GCAN and Local Athletics News
GCAN High Performance Service - Final Report
Ben Snaith and John Oakes have come to the end of their training with Core Cambridge
and we have seen some fantastic results already. Ben won gold in the 100m and 400m
at the schools games held on 9th May at the Olympic stadium an amazing achievement.
John has also achieved some fantastic results completing his target 10k in 33min
30 sec on 15th April. Nicole, the coach that has been working with Ben and John
was asked to write about the experience from her point of view, so read the
full report here.
25th April 2012 - Quadkids Event
On 25th April 53 junior athletes aged 7-11 came together to compete in a Quadkids
style event at the University track at Wilberforce Road, Cambridge. We had 4 mixed
groups, one for each year group. They all competed against other children in their
school year. The events they competed in were a 75 metre sprint, a 600m run, a throw
and standing long jump into the sand pit. Although the weather was unkind to us
the children all had a great time. For some of them it was the first time they had
been to an Athletics track and jumped into sand, as well has jumping in the puddles.
The children were all superbly behaved and many of the parents helped out with measuring
and getting the children organised for their event. We are holding another competition
on 4th July so please bring along your juniors.
21st April 2012 - Leadership in Running Fitness Course
On 21st April we had 19 people attend the Leadership in Running Fitness course at
CSR in Cambridge. 16 of those were people from Network clubs or partners. We are
hoping to see many new beginners groups popping up all over the network area. Please
remember to let me know when you are thinking of starting such a venture so that
I can help with promotion and getting the new runners added to the Run England website.
Don’t forget that there are loads of resources for these groups on the Run England
website.
1st April 2012 - Jumps Workshop
On the 1st April 2012 we had the pleasure of UKA apprentice coach Femi Akinsanya
come to the University track to deliver a horizontal jumps workshop for coaches.
We had a good turn out with 8 coaches attending. The session was fantastic, Femi
took the jumps right back to the basics and helped us all see what is needed to
make a good jumper a great one.
An Update on the GCAN High Performance Service
The HPS coaches and athletes have been attending Core Cambridge now for a few months,
so have been asked to give an update on how they are getting on and what benefits
they feel they have seen. Read the full report here.
March 2012 - Year Three Funding Approved
At the end of February we received the news that England Athletics have given funding
for our year three plan. This is fantastic news as we have an ambitious plan for
2012 enabling us to build on the success that has already been achieved.
The main areas of the work for this year are on coach and club development, especially
to support juniors, and increasing overall participation. We will also be working
towards making the network sustainable beyond the initial three year funded period.
Please take a look at our year three plan
in more detail.
Nov 2011 - Changes at GCAN
In the last month GCAN has seen a few changes. Neil Costello has stepped down as
chair and Trevor Bunch, chair of Haverhill Runners has kindly agreed to take on
that role. We would like to say a huge thank you to Neil for all his time and effort
that has gone into the Network to help make it as successful as it is and welcome
to Trevor who will take us into our third year.
Chris Flood has also stepped down as treasurer and Carolynn Anderson of Newmarket
joggers has kindly taken on that role. Again thank you to Chris for all his hard
work and welcome to Carolynn.
Last, but not least, June Swift has moved to England Athletics as the Club and Coach
Support Officer for West Midlands and has been replaced by Julie Pashley. We wish
June every success in her new role and know that the clubs and coaches she will
be supporting will be very lucky to have her. Julie has been involved in local athletics
for several years and has played fundamental roles in establishing community athletics
clubs for young athletes, Cambourne Women Runner’s and the Cambridge Festival of
Running Cambourne 10k. She also sits on the England Athletics East region Council.
Sept 18th 2011 - Haverhill Running Club win St. Edmundsbury Club of the Year
Haverhill Running Club won the Club of the Year which was accepted by Chairman Trevor
Bunch. Formed 12 years ago as a social group, the club now has 80 members of all
abilities.
Over the past 2 years the club has worked hard to improve the standard of coaching
it offers.
The club is driving a project to set up permanently marked running routes around
Haverhill, aimed at encouraging community participation in running for fitness and
for sport.
An exciting year at the club has seen 13 members qualify as Leaders in Running Fitness,
with funding secured for a coach development plan that will qualify three Leaders
to Coach level.
The enhanced coaching capacity at the club has enabled it to start running groups
aimed specifically at beginners, an initiative which helped nearly 40 people to
start running in a safe and supportive environment last year.
The club competes in races almost every week, representing both the club and the
town around the region.
Trevor said: “I am very proud of the Club and what we have achieved in the last
12 years and especially what we have achieved in the last two years in taking the
Club to the next level.”
June 1st 2011 - Leadership in Athletics Course a Great Success!
GCAN in partnership with Cambridge and Coleridge AC and South Cambridge SSP delivered
a Leadership in Athletics. The course attracted 21 young people from across Cambridgeshire
who were interested in pursuing a coaching career in athletics.
The course provided an introduction to the roles and responsibilities of being a
leader at a club as well as looking at the fundamentals of the four basic athletic
disciplines; speed, endurance, jump and throw. The foundations of the course derived
from England Athletics 365 programme and attendees were given the option of purchasing
an Athletic 365 pack as a course resource.
Over half of the attendees have shown an interest in volunteering on a Monday evening
at C&C helping coaches with the junior section of the club. Network Activator June
Swift said 'It is great to see enthusiastic young leaders, many of whom are already
athletes, giving something back to their clubs. I hope this course has provided
leaders with the skills, knowledge and confidence to help lead sessions in the club
environment".
Following the feedback from the course GCAN is looking to deliver subsequent courses
over the upcoming months. If you would like to request a course please contact June
Swift, Network Activator.
May 26th 2011 - International Athlete and Coach Inspire Haverhill Running Club
Photo courtesy of the Haverhill Echo
International athlete Helen Decker and her coach Clive Sparkes visited Haverhill
RC to deliver a training session athletes and coaches would not forget in a hurry!
Clive played a huge role in transforming Helen from a recreational runner to an
international superstar and aiding her incredible rise to fame the past year through
attaining her place in the Great Britain Team.
After being put through their paces on the track attendees enjoyed a question and
answer session with Clive and Helen. This provided a fantastic opportunity to ask
questions and get some top advice! Attendees were left feeling inspired that through
hard work, grit and determination anything is possible. Helen is an excellent example
of this!
Here are some quotes from the evening:
"Absolutely brilliant training session tonight with Helen Decker (british marathon
runner) and her coach. Totally inspirational".
"The session was inspired by greatness tonight, as well as worked half to death
on the track! "
"Thank you very much for last night, it was quite inspirational. What I found interesting
was that a top athlete has the same problems as we do!"
Photo courtesy of the Haverhill Echo
March 8th 2011 - Coaches and Athletes Prepare for Spring Marathons
On Saturday 5th March the Greater Cambridge Athletic Network ran a free endurance
development session in preparation for upcoming spring marathons. Clive Sparkes,
a highly respected marathon coach to International athlete Helen Dexter led a session
around effective planning and preparation for a marathon. The session provided an
opportunity to ask questions about the type of training leading up to a marathon,
weekly mileage and areas to consider when preparing for a marathon. Clive has kindly
offered his support at future GCAN events along with Helen. The
handouts from the presentation along with a
16 week template for marathon training have kindly been made available.
The second part of the session was led by Nick Gardiner, founder of Fit for Sport,
a leading sports therapy clinic in the area and one of GCAN's support service providers.
The session provided an introduction to sports nutrition; ensuring adequate energy
intake for optimum performance, guidelines for marathon runners to meet basic diet
requirements; during training, pre competition, during the competition and post
competition. In addition all attendees where given an open invitation for a free
30 minute treatment at Fit for Sport.
The initial feedback from the attendees has been very positive. A few of the comments
are listed below.
- "Good session covering above and beyond expectations"
- "The session was very welcoming and inspiring. As a fairly inexperienced athlete I felt very comfortable and at ease"
- "Excellent, really appropriate and both speakers adapted the session for what we wanted and responded well to questions"
- "Both speakers were very experienced and professional giving a lot of useful information"
The endurance session was one of a schedule of development sessions organised through
GCAN. All sessions are FREE to GCAN members and aims to provide an opportunity for
coaches to access high quality, expert support to further their knowledge and understanding
on an array of athletic-related topics.
Feb 2011 - Fit for Sport Creates Runner Evaluation and Screening Process
As a result of the partnerships established through GCAN East Cambridge Athletics
Club is currently working alongside Fit For Sport (one of GCAN athlete support service
providers) to improve their talented middle-distance runners and improve coaches'
knowledge on the importance physical preperation.
A screening process has been produced by Fit For Sport after Richard, the Clinic
Manager in the Sawston and Cambridge clinics, experienced the benefits of a similar
process that he undertakes each year as part of the GB Performance Squad he currently
competes in. The process involves a series of tests and running-specific movements,
using a combination of video analysis and hands-on techniques to assess biomechanical
function and to determine if there are any predisposing factors reducing performance
or increasing the risk of injury. The sports therapists are specifically measuring
strength, flexibility, neurological tightness, muscle firing patterns, core stability,
proprioception and myofascial issues.
The first session involved the video analysis of over 20 functional movements to
allow the individually tailored exercise programs to be prescribed to optimise their
running performance and efficiency. This session was completed at Kings School,
Ely on the 15th February. In the next session Fit For Sport will take the coaches
and athletes through their individual training programs including progressions,
then will reassess them in a couple of months to provide visual improvements.
Jan 2011 - Regional Endurance Performance Squad Setup
Many running clubs in the area have a few high performing athletes, but not enough
to be able to run training schedules specifically for them. As a result, Brian Corbett
and Robert Woodward have setup the Regional Endurance Performance Squad to bring
together athletes from the region so that they can train and work together in a
larger group.
The squad is endorsed by GCAN but is an independent squad in its own right and any
athletes in the area are welcome to contact either
Brian or Robert if they
are interested in taking part. Guideline requirements for participation are sub-38
minute 10K for male athletes and a sub-42 minute 10K for female athletes.
Sessions will take place about once per month, and in addition to athlete participation,
coaches are also very welcome to attend to observe, network and potentially work
with the athletes. More information about the squad can be found in the
information sheet.
27th Sept 2010 - High Jump Visit Inspires Coaches and Athletes
East Cambridgeshire Athletic Club played host to to a flying coach visit from Carol
Jackson, a top east regional high jump coach who trains some of Britain's top junior
high jumpers and Annabel Bennett who is based at Ipswich and trains youngsters in
the region. The session was organised by the Greater Cambridge Athletic Network
(GCAN) in partnership with East Cambridgeshire AC and aimed to provide local coaches
and athletes with expert advice for both beginners and more experienced athletes
and coaches.
The first part of the session focused on beginners who were given a basic introduction
to high jump including the correct way to fall on the mat and different techniques
to jump over the bar. The second part of the session was orientated towards the
more experienced athlete and coach who were given a more advanced session including
run ups and approaches to the bar. Richard Powell, head of athletics at Kings School,
commented that the sessions had proved worthwhile for both groups and "they all
really enjoyed it".
The Kevin-Henry 5K League 2010
Congratulations to Cambridge Tri Club who won the Male Team prize, the Female team prize and as a result the overall prize. The full results can be found on the Saffron Striders website.5th June 2010 - The GCAN Open Day
GCAN Open Day took place on Saturday 5th June at Cambridge University Athletic track.
The day attracted over 60 junior athletes who competed in the first Quadkids Final.
Quadkids is a multi-discipline team based athletic format for school children. Each
child competes in four events – sprints, middle distance, jump, throw and an optional
relay. Their individual score for each discipline is combined towards an overall
team score. GCAN is one of the first athletic networks in the Country to deliver
and support a Quadkids event. In the next few days a news item will be added onto
the England Athletics National homepage – www.englandathletics.org. Alongside the
Quadkids competition the day also included sport injury clinic delivered by International
athlete Sam Boden, Paul Evans master class followed by a 5km open graded race. The
feedback from the event has been positive!
20th March 2010 - Core Cambridge Strength and Conditioning Session
On 20th March Core Cambridge, one of GCAN athlete support service providers, delivered
a strength and conditioning session for GCAN members. The session was free to all
GCAN clubs and was open to all ages and abilities. The session was designed to provide
athletes and coaches with a basic understanding of the principles of strength and
conditioning and how to put the theory into practice. In addition, the session included
a section on injury prevention - how to diagnose and help to prevent injuries in
athletes. The feedback from the attendees was very positive and they felt a lot
was learnt in a short space of time.
6th March 2010 - 25 Newly Qualified Level 1 Athletic Coaches
On 6th March 2010 25 people attended a level one athletic course organised by GCAN.
The course aimed to provide a generic introduction to athletics and qualify attendees
to assist a level two or above athletic coach. Following on from the course attendees
were asked to complete a self audit form outlining their development needs and how
GCAN can support them reaching their coaching potential. The information compiled
from the forms will form the foundations of future GCAN coach development sessions.
11th Feb 2010 - GCAN Athlete and Coach Endurance Development Session
GCAN have organised a series of athlete and coach development sessions taking place
through 2010 and focussed on areas that will specifically benefit GCAN members.
The first session, led by Chicago marathon winner Paul Evans, attracted over 40 athletes and coaches who came together to share ideas, experience and training tips. The session included a mixture of discussion and practical training which provided a great chance for road-based athletes to train on an athletic track (some for the first time!) Feedback from the session has been extremely positive and the session provided a fantastic opportunity for athletes from different clubs and ability levels to train together. GCAN would like to thank Paul for his support, effort and time.
7th Dec 2009 - Launch Event
This took place on Monday 7th December 2009 with Olympic Champion and athleics legend David Hemery (left) leading a workshop for member organisations.At the event, James Cudmore from England Athletics (right) presented Neil Costallo and June Swift from GCAN with a cheque for £38,000 for network's first year.
