving is not due to selections or the fact that they have dropped... I have a hard time believing that.

There are members of this age-group that would give an eye to be in a boat and race, and even though they can't participate to the extent that they want to, they make the effort for the rest of us, no matter where they fit in... those kids are the life of this club, and it's for those girls that I have all the time in the world.

There is a bigger picture here guys... if you didn't make the boat that you wanted to be in, keep fighting for that spot. Because by doing that, everyone will do well... the kids who struggle to make the 3rd crew will benefit, and so will everyone below them.

I don't care who's in a particular boat, as long as that crew is the fastest that I can field after considering all of my selection criteria... both subjective and objective.

Serendipity (1)

I love that word... happiness found in an unexpected place or by mistake somehow heightens the experience and you feel more ecstatic than in a usual jubilant moment. Serendipity, unfortunately, works the other way as well... dissappointments can be equally magnified when you don't expect them. We as sentient beings seem to steel ourselves for joys or hurt if we know what's coming, but an experience that hits us square between the eyes when we're least expecting it seems to be incredibly overexaggerated.

John and I had this experience this weekend at the final rounds of trials for the girls' quad sculls. We seat-raced a number of the girls for a few spots in the five boats and some of the results were quite unexpected. A few that we thought would perform didn't, and one or two raced better than I have ever seen them do...

The announcements of the results after the racing shocked some, and I can't say that I enjoyed them, but the changes were made for a reason and we will see in the next few weeks if they have made a difference... both John and I are sure that they have.

I mentioned in another post that I hate to announce the results of selections since someone will invariably be disappointed... and the same was true on Saturday. Athletes have to understand that while it's difficult to justify the reasons for dropping someone when he/she is still emotional from the shock of the decision, how diffucult will it be to explain the justification for not promoting a person who has performed well? It will be impossible... and pretty damn stupid since we're trying to get the fastest crews possible.

I just hope that they'll see the bigger picture... that John and I are trying to get the age group to perform as a whole, and that every rower has her part to play... no matter which seat they're sitting in. A major part of our jobs as coaches is to get them to see that and to fight to make the crew that they're a part of as fast as possible. We have to make the fifth, fourth, third and second races and training as big a deal as the first quads training is... we must just keep that light burning bright in their eyes.

Crew Selections - August/September 2007

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.