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Please note that the first
meeting of the Performance Policy Board took place on Sunday 21
Sept after the GB World Cup, to agree how the sub group of the
Board and key World Class Performance staff could work more effectively
together. The purpose is to have a far more cohesive and
co-ordinated approach in developing and implementing the strategy
for performance in the build up to the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The Performance Policy
Board are represented by Densign White (Chair) and other Board
members; Dave Clark, Jim Feenan, Roy Inman and Mac Abbotts.
The performance staff are Patrick Roux (new Head Coach, who will
take up this position in a full time role in January 2009), Karen
Roberts (World Class Operations Manager) and Margaret Hicks who
will now take on the role of Interim Performance Director.
These 3 positions will form the Performance Directorate and will
be responsible for delivering agreed strategy with the Performance
Policy Board for this new Olympic and Paralympic cycle.
Patrick Roux will lead
all the world class programmes and be responsible for all coaches,
sport science and sports medical staff to ensure the best possible
athlete development and preparation to deliver medals for 2012.
Karen Roberts will assist in supporting some of this
performance work, but will also work with all the Home Country
talent development programmes, in order to provide a far
more integrated player performance pathway, including the important
link with the clubs. Margaret Hicks will be responsible
for the key interface with UK Sport (as they ramp up their Mission
2012 performance monitoring process), the development of the performance
plan and alignment with Home Country plans and working with Scott
Mc Carthy, Chief Executive to securing funding with UK Sport.
She will also work with Patrick to recruit the best possible staff
to the World Class Programme.
All 3 members of the Performance
Directorate will work closely with each other to ensure ‘no stone
is left unturned’ to meet the challenges of developing the best
programmes and performance systems for 2012 and beyond.
The Performance Policy Board and Performance Directorate will
clearly define and agree the key strategies and also ensure consistent
messages are being delivered across the sport of Judo.
The first step in this
process are the Training Camps being held in November at EIS Sheffield,
1-7 Nov following the GB Trials and one in early December (still
to be confirmed and subject to funding). Patrick is intending
to start evaluating all athletes who gain a place on the squad.
The intention is for players to apply for the new Performance
Institute programme and funding arrangements will be put in place
in the first half of 2009. Numbers of athlete places will be negotiated
with UK Sport and a more flexible approach adopted to generate
a critical mass of elite players. The British Judo Performance
Institute at Dartford will evolve as the necessary performance
structures are developed. This hub site will be part
of a GB Judo Performance Network which will link to all the Home
Country Performance Centres, Edinburgh (Scotland), Cardiff (Wales)
and Derry (Northern Ireland - as this centre is established) and
the Performance Cells, which will be developed within the England
Talent Development Programme.
Consultation and discussions
will take place with all players and their coaches, who are selected
to ensure they are placed in the best possible training, coaching
and support environment in the Performance Institute / Performance
Centre Network. Ongoing work with the Home Country Performance
staff and other club coaches will be critical ‘as and when’ any
transition is required to a centralised programme at Dartford
during this Olympic cycle –Patrick Roux will be instrumental in
leading this process.
The intention is to create
high quality Performance Institute and Home Country Performance
Centre development and training environments and to ensure a far
more focused performance culture is instilled with all players.
. The Performance Network will link into the work undertaken
in the Performance Cells and the focus will be on clubs and coaches
to work together to create additional performance environments.
A professional development programme will be put in place for
all those coaches working as part of the Performance Cells.
The new Head Coach will set the technical direction for the work,
so that players are being developed with the foundation judo skills
needed to progress to elite Judo players. Performance Coach
development will be an important priority to strengthen the coaching
expertise and work will be developed with the University of Bath
around initiatives such as the Fast Track Coach Programme and
the opportunity to maximise research into performance judo.
Patrick also intends that
the Training Camps offer excellent opportunities to work with
coaches and to ensure the appropriate training content and density
(quality and quantity) of randori is delivered in the first 18
months – this is in order to maximise development and lay down
the judo foundations for later in the Olympic cycle. Regular
squad training will be integral to the overall programme to provide
increased numbers of players and to generate more competitive
weights. The domestic ranking system which include the Home
Country events, will in turn improve standards of domestic competition
and also provide good preparation and training opportunities
for players competing at higher levels. Paralympic players
and programmes will also be aligned within the Performance programme
to ensure effective development, training and competition programmes.
Coach recruitment will
commence shortly and new contracts with the English Institute
of Sport for sport science and sports medicine, will be re-negotiated
once UK Sport funding is confirmed in October 2008.
It is now recognise within the Performance Policy Board and Performance
Directorate that now is the time to really step up into the world
class arena to develop a powerful team of elite judoka - to do
this everyone in Judo needs to pull together to maximise the potential
of medals at the 2012 London Home Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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