2015 Junior International
Information
“Athlete
Readiness”
Financial Support
• Athletics Australia has worked hard through
the junior program to support each athlete
and personal coach
• A massive contribution to our Junior
program comes from the Australian
Commonwealth Games Association
• ACGA are our biggest funding partners and
together we aim to have as many of the WY
team onto our home Commonwealth
Games team on the Gold Coast 2018 as
possible
Parenting an
Elite Athlete
• Rule book
• Very hard job
supporting your
son/daughter on this
journey
• Riding the rollercoaster
of emotions
• Have the discussions
with your
son/daughter over the
upcoming months
• Understanding the
international scene
yourself will help your
child to adapt better
From Tourist to Performer
World Youths are different to Junior Nationals…
• It is the biggest competition for U18 athletes
• It is a humanitarian showcase .. approx. 200
countries
• Travel, international time zone, village
• Temptation to be a “tourist” is enormous as is to lose
sight of the big picture
• Athletes, parents and personal coaches have
worked so hard to get to this level, it is about staying
professional to obtain the best results possible
Team Obligations
• Athletes and personal coaches must engage with
NJCs and team staff from selection to the end of the
WY Championships
• All selected athletes and personal coaches must
complete the ASADA Level 1 and 2 courses
• Personal coach accreditation at WY will only be
given to those who have completed the ASADA
Level 1 and 2 courses
Team Obligations
• Athletes and personal coaches need to work
through our AMPSPORT system and present training
load and monitoring
• This system gives great detail about how the athlete
is tracking straight back to the personal coach and
the NJC and medical staff.
• The more we share about how the athlete is
progressing the better the athlete will be.
• We have several examples of where the athlete and
PC have not engaged even in the past two months
which has resulted in detrimental scenarios for the
athlete
• Avoid being too proud and learn to be comfortable
in accepting the support of others
• Like anything new we need to spend some time
learning this system – the benefits are massive
AMPSPORT
AMPSPORT
AMPSPORT
AMPSPORT
Preparation
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Parents and personal coaches…
Think about how you have prepared your son/daughter/athlete for
these National Championships
What has been different in the past week/fortnight for your athlete
and family leading into these WY trials?
Sleep
Food
Rest/downtime
Recovery
Off legs
This carefully planned approach has put your athlete in the best
possible condition for their best results
Review and discuss these things after the Championships and
convince your athlete that they are responsible for doing all this for
themselves when overseas.
Your athlete will need constant reminders and discussions in the lead
up to the tour and perhaps even whilst on tour.
Discuss with your
son/daughter/athlete:
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What overseas and village life will be like?
How international travel can affect their sleep, emotions, eating
Discuss their normal sleep patterns and reinforce the importance
of trying to continue those patterns overseas
Discuss daily food intake, highlight the protein, carbs, fats you
feed them at home, highlight food portions sizes and remind
them to stick to that sort of intake whilst overseas.
Do you feed your child a hot greasy breakfast each day? Do you
give them three helpings of dinner or dessert? Do they drink soft
drink with each meal? Do they eat junk food after dinner?
We can reinforce healthy professional practices but they need to
have been taught and discussed at home for them to stick
overseas
Athletes need to continue to “live” the excellence you
have taught them at home –MASSIVE challenge for them
Discuss with your
son/daughter/athlete:
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Clothes washing in a coin laundry, send them with washing powder,
teach them how to use a washing machine, how to hand wash
“smalls” and Australian uniform daily
Talk to your son/daughter about how to be a considerate roomie
and how to choose an appropriate roomie for athletic success
Ask your son/daughter to consider these sorts of things about
themselvesDoes your child enjoy their own company/quiet?
Does your child need to talk a lot?
Is your child a morning/evening person?
When does your child compete in the program?
Is your child very organised/orderly or messy/relaxed?
Discuss with your
son/daughter/athlete:
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Discuss with your son/daughter about behaviour on tour
Acceptable behaviour, co-operative with team mates and staff,
positive use of social media
Remind them of the code of conduct
Ask your son/daughter to self advocate – how do you want
Mum/Dad to best support you whilst away? Do they want you to ring
every day? Skype every day? What would be a good time? Do they
want to see you at training? Do they want to see you before comp
warm up? Straight after they compete? Find out the best way to
reduce the stress on your child….
Best advice is to discuss all these questions early so a plan can be
hatched
Make a Plan
• Once your athlete is selected plan out the entire pre
departure period (athlete, parents and personal coach)
• Have a medical/physio check for any sore spots, low iron etc
• Talk to school/university/part-time work regarding the
upcoming time commitment, exams and assignments
• Plan out training, competition and recovery sessions
• Schedule in physio checks/massage, proper recoveries
• Assist athlete to prioritise their life… family, friends, social lives,
work, school, training….they cannot do it all
• Continue to speak with your relevant NJC, flag any concerns
Whilst overseas Stay Flexible
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Important for athletes, parents and personal coaches to be positive
and flexible
Some people are great at being flexible while others struggle to be
flexible once their plans are in place.
Avoid “bunker mentality” ..don't over plan everything
Coaches and parents need to think about their own “hot buttons” so
they are aware of them and can best deal with the situation without
stressing the athlete.
Coaches need to email a training plan to team coaches and make
sure they have discussed it with the athlete and team coach
Ensure the athlete has a copy (even if personal coach is attending).
Coaches and athletes need to be flexible with their training.
Sometimes it is impossible to train at the prescribed hour the coach
wants eg track unavailable, weather concerns, can’t access a gym
Down Time
• Discuss with son/daughter ways to fill their down time… there
will be plenty of it
• homework/study
• reading
• board games
• card games
• Computers/ipads
• skype
• movies
• Discuss your expectations of their use of “social media”
WY Dates
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Team selected by March 20th
WY Competition/Education camp in Townsville for athletes June 4-7th
Pre-departure qualifying period 6th June - 5th July. Athletes are
expected to compete 4 times in this period.
Athletes must post a pre departure standard in this period. If they
don’t they do not go to WY.
Final entries to IAAF – Monday 6th July (day after pre-departure ends)
WY team will leave on July 7th and have the opportunity train and
acclimatise to the time zone prior to arriving in Cali approximately
July 11th.
WY Travel
• The WY team will depart Australia July 7th and head to Miami,
USA.
• We will depart Miami July 11th and go straight into the “village” in
Cali
• Following the conclusion of WY the team will fly to Los Angeles,
USA. Due to flight scheduling, the team will spend 1 night in LA
before travelling home to Australia.
• Athletes will arrive home on Thursday 23rd July
Travel
WY Travel
• Athletes will travel back to Australia as a group.
• Athletes who have parents in Cali will be dismissed into parental care
at the conclusion of the competition (Sunday 19th July) if they are
travelling further with their parents.
• Athletes will need to let Athletics Australia know (via email) whether
they are being dismissed into parental care, if they want a one way
flight to be booked for them (reduced levy) or need a return flight
booked for them with the team. This needs to be done by 10th April
2015.
LEVY
- $3000 “levy” associated with the WY tour
- $2400 for one-way flight
- Levy due prior to athlete departing Australia
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IAAF WY Coaches
Conference
Monday 20th July
9:00 – 12:00: Conference Session 1
12:15 – 13:15: Lunch
13:30 – 17:30: Conference Session 2
• Depart Tuesday 21st July
Position available to one personal coach
• Thanks