Wednesday, 16 July 2008
This Week’s TV: Olympic Dreams or Nightmares
Did anyone else catch Olympic Dreams last night (Tuesday 15 July)?
Did anyone else feel extremely uncomfortable with Tony Romaeo who seemed to want to live his ambitions through his children. Whilst claiming not to be pushy parent I struggled to see the evidence for this statement, waking his son at 04:45 each morning and deciding what training he did to become a boxing champion. I wasn’t convinced his daughter even enjoyed gymnastics. As a soon-to-be Mum I certainly didn’t get any sensible ideas for my baby’s name!
Tom Daley’s Dad also seemed pretty obsessed with his son’s diving but this relationship did seem more loving. It appears to be a very fine line between supporting your child and wanting the best for them versus an unhealthy obsession. When I worked with the England netball junior squads there was a real feeling from one of the coaches that the parents actually hindered the squad. This was difficult to manage when you require parents to be taxi drivers and get involved. Prior to a World Youth Championships on home soil we organised for a session for the parents getting player and parent input ion what makes an ideal parent versus what makes a nightmare parent. Interesting what was raised by some who then went onto do exactly what they said they wouldn’t!
What role do sport scientists have in trying to mould parents so that their behaviour is actually supportive and helps rather than hinders? Would be good to get people’s experiences.
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Did anyone else feel extremely uncomfortable with Tony Romaeo who seemed to want to live his ambitions through his children. Whilst claiming not to be pushy parent I struggled to see the evidence for this statement, waking his son at 04:45 each morning and deciding what training he did to become a boxing champion. I wasn’t convinced his daughter even enjoyed gymnastics. As a soon-to-be Mum I certainly didn’t get any sensible ideas for my baby’s name!
Tom Daley’s Dad also seemed pretty obsessed with his son’s diving but this relationship did seem more loving. It appears to be a very fine line between supporting your child and wanting the best for them versus an unhealthy obsession. When I worked with the England netball junior squads there was a real feeling from one of the coaches that the parents actually hindered the squad. This was difficult to manage when you require parents to be taxi drivers and get involved. Prior to a World Youth Championships on home soil we organised for a session for the parents getting player and parent input ion what makes an ideal parent versus what makes a nightmare parent. Interesting what was raised by some who then went onto do exactly what they said they wouldn’t!
What role do sport scientists have in trying to mould parents so that their behaviour is actually supportive and helps rather than hinders? Would be good to get people’s experiences.
Read more...
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Does it matter what you call yourself?
At one of the new BASES on-line QandA sessions last week there was a brief discussion about what to call yourself. This discussion was about 'sport psychologists' and I’m aware that some avoid using this term preferring terms like 'performance coach'. I certainly found that people got confused between psychologist and psychiatrist. And having then explained the difference the next comment would always be, “Oh so your job’s to get the team motivated before a match?” Aarrrgghh!!
Interestingly I stopped using my title of “Dr” when working with England netball as this seemed to create a barrier – possibly more so with the coaches than athletes.
I also experimented using some alternative terms to sport psychologist. One of the questions as the on-line Q&A sessions was, “Is this not devaluing your psychology background and could this not lead to confusion for athletes if different names are adopted?”
I’m keen to get some comments about what people have called themselves, what changes they have seen as a consequence and generally any views on this area.
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Interestingly I stopped using my title of “Dr” when working with England netball as this seemed to create a barrier – possibly more so with the coaches than athletes.
I also experimented using some alternative terms to sport psychologist. One of the questions as the on-line Q&A sessions was, “Is this not devaluing your psychology background and could this not lead to confusion for athletes if different names are adopted?”
I’m keen to get some comments about what people have called themselves, what changes they have seen as a consequence and generally any views on this area.
Labels: BASES on-line QandA sessions, sport psychologist
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Thursday, 29 May 2008
Will the new BASES On-line Q and A sessions be a success?
One of this year's strategic objectives for BASES has been membership recruitment and retention.
The latest initiative is the BASES On-line Q and A sessions, which are designed to provide a unique opportunity for BASES members to join our sport and exercise science experts and benefit from their experiences and opinions. It is also hoped that benefits like these will help answer the question, “Why should I join BASES?”
The Q and A sessions are particularly attractive as they allow interaction all from the comfort of your own armchair, saving time and travel.
Seven high quality experts are in the June programme: Allison Dyer, Len Parker Simpson, Dr Ken van Someren, Dr Jonathan Katz, Dr Jason Gill, Dr David Stensel and Dr Stuart Galloway. A wide arrange of topics have been chosen to reflect our diverse membership; from “Impacting on sports performance through physiological support” to “Fat and fit versus thin and lazy”. Physiology, psychology and nutrition topics are all covered as well as a session on whether a Masters is the right thing for you.
It is hoped that members really engage with the Q and A sessions by registering and submitting good questions. And by making all sport and exercise scientists aware of this initiative.
If you attend one of the sessions, then please submit a post here saying what you thought of it. What sessions would you like to see in the future?
For more information on the Q and A sessions, visit http://www.bases.org.uk/newsite/qa.asp
Read more...
The latest initiative is the BASES On-line Q and A sessions, which are designed to provide a unique opportunity for BASES members to join our sport and exercise science experts and benefit from their experiences and opinions. It is also hoped that benefits like these will help answer the question, “Why should I join BASES?”
The Q and A sessions are particularly attractive as they allow interaction all from the comfort of your own armchair, saving time and travel.
Seven high quality experts are in the June programme: Allison Dyer, Len Parker Simpson, Dr Ken van Someren, Dr Jonathan Katz, Dr Jason Gill, Dr David Stensel and Dr Stuart Galloway. A wide arrange of topics have been chosen to reflect our diverse membership; from “Impacting on sports performance through physiological support” to “Fat and fit versus thin and lazy”. Physiology, psychology and nutrition topics are all covered as well as a session on whether a Masters is the right thing for you.
It is hoped that members really engage with the Q and A sessions by registering and submitting good questions. And by making all sport and exercise scientists aware of this initiative.
If you attend one of the sessions, then please submit a post here saying what you thought of it. What sessions would you like to see in the future?
For more information on the Q and A sessions, visit http://www.bases.org.uk/newsite/qa.asp
Labels: BASES On-line Q and A sessions
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008
What are the benefits of accreditation for research?
At the end of this week we are interviewing for the new BASES Education Officer post. This person will be responsible for the day-to-day running, development and management of BASES accreditation scheme. I see this as an extremely positive step forward for the Association and will hopefully lead to some positive steps forward in the on-going development of this important scheme.
Whereas accreditation for scientific support tends to be well accepted and has key benefits for practitioners, a question posed by a member whose interest is research oriented was, what are the benefits of research accreditation? Bluntly, why should I bother? There are a significant number of individuals who are ‘just’ research accredited, so clearly they see value in it. It would be good to know their thoughts?
I’m always keen to get different people’s perspectives so my starting point was my old friend and colleague Prof Edward Winter. He reeled off a host of key reasons, including the importance of peer assessment, it acknowledges the importance of publications, it recognises PhD supervision, it acknowledges grants and other forms of income, it is an esteem indicator for the Research Assessment Exercise and it is a mark of personal and professional pride. Accreditation is also a key criterion for the BASES Undergraduate Endorsement Scheme. How would others answer, "Bluntly, why should I bother?"
Personally, I have always found the lack of comparability between the experience needed for research and scientific support accreditation slightly strange. i.e., arguably scientific support accreditation can be achieved 3 years post undergraduate degree, whereas research accreditation would take at least double this as a very minimum. Should they be more comparable?
P.S. Good comments on my last post, Gold is the ultimate and anything else is losing
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Whereas accreditation for scientific support tends to be well accepted and has key benefits for practitioners, a question posed by a member whose interest is research oriented was, what are the benefits of research accreditation? Bluntly, why should I bother? There are a significant number of individuals who are ‘just’ research accredited, so clearly they see value in it. It would be good to know their thoughts?
I’m always keen to get different people’s perspectives so my starting point was my old friend and colleague Prof Edward Winter. He reeled off a host of key reasons, including the importance of peer assessment, it acknowledges the importance of publications, it recognises PhD supervision, it acknowledges grants and other forms of income, it is an esteem indicator for the Research Assessment Exercise and it is a mark of personal and professional pride. Accreditation is also a key criterion for the BASES Undergraduate Endorsement Scheme. How would others answer, "Bluntly, why should I bother?"
Personally, I have always found the lack of comparability between the experience needed for research and scientific support accreditation slightly strange. i.e., arguably scientific support accreditation can be achieved 3 years post undergraduate degree, whereas research accreditation would take at least double this as a very minimum. Should they be more comparable?
P.S. Good comments on my last post, Gold is the ultimate and anything else is losing
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Thursday, 17 April 2008
Gold is the ultimate and anything else is losing
I must admit to been a bit of an arm chair sport participant recently with excellent coverage of the World Track Cycling Championships and the World Short Course Swimming Championships. GB performed really well in both but I was struck by one noticeable difference - the attitude of the cyclists was that it was all about gold. I was always surprised when I worked as a sport scientist with a national team that many of the athletes’ aspirations ended at “to be in England”. Nothing about being world class or winning. It seemed to get the kit was enough.
It was so refreshing to see that “making finals” or “enjoying it” didn’t appear to be part of the cyclist’s culture. For example, Vicki Pendleton looked absolutely gutted to have only got Silver in the Women’s Keirin.
Rebecca Romero, an Olympic medallist in rowing who has switched to cycling three years ago, won the Women's Pursuit said: “I’m a sore loser big time and Gold is the ultimate and anything else is losing and I’m not interested. When you want it so badly, and are not satisfied with anything less, you can struggle and get mixed up but it is worth it in the end
What are the key ingredients to cycling’s success? On the TV, the athletes talked a lot about the high quality support teams they have.
And how do we get this attitude and culture to be the norm in GB?
Photo courtesy of the English Institute of Sport
Labels: Rebecca Romero, Vicki Pendleton, World Short Course Swimming Championships, World Track Cycling Championships
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Friday, 11 April 2008
The Young Ones
Welcome! This blog has been created so that visitors can post comments about the various aspects of the BASES member network. However, at this early stage I suspect we won't get many comments so my first blogs will be on various random topics. Dr Dan Bishop is hosting the other BASES blog.
If you’re interested in blogging for BASES, then please let me know. In the first instance we’re probably looking for blogging for a 6-month period, so you won’t be committed for life!
The success of the BASES blogs very much relies on people posting comments and opening up debate, so please don’t be just a spectator – join in and get commenting!
I’ll start off with the 2008 BASES Annual Student Conference, which I have just returned from. Out of all the events I attend in my role as BASES Executive Officer I think the Student Conference is my favourite. Students are now officially taking over BASES with 1,334 student members out of our total of 2,611! This is great for the future of BASES.
The Student Conference goes from strength to strength each year, with this year's event attracting over 270 delegates. My highlight was Greg Whyte's presentation (photo above). One of his key messages was that good sport scientists cannot be successful if they work in isolation - you need to be part of a good network, which is hopefully what BASES can provide its members. (There's a good interview with Greg following his support of Little Britain comedian David Walliams who successfully swam the English Channel - Issue 9, Sept 2006 of The Sport and Exercise Scientist available in the BASES Member Area).
We know the event clashes with some Uni's exams and dissertation deadlines. The scheduling of the event is a tricky one given that all Unis run different terms etc. Too early and no one has data; too late and students are off working, holidaying, etc.
The 2009 BASES Student Conference will be hosted by the Department of Sport, Health and Exercise Science at the University of Hull. Their team will be headed up by Dr Ric Lovell. Planning is already well underway.
What did you think of the Conference? What would you like to see at next year's event? What was good about this year's event that should be continued? What didn't work so well and should be stopped? Any new ideas?
Get posting so we can hear your views and tailor next year’s event to your needs!
PS. If you want to see more photos of the Conference taken by Ben Holliss and Joey Swanepoel, then visit http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ClaireHitchings/2008studentconf
Labels: Greg Whyte, student conference
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