Apart from her analysis of the kids, SHARON HANNAN also took some time out to share valuable inputs from her years of experience. Excerpts from an email interview to GARIMA VERMA
What all goes into making a champion like Sally PearsonIJ
Time. Sally and I’ve been together for more than 14 years now and I’ve very carefully nurtured and developed her into an elite athlete. I’m an extremely patient person and I totally believe in children being treated like children and then gradually being extended as they become older.
What prompted a mother to become an athletics coachIJ
My daughter wanted to be involved in the sport of athletics and I saw a need for coaches, so I started learning to become a coach in 1983.
How difficult it is to manage young athletes in comparison to adult professionalsIJ
They are worlds apart. They have very different needs, very different techniques and very different perceptions. Children will do whatever you ask of them. They have 100% total trust in you so you must know what you are doing. Older and more experienced athletes have a far greater knowledge of their own bodies, their own strengths and weaknesses. They know their flexibilities and their minor injuries or niggles.
What is the right age to enter into training for athleticsIJ
I think children should be introduced to a variety of activities. Children from age two can be rolling, tumbling, balancing and crawling and progress from there to running, jumping or throwing activities in a games-based environment, not a competition environment. I think competition belongs in an environment more suited to wiser little people, like 9 to 10 year olds. The IAAF Kids Athletics program is designed to teach the fundamental skills of running, jumping and throwing without actual Olympic-type implements and environments. If children are introduced to the sport of athletics in such an environment then it is highly unlikely they will become over-trained. They will enjoy every minute of the activities and it will be fun.
What are the chances of overdoing the training programme and its consequencesIJ Have you seen such examplesIJ
I’ve seen many young athletes in Australia who are over-trained or over-achieved as youngsters and they drop out. Sally is not the most gifted athlete I have coached. She has gradually developed into a very hard-working elite athlete. She did not work anywhere near as hard when she was a youngster as she does now and that is the key. There have been young athletes, who had amazing talent, but their parents pushed them too hard or wanted success too much and the kids dropped out. This is an issue in all areas of academia, sport, arts and music. I don’t know what the answer is, except to promote the idea of fun and physicality.
There have been times when you had doubts about your position and contribution as a coach... What prompted the uncertainty and how you came back strongerIJ
I used to think I had doubts about myself and my abilities, but now I think these are important attributes for all coaches. If you don’t doubt you don’t investigate and you don’t try and you don’t fail or achieve. These are all important. Every athlete is different and so you must always be trying different techniques, different cues and different training regimes. Every single session is a question, a test, a risk, and hopefully an achievement.
What can India do to make its athletes match the Olympic standardsIJ
lTAD = long Term Athlete Development = Patience = very careful training with lots of fun activities.