Multi Events Coach Network Day a huge success

POSTED:

On Sunday May 7th Athletics Ireland welcomed over 50 coaches from 25 different clubs to TUS Athlone for a Coach Network Day focusing on the Multi-events. Four fantastic presenters with a wealth of knowledge and experience led the coaches through the practicalities and challenges of coaching athletes across all ages and event groups, with opportunities for the coaches to engage with the presenters, as well as hear the experiences from their peers in the room.

Dr. Phil Kearney started the days events with a presentation on long term athlete development and maturation in sport. A fascinating subject for the coaches of teenage athletes in particular, with data and research from other sports providing huge insights for our coaches as to best practice approaches for nurturing athletes through growth stages of their development, across all event groups and for multi-sport athletes.

Niamh Fogarty followed with a highly engaging presentation of some of her PhD research topics, which focus on the menstrual cycle and how it is approached in relation to our sport. This led to some insightful and open discussion among the coaches in the room, both in small group tasks, and as a whole, in presenting their experiences, solutions, and further queries.

Shane Aston took the group through a case study of his experiences as a decathlete, as well as the throws specific events and how they relate to, and can be maximised by the multi-events athlete. Shane’s first hand experience of the events provided practical and immediately applicable insights for the coaches in attendance.

Laura Tuner-Alleyne took charge for the second half of the day in presenting her “Speed is Queen” presentation – a case study on her speed-biased approach to the multi-events and some fascinating insights into her programming and coaching methods with world indoor heptathlon 4th placer Holly Mills. Laura then conducted a hurdles-focused practical session with the help of 3 volunteer athletes (Patrcick Heffernan, Caoimhe Farrell, Lilly-Ann O’Hora) which focused on a constraints-led approach to error correction and technical mastery of the event.

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