Coaches: Are they pushing too hard?

[Karl]

Coaches: Are they pushing too hard?
published: Thursday | February 22, 2007 <DIV class=KonaBody j4lQv="true">




THE ROLE of coaches or trainers, whatever you call them, is to nurture talent, not to destroy or abuse it.

But at the two-day JN/JPS/Juciful Eastern School Sports Association (ESSSA) Athletic Championships, which ended at the National Stadium on Tuesday, one of Jamaica's brightest sprint prospects, Carrie Russell of St. Thomas Technical, was overused by coach Ryan Patterson.

If you remember, Russell was Jamaica's lone medal winner in the girls' 100m at last year's World Junior Championships in Beijing, China.

At the World Junior Champion-ships, Russell made a name for herself by showing Jamaica and the world what she is made of by taking the 100m in a personal best 11.42, an improvement from 11.79.

She also played an important role on the girls' bronze medal 4x100m team, which also included Naffene Briscoe, Anastasia Le-Roy and Schillonie Calvert. The team was timed in a season best 44.22 seconds.

With such a talent, to ask a prize 16-year-old athlete like this to run five events in one day, especially after running the heats on the previous day, was far too much work.

Russell, who watched her two Class Three 100m (22.20) and 200m (24.81) records taken away by Glengoffe's Natasha Morrison, re-wrote the Class Two sprint records.

Affected performance


Carrie Russell - file

Russell ran 11.88 and 24.86 to beat Kacey-Ann Robinson's seven-year-old marks of 12.00 and 24.91 respectively. She also won the one-lap event in 57.64 seconds, minutes after the 100m and about two hours before running the 200m. The 400m run affected her 200m performance as she is far better than 24.8.

Russell again returned minutes after to run a sizzling second leg for her team to win the Class Two sprint relay in 49.54. She closed the day with the mile relay, which saw her team cross the line in record time but later get disqualified because it was Russell's fifth event of the day, which is against the rules.

All this may be because coach Patterson wanted to win at all cost.

The fact that St. Thomas had no chance of winning the title meant Russell shouldn't have been in even four events, especially with major junior competitions in the air for 2007.

Based on her performances in 2006, which saw her win the Under-17 sprint double at the CAC Junior Championships - 100m (11.79) and 200m (23.75), along with the relay gold - Russell is a medal contender for the World Youth title in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Russell's mother was hopping mad with the coach's decision after learning of the workload her child was given in one day.

After all is said and done, someone - maybe ISSA, the school's principal, the JAAA, the ESSSA, or even Carrie's mom - should demand some answers from Patterson, who has not only broken a rule, but could damage her talent if he continues in this vein.</DIV>

[Karl]

RE: Coaches: Are they pushing too hard?

Interesting article - It may be the athlete was overworked. ..but, it could alsobe she was not.

A look at the best times provided shows she may have been encouraged to run at half-speed in some events.

Consider this - In 2006 she ran the 100M in11.79 and the 200m 23.75. If she made normal improvement she would be running much faster. She ran her finals in the same events in 11.88 and 24.86 over the 100M and the 200M respectively.If we compare the times of each event for both years it would appear she may have run the first part of her 100M concentrating on her start and may have done the same thing for the 200M ending both races 'floating'. It just may be that she was operating in those race at little more than at "half effort".

We do not know her best times in the 400M so a reasoned comment cannot be made. However, the writer claims she was strong enough to run"a sizzling second leg for her team". That sizzling second leg for her team suggests she was not unduly affected by her earlier exploits.

The writer then goes on to say, "She closed the day with the mile relay, which saw her team cross the line in record time".Whether she ran 'giving all'or jogged and was 'carried' by her teammateswe do not know.It could be if she jogged she was merely ending as per coaches instructions...and, it may be if she gave it her all she was doing the same thing. The coachI am sure would have discussed the workload with his young charge previous to the start of the championships meet. I am surehe was using his knowledge of his athlete and keeping a close watch on her reaction to the stress (physical and mental) as the meet went on. It may even be that the type of competition the young lady was competing against did not prove as strenuous as some of her training workout sessions. Merely looking at the number of event run does not say whether or not the young athlete was overworked.

Seems to me the story of the Mom being upset is mischievious. Surely her loving and caring Mom would have known before the meet what were the coach's and her daughter's intention and schedule. Surely Momwould haveknown if measures wherein place to monitor her daughter's activities. My parents knew what I would be doing when I was a student at school pretending to be at various times, footballer or cricketeror track and field athlete. Also I had the ear of my trainer/coach and would have if under extreme duress made it so known. It is not unusual for the versatile athlete to help House teams by taking part in 5 to 8 events and then going on to Boys Championships to be entered and willing enteronly 3 or 4 events (for example, two individual running events and two relays...with this later Boy Championships load being much more strenuous than the House Sports and or Western Championships load).

[MdmeX]

RE: Coaches: Are they pushing too hard?

Just a storm in a teacup. The Journalist needs to come better than that.

Why didn't the journalist interview the coach as to why he had her in so many events. This is the same coach, who discovered and has nurtured her career since she was a Class 4 athlete, to the point where she was a National representative in 2007. Why would he overwork her at this stage.

In some events,Russell didn't even run full force.

[Karl]

RE: Coaches: Are they pushing too hard?

MdmeX (2/22/2007)Just a storm in a teacup. The Journalist needs to come better than that.

Why didn't the journalist interview the coach as to why he had her in so many events. This is the same coach, who discovered and has nurtured her carrier since she was a Class 4 athlete, to the point where she was a National representative in 2007. Why would he overwork her at this stage.

In some events,Russell didn't even run full force.

I am with you!

[Karl]

RE: Coaches: Are they pushing too hard?

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Francis offers perspective on 'athlete overwork'</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>BY DANIA BOGLE Observer staff reporter bogled@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, February 25, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Athlete overwork isn't necessarily about how many events you do on any given day, but how much work you may be required to put in during training.<P class=StoryText align=justify>That's according to Stephen Francis, coach of world-class sprinters Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson and the cadre of MVP athletes.
The holder of an IAAF level one coaching certificate was reacting to track and field aficionados who have often queried the wisdom of coaches who place their athletes in multiple events at major high school championships.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Calabar's third-leg runner hands over the baton to the anchor man en route to victory in the Class Two 4x100m at yesterday's Gibson Relay carnival at the National Stadium. (Photo: Bryan Cummings) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Recently, St Thomas Technical student Carrie Russell competed in five different events at the Eastern Championships.
There were suggestions that the World Junior bronze medallist looked a bit fatigued by the end of the Championships.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Francis, who has trained Powell to the 100m world record and Commonwealth Games gold medal and Simpson to the Commonwealth Games title in the 200m, speaking to the Sunday Observer at yesterday's 31st Gibson Relays, said sometimes athletes will burn out faster if they are overworked during training.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"I don't really agree with the idea that if you run too many events at the championship that it amounts to overwork," Francis said. "If the coach knowing he or she is going to be doing these events puts on excess work during training that is far more damaging to the athlete's future than the fact that they come on the day and run three or four events."<P class=StoryText align=justify>Responding directly to the comments about Russell's workload at the Eastern Championships, Francis said: "We're talking about Eastern Championships, which is by far the weakest confederation. she has no competition, it's important for her school to do well and by all reports she was well within herself, so I don't really see the big problem," Francis said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"To me, it is really about what the training has been like and if the training has been excessive while this girl is supposed to be doing 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m or whatever it is, that's when we are going to have a problem, not because she did it on that day," he added.
Francis pointed out that there were many athletes who competed in few events, but still faced burnout in a short time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"There are a lot of people who turn up at championships and run one event who are far more damaged because of what they went through in practice and training than somebody who didn't train much or excessively and come out on that particular day and run those events," he said.