Loughborough College hosted the fourth ‘Future Stars with Kelly’ Education Day on Saturday 22 October, when 65 of the UK’s most talented middle distance athletes between the ages of 14 and 19 descended on the East Midlands with their parents and coaches to be educated by Dame Kelly Holmes and her team.
Selected by the 2004 double Olympic champion herself for their outstanding performances in 2011 at national schools, age group and youth international championships, the athletes included six members of the Aviva GB & NI Team at this year's IAAF World Youth Championships - Georgia Peel (Aldershot, Farnham & District), James McMurray (St Albans AC) and Robbie Farnham-Rose (Tonbridge AC) who all finished in the top eight in their respective 1500m finals, Katie Snowden (Herne Hill Harriers) who was seventh in the 800m and William Gurton (Vale of Aylesbury) and Elliot Slade (Cardiff AAC) who reached the 800m semi finals.
In a nine hour day of educational practical and theoretical workshops for the FSWK athletes and their support teams, 15 ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes were also on hand throughout the day to act as inspirational role models and offer advice and assistance. They were: Charlotte Best, Suzi Boast, Dani Christmas, Rowena Cole, Lucy Dowsett, Kerrie Harris, Leigh Lennon, Sam Petty, Carolyn Plateau, Zac Randall, Robbie Schofield, Louise Small, Stacey Smith, Linzi Snow and Laura Weightman.
The day began with a welcome from Kelly who highlighted the principles of her OCWK initiative to set a target for the young athletes in front of her to aspire to. She also outlined the intricate pathway from success at schools championships to being a senior athlete and how the day ahead would increase the athletes’ knowledge through education as well as teaching various parent and coach support methods.
A motivational video montage of her winning displays over 800m and 1500m at the Athens Olympics followed before Kelly warned of the changes which occur in teenage life that can threaten their athletic career. She then introduced the four athletes - Gemma Kersey, Sam Petty, Zac Randall and Robbie Schofield - who this summer moved from FSWK to the OCWK scheme and highlighted which characteristics it takes to be successful.
All of the event staff and OCWK athletes introduced themselves and revealed their past English Schools’ achievements before Kelly congratulated the FSWK athletes who competed at the IAAF World Youth Championships, European Athletics Junior Championships, European Youth Olympic Festival and Commonwealth Youth Games in 2011.
Next up was a workshop for parents with performance nutritionist Mhairi Keil, who highlighted the importance and examples of healthy eating for energy and recovery. She then listed the requirements for a young athlete, negative impacts, key times for energy intake, recovery foods and helpful nutrition for injury prevention and assistance.
At the same time, the athletes were participating in a grass fartlek session led by Kelly with OCWK supervisor Anthony Whiteman and a handful of OCWK athletes nipping at their heels.
Mid-morning saw Kelly and sports physiotherapist Alison Rose take a drills session in the sports hall for the athletes and coaches attending a FSWK day for the first time. They explained the importance of rehabilitation, dynamic and commonly used drills whilst OCWK athlete Laura Weightman demonstrated the exercises to the group as Alison took them through each phase with technical advice.
The athletes then did a series of walk through drills to practice with assistance from their OCWK counterparts, as Kelly helped the coaches themselves practice to further their knowledge and understanding and they then worked alongside their charges to provide feedback.
Athletes, coaches and parents who has attended before meanwhile took part in a 100% me workshop with the UK Anti-Doping team, who tested them in a ‘Weakest Link’ type quiz on how to be responsible with what they digest, the values of competing clean and drug testing procedures, whilst the first-time parents attended a parent’s workshop with Next Generation Coaching Director Sonya Shellard, who emphasised the various demands on their children and how to use language, praise and distance to help them relax and grow.
In the early afternoon, the coaches attended a discussion on circuit training with Kelly and OCWK supervisor and Level 3 endurance coach Stella Bandu to devise ideas for future sessions, whilst the male athletes, their parents and coaches enjoyed a healthy lunch and took part in an anti-doping quiz.
Before the female athletes and their parents and coaches could enjoy a well-earned lunch break, they sat in an eye-opening lecture on the Female Athlete Triad, led by Dr Paul Goozee, a GP and OCWK doctor, and nutritionist Mhairi Keil. The audience learned about the importance of eating correctly, menstrual disturbances, causes and signs of disorded eating and diagnosis and treatments, as well as watching an emotional video case study from Australian distance runner Georgie Clarke.
The male athletes and their support teams then joined Dr Goozee for a ‘Staying Fit and Healthy as an Athlete’ workshop.
Next up was a 100% me workshop for the new attendees whilst Mhairi Keil took some parents through a practical cooking lesson, where they cooked up energy bars, frittat
a and lime chicken stir-fry to take away as their children participated in an injury prevention session with Alison Rose with their coaches. She guided them through a practical functional movement screen to test the strength and flexibility of their calves, hamstrings and glutes, for example.
Nearing the end of the day, as the parents took part in a follow-up workshop on providing positive support, Kelly drilled all of the athletes in a vigorous circuit training session as their coaches looked on and gave advice. Kelly explained the benefits of such sessions as well as safety tips for participating in large groups, followed by demonstrations from OCWK athletes and impressive displays from Kelly herself. After a mass warm-up, an arduous session ensued with the athletes lined up in pairs to execute a tiring series of tricep dips, ab crunches, squat thrusts and sprinting.
To finish the day on a motivational note, World 1500m silver medallist Hannah England and World 800m semi-finalist Emma Jackson - both OCWK athletes for a number of years - took part in a question and answer session. After watching inspirational video clips of their finest performances, the floor were given the chance to ask about their days as younger athletes, lives as full-time athletes and thoughts on their recent achievements - providing a fitting end to an action-packed day for all involved.
The last word on the event was left for Dame Kelly herself, who explained:
“The day was a great success – we had a great turnout of athletes, coaches and parents and I hope they’ve all learnt something from the day. All of the athletes really got stuck in and applied themselves well so as long as they can focus on what they’ve learned today, they can use the skills and tools from today to be great athletes later on.
“The OCWK athletes always make me proud and are getting better and better themselves – they’re now realising that being leaders was key today and it was good that they were on hand to answer the younger athletes’ questions.”
Report by Nicola Bamford
Click here to read participants thoughts on the day
