around the camp is a relaxed one.
That ethos is born out of my own
personal coaching philosophy. I
feel people perform better when
they’re happier. For example, if I’m
stood barking orders like a sergeant
major, some of them will respond
to that, but a great number of young
athletes will switch off because it’ll
be like being back at school and
they’ll become disengaged. If that
happens, they won’t perform at their
best.
The staff we have working
with us help to encompass a
combination of roles that they
have in their everyday life. You have
those from a teaching background,
a performance management
background and those that were
former athletes themselves at a
high level who are now giving back
to the sport.For me, having the likes of former
athletes Jenny Meadows, Kelly
Sotherton, Leon Baptiste and Laura
Turner-Alleyne in the squad is a
great thing for the young athletes.
Some of the guys will have seen
them on TV when they were growing
up and learning their trade and,
if they didn’t, then their parents
almost certainly would have done!
Heading into the European
Under-20 Championships, there’ll
be expectation on us to bring home
a lot of medals but, for me, I don’t
want to worry too much about a
medal target.
It will be great if they win a medal
but also great if they don’t because
everyone needs to learn to fail.
You need to learn how to react and
respond when you fail.
There is no harm in a big medal
contender going out there andfinishing in fourth or fifth because
as long as learning takes place
afterwards, they are going to be
a better athlete for when it truly
matters later on at the Olympic
Games, or World Championships
and other senior competitions they
are involved in.
With my development hat on
and seeing the long-term process,
I want as many of those selected
to experience this environment and
realise this is where they want to be
every year.
Again from a development point
of view, it’s so good to see so many
of the athletes on the Futures
Programme achieving the standard
and gaining selection in the first
round.
It’s great for us to work with those
guys and their personal coaches to
help mould and develop them into
what’s required to be in this sport for
10 or 12 years.
If we can keep as many athletes
that have been on the Futures
Programme in the sport for a further
10 or 12 years or more, then we’ve
done a good job.A
S THE European Under-20
Championships hones
into view and my second
championship as a team
leader nears, there’s plenty I’ve
learnt from last year’s World
Under-20 Championships that
will benefit me this year.
The role as team leader is not
as easy as everyone thinks. There’s
an assumption that you’re just out
there to watch the action and keep
an eye on the team but there’s so
much more to it than that.
You have to be following every
second of the action in case you
need to put an appeal in for the
team, or for an athlete in their
individual event, or sorting out any
issues with athletes that might crop
up in any location (accommodation,
track or warm up) and it is full-on
every single day.
People might see you sitting
in the stand and won’t realise 20
minutes later you’re making sure
athletes reach the call room, then
you’re in TIC (Technical Information
Centre) and then in the warm-up
area. After that it’s back to the stand
to keep an eye on results and
it’s full on all day, but that’s what
makes it so enjoyable.
When we’re away competing,
I’m a big believer that athletes will
perform to the best of their abilities
when the atmosphere in andUKA VIEW TREVOR PAINTER
Managing the junior talent
AFTER BEING TEAM MANAGER
AT LAST WEEKEND’S MANNHEIM
JUNIOR GALA IN GERMANY,
TREVOR PAINTER TALKS ABOUT
HIS EXPERIENCES IN THE ROLE
Trevor Painter: capturing the
action in Germany last weekendGreat Britain’s under-20 squad in Mannheim
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