An open letter from David Train:

Talent Identification Scheme: A Call to the Coaches.

Thank your invitation to all coaches to attend the meeting on which the
'Talent Identification Project' is an item . Unfortunately I have a prior
engagement which I cannot change. This I deeply regret, because I think that
your meeting is one of the most important to be called, ever, for those
involved in a sport which, at the top, involves Olympic sport. It may well
be that the meeting is the catalyst which determines the very future of
Olympic sport in this country, the future of the BCU, the future of the BOA,
UK Sport and Sport England.

As you are aware I am deeply concerned over Talent ID because of what I
believe is the potential damage it can do to young people, to our sport, and
to the reputation of the British Canoe Union. I believe that it has
highlighted a problem of emotional abuse of young people within our sport
which has become institutionalised due to the Treasury-led arbitrary target
setting, and the setting up of an unnecessary bureaucracy to run our sport.

I have taken every action I can to put an end to the Talent ID programme and
to bring attention to the fatal path we are following, by allowing state
paid bureaucrats, backed by so-called scientists, to seize power within our
sport, and overide the years of wisdom and knowledge which is embedded in
it.

On 14th June 2005 I met Roland Lawler Chairman of the Racing Committee,
who, like myself, has been heavily involved in a club which has inspired
children to take part in our sport and then taken them to the Olympic
heights. Roland explained that when the Talent ID programme was suggested
by Anne Ferguson, John Anderson, and the scientist in charge, he was 99%
certain that it would fail. He agreed to a one year trial to confirm his
doubts. After a year, Roland said he was 100% certain that it was wrong to
continue. Roland went on to say that despite his advice - that of one of
the most experienced people in our sport, and the Chair of the Racing
Committee - without him being consulted, that more young people had been
recruited at the Guildford centre

After some discussion we both agreed that, with the knowledge we have of our
sport, the programme should be stopped immediately. My position was crystal
clear - that I would never, as Chairman of Racing, and with my many years of
experience with the development of children and young people in Olympic
sport, have allowed this particular programme to start. I would have been
100% certain that it would fail and in the process damage young people, our
sport, the reputation of the British Canoe Union, and the reputation of the
British Olympic Association.

So why am I so certain that this was such a reckless path to follow? My
opinions are based on some thirty three years involved with children, young
people and adults in sport, and a lifetime of developing people in industry.
When I started Fladbury Paddle Club in 1972 I started with three young men
of about sixteen, who made the very first kayaks. They all enjoyed our
great sport but never went on to compete at any high level. At that time,
I was not working on any theory, I was simply making kayaks for youngsters
in the village to keep them out of trouble, but the next batch of young
people were between 10 and 12 and they did go on to compete at a high level,
and a theory started to emerge.

By 1979, five Fladbury paddlers were in a team of fourteen which went to the
Junior World Championships Tampere, in Finland. I had not thought of myself
as anything but a club coach, but Ron Emes, the then Chair of Racing, invited
me to go as a coach. I was involved from then on in Junior & Senior World
Championships and Olympics until after Atlanta in 1996. It was in Finland in
1979, that I first observed the might of the state systems of the former
Eastern Bloc countries, but despite that might Jeremy West won a silver
medal, the Midlands based K4 with Nigel Kemp, Russell Jones, Duncan Blyth
and Ian Garner finished sixth and the C2 of Steve Train and Alan Saunders,
finished eighth in the final. The girls K4, with Anna Craske from Fladbury,
reached the semi and narrowly missed reaching the final. I think that the
K2 boys also reached the finals, and, all in all, it was a brilliant British
performance - all with small state funding - all the coaches, managers and
supporters were volunteers.

At the party which was held after the Championships were over I met and had a
long talk to the East German doctor. I told him about how there were five
paddlers in the British team, all from a small village with a population of
650 people. At that time East Germany was spending a huge amount on Olympic
sport - from memory, some 7.5 % of their Gross National Product and they
tested every child in the country to see what sport to put them into. I
asked him what he thought about a British team with five from one village
expecting him to be surprised. He wasn't and went on to tell me that in
East Germany, with their scientists testing every child, that they still
found that certain villages, towns and clubs, in certain sports, still
provided the bulk of their national teams. One of them was canoe and kayak!
He said that it was due to some person who had the skills and loved their
sport with a passion they could transmit to others, rather like Roland and
Di at Elmbridge and in those days, myself and my team at Fladbury.

I had written a thesis on motivation and its effects on productivity as early
as 1959 for my engineering degree, and so readily went along with the idea.
I had always thought that the success of Fladbury was to do with the boats we
used, the involvement of the parents, and above all to do with leadership and
motivation. I had felt that if I had led any club, whether it be running,
music, or whatever, that because of my passion and ability to motivate, then
it would be successful, but I had to wait until the Seoul Olympics to have
that illusion broken.

My first Olympics was in Los Angeles in 1984. Canoeing and Rowing were at a
venue many miles from LA so we were not in the Olympic Village. We were on
our own in Santa Barbara and so we did not mix with the other sports. In
Seoul we were in the Olympic village with some 8,000 athletes from all
sports. Despite the idea that athletes mix in the Olympic village what I
observed was that athletes from different sports tend to group together,
especially at mealtimes. What you would see would be a group of people
seven to eight feet tall and you would realise that they were basket ball
players, you would see a group of tiny girls, who were the gymnasts, the
rowers would be a group of six to seven feet tall with a tiny man or woman -
the cox with them, and so on. Brian Greenaway used to say that the
Olympics was a simply a 'freak show', but I realised in one of those
blinding flashes of the obvious that canoeing was different. You could
never pick out a group of canoeists by their size. I also realised that,
even if I were the greatest motivator in the world, I could never create a
world class basketball team or rowing crew from Fladbury.

However, canoeing is different. Anyone who has read any of my children's
stories will know about variation, expressed through the shape of Walter, the
bell shaped tortoise. The shell represents the normal or bell curve,
covering some 99.72% of the population. The head is the 'special case'
which is way outside the norm. Most Olympic sports, at the top, deal with
the 0.28 % of the population. Canoeing, can accommodate a huge range of
body sizes and types, both the 'norm' and the special cases, like Arna
Neilson, who at less the 10 stone won an Olympic gold in a crew boat.

As it turns out we have a brilliant sport, that because of the range of
humans it can accommodate, and because we have crews, it means that we have
absolutely no need whatsoever to search for talent based on so-called
scientific tests. That talent is all around us, and all we have to do is to
have enough clubs, led by coaches who have the knowledge, and the passion
and love of our sport, to inspire young people, and the rest will follow.
I knew that in 1988, and as the Architect of the Placid Water Coaching
Scheme and for many years the BCU National Development Coach for Placid
Water, I have told every one on every one of my courses, including my talk,
'The Secret of the Silent Bell',
to the BCU Coaching Conference, led by Graham Lyon, in 1991, which led to
the invention of the Bell Boat and all that goes with it. I am sure that
you have heard it many times, as I first taught you to canoe, and brought
you into coaching within canoeing.

Canoe and kayak racing is vastly different from Rowing. The key factor in
both canoe and kayak is stability - in rowing it is not a problem. It means
that, in rowing, selection for the top is based on size after puberty. It
may be that in rowing therefore Talent Selection is possible, which I will
return to that at the end. In canoe and kayak, to develop world and
Olympic champions, it is best to start pre-puberty when the centre of
gravity of the paddler is low and the children develop a natural sense of
balance which they retain as they grow.

At this moment we have youngsters learning C1 at Fladbury, the most unstable
of all craft. We know from long experience that, if taught pre-puberty, the
young people learn a sense of balance that they never lose. We cannot tell
what size they will eventually grow to, and who will become top paddlers, but
we can at least let them have fun in developing a skill which might, one day,
other factors being in place, take them to the top of the world.

One of the best examples I can think of in kayak is Lucy Hardy, who came to
Fladbury, learned her skills with our coaches, of which you were one, kept
going in the sport, and then suddenly, years later, reaches an Olympic final
and finished sixth. For that to happen, Lucy needed a club to go to,
coaches to inspire her and parents to support her for many years Then
further support and coaching to keep her going as an adult. Lucy was not
selected by any scientific programme led by bureaucrats without knowledge.
Indeed, from what I know of Lucy , and many of our paddlers, including Steve
and Andy, they would have never have been selected on such a crass Talent
Selection Programme that has been implemented in the BCU. I think that the
same would apply in almost every case that we can look at, because other
factors are much more important.

Some time ago Slalom carried out research into Talent ID and found out that
what mattered most, just as had been found out in East Germany, in the
seventies, was which club you belonged to - because of the skills embedded in
their culture, and the support young people had from their parents and
coaches. It is to their great credit that Slalom rejected Talent Selection
and were not tempted, because of money, to sacrifice what they knew to be
right for their sport. I further understand that Slalom have battled to get
away from the nonsensical idea of piling more and more money into fewer and
fewer people, but have argued for taking the maximum team size to
international events.

Taking fewer and fewer people in any sport is nonsense from a coaching point
of view and we have had many arguments in the past in Racing when people
with little knowledge of the development of young people have decided to set
some arbitrary target. What many coaches will know, from practical
experience is that with young people, selecting them to go abroad and
represent Britain lifts both their spirits and their performance. Time
after time we have noticed that after international competition the standard
of our paddlers rises. Like Slalom, Racing and Marathon should be making
every effort to get the maximum size teams into international competition.
All my battles in canoeing throughout the years have been about defending
young, and indeed older paddlers from what would now be called emotional
abuse from men who, not able to tell them HOW to improve, try to dominate
them by setting targets. In most cases I succeeded.

My most vivid case was when I demanded, with some fury, that a girls K4 be
sent to the Junior Worlds. I said, at that time, that if we did not send
them we would all be guilty of what we now term as emotional child abuse.
Alan Williams will I am sure be happy to remind you, and all the coaches, of
the ferocious battle I took part in fighting for our future paddlers. All
the paddlers went on to be senior internationals and some are still
distinguishing themselves in sport. Had I not done so, I am sure that all
would have left our wonderful sport.

All coaches must fight relentlessly against any people, from backgrounds not
remotely connected with the development of young people, who take over in
sport and set out to crush the spirit of our young people. They will always
be there, and it is the duty of ALL Coaches to prevent them using the tool
of arbitrary target setting to crush the will of young people. I can only
hope that the coaches, with the knowledge of what has happened since the
state took over our sport, and hired people from command and control
backgrounds to beat us into shape, will now come to your support.

None did so when I took up that battle some years ago, when I realised what
the state was about to do. None believed me, and refused to listen to my
warnings that, unless we fought the battle then, our sport would be taken
over by people with no long term interest in it and whose only purpose would
be to please their paymasters at UK Sport and Sport England, in order to
further their careers. Roland Lawler took the view that eventually John
Anderson and his Performance team would see the errors of their ways and
from the inside, without a battle, we could change things around. My long
experience in industry, and all me experience in life, led me to believe
that it would never happen, and that gradually John Anderson would gain more
and more control.

In a famous meeting, battling for the future of Racing and Marathon, called
without a proper quorum, I battled for two and a half hours against the whole
of the Marathon and Racing coaches, who told me that never would John
Anderson ever be allowed to have any say with selection or the setting of
selection criteria. He had been employed to ensure funding for our sport
and he would never have any influence on coaching. Most vehement in that
view was Jim Rossiter and Dave Enoch, of Wey and Nottingham, where this
misguided scheme was later introduced. It is well recognised now,
throughout Racing and Marathon that everything I predicted has happened.
Marathon Racing has nearly died, Racing has shrunk, and now we are faced
with seeing young people being experimented on by bureaucrats and
pseudo-scientists, when almost all know that is is wrong.


I hope that Jim Rossiter and Dave Enoch, and all the coaches in your meeting
will now recognise the mistake they have made, by allowing John Anderson and
Anne Ferguson to slowly take control of our sport. You, and others, have
told me that what I am saying now, most of our sport agree with, but that
most of our sport do not like me naming John Anderson and Anne Ferguson. I
believe that I am fully justified and have a public duty to do so, to warn
every parent in out sport about what is happening and who is at the centre
of it all. Most will have no knowledge at all as to how these two people
gained their positions of influence over the lives of our children, and the
backgrounds they came from. I have that knowledge, and I have done
everything I can to make people aware of the danger, including taking it to
the BCU Board who, in my opinion have failed to take the correct action.
It seems to me that the coaches and parents need to know NOW, so that they
can put pressure on the BCU Board to act in the interests of their children.

Because of problems we have had in the past from military people trying to
run our sport, I advised Paul Owen, before John Anderson was appointed, of
the dangers of appointing him. I have every respect, and admiration, for
those in the military who are prepared to risk all, so that we might live a
peaceful life. But military people are in the business of killing, and they
do it by being trained to obey orders. John Anderson had been in the
forces for years and knew no other system, and to be placed in an
organisation involved with young people, in a civilian context, without any
retraining, seemed to me to be quite wrong. Again, I was told by Paul Owen,
that his only function would be as an administrator, that he would deal
with the Sports Council, and he would have nothing at all to do with
coaching, young people or selection.

When Anne Ferguson was appointed, instead of a candidate with great knowledge
of our sport, I asked David Gent, the then Chair of the BCU, and asked why
it had happened. His reply was that she was a woman, and it was the Sports
Council's policy to employ more woman; that she had worked with Sue Campbell,
now Chair of UK Sport, and therefore she would be well thought of in sporting
circles; and thirdly that she was a powerful and aggressive person who would
'sort out' our sport. Anne is indeed powerful, and aggressive, and against
all the best knowledge around her, has ben able to impose her will, by, in
this case, carrying out an experiment with young people, which all with
knowledge had every good reason to think would fail. I believe that every
child on the talent selection programme has, is, and will be subject to
emotional abuse, as a result, because everyone who knows what our sport is
about , now knows that it will fail and has put them needless on a path to
feel failure.

When I first met Anne she was very abusive with me, as she seems to be with
all, but I am a powerful enough figure to make sure she knows where she
stands. As soon as I stood up to her she backed down. Few others have
the will to stand up to her and it has caused great problems. To put any
person in charge of young people who has no knowledge at all about a sport
and is a very aggressive personality, and then to allow her to impose ill
thought out experiments on them, against expert advice is , in my opinion,
criminal. Not on Anne’s part, but on those who have appointed her.

I have appealed to the BCU Board and had a letter, from Brian Chapman, the
Chair, saying that they will not talk to me, and this is a board, who on an
earlier occasion, in a case of alleged sex abuse, expelled a member who they
thought, wrongly, had reported the matter. They had to go back on the
matter. The same has happened now. It seems that they never learn. The
Board came to this remarkable conclusion without even bothering to have a
board meeting, on probably the greatest issue facing the BCU Board ever in
its history - such is the seemingly collective madness of the BCU Board
under the Presidency of Albert Woods - who is also the Vice Chair of the
BOA.

The Board have had, once more, to back down, as they had to in the alleged
case of sex abuse, not because they felt that the matter was a mistake, but
because of the letter Roland Lawler, the Chair of the Racing Committee,
countersigned by me, which I sent to Graham Lyon. Graham Lyon subsequently
had your email to him, and backed by a conversation with Richard Ward, the
Director of Coaching for Canoe England, who had resigned from the Racing
Committe over the issue, he decided to act.

Graham has told me that throughout the whole of British Sport - the BCU, the
BOA, UK Sport, and Sport England there is no procedure to deal with this
issue and that they, the very people who have made it institutionalised, are
trying to devise a procedure to deal with it!! I will be taking that
matter up with my MP immediately and calling for a full public enquiry into
the chaos that has occurred in British Olympic sport since UK Sport and
Sport England were put in to run it, and which I believe is making it
unsafe for our young people, and destroying sport at the base.

However, that may take time, and I believe that your meeting, provided you
are allowed to go ahead with it, provides the key to how we should be moving
forward to make sure that our young people are cared for and that our sport
is once more is a safe place for young people to develop in, NOW!! This
would be my immediate action plan:

The coaches, backed by the parents and clubs, should demand that John
Anderson and Anne Ferguson should be suspended, on full pay, so that other
voices can freely speak out without fear of retribution.

The meeting will back what I and Roland have recommended, and stop the Talent
ID Programme immediately. They should turn to Slalom and accept their
wisdom.

All the children and parents on the Talent ID scheme should be given a
written apology, accepting that has a mistake has been made, and then doing
all we can to inspire the young people to take part in a sport which is
brilliant for all, whether they end up on podiums or not. Clearly this
should be done from some person of credibility, at a high level, to give
some confidence to parents, but who that can be I do not know, because, in
my opinion there is now no member of the Board fit to sign the letter. I
believe that collectively, by sending me the letter they did, later
rescinded, that they have brought the good name of the British Canoe Union
into disrepute.

After that, and a full public enquiry, about the terrible effect target
setting can have in the hands of bureaucrats and scientists, I would hope
that a n ew Board of the BCU emerges which takes such matters as these
seriously and does not, as a first step, shoot the messenger. Our sport
and recreation of canoe and kayak is fantastic, in that it can cope with
virtually the whole population. We should all be proud of it.

Whether it is Racing, Marathon, Slalom, Playboating, Bellboating, Polo, Sea
Kayaking, Touring or whatever, it can provide a much needed service for our
society. It is an activity which is by its nature about freedom, and
perhaps history will show that, when it came to the crunch point, that very
individualism which makes our sport so different from rowing, saved our
sport, and our society, from going along the path of totalitarianism.

I did say that I would return to rowing. They clearly a have a system
already which provides a great sport for a mass of people, and is highly
successful at the Olympic level. Why on Earth are they going into schools
in Nottingham and elsewhere, testing thousands of young people, and in the
process damaging the good name of rowing and Olympic sport. Our sport of
canoeing started in 1865 when John MacGregor, a Cambridge rower, decided to
tour around Europe. He decided it would be better to see where he was
going, rather than where he had been, and had a wooden kayak made, the Rob
Roy. He became famous, and founded Royal Canoe Club, the world's first. I
can only hope that we can now repay our debt to rowing, for giving us our
founder, by inspiring them to stop looking to the methods of the
totalitarian states of the past, most of which have failed, and to look to
our vision of the future where we play our part in the physical, mental,
emotional and spiritual development of those in our care, so that all in
society benefit.

Please give my best wishes to all those coaches and parents in the clubs
throughout Britain who care for our children and not for themselves, without
whom there would be no sport at all, without whom all our children and
grandchildren would suffer, and without whose efforts our society would be
very much the poorer.


Good paddling,



David W. Train.

BCU Board. BOA, UK Sport, Sport England, BCU Coaches and Clubs.

Peter Luff MP.

Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP., QC., Graham Alan. MP., John Heppell MP., Alan
Simpson MP.

Amateur Rowing Association.

Dr Jacques Rogge IOC President

HRH The Princess Royal

Lord Sebastion Coe London Bid.





--

"Allan Bennett" wrote in message
...
An open letter from David Train:

Talent Identification Scheme: A Call to the Coaches.

a little bit snipped

Does this mean the coaches are revolting?
Can I get the flags out yet?

David Kemper
not a fan of the uglies.

In article , David Kemper
wrote:

"Allan Bennett" wrote in message
...
An open letter from David Train:

Talent Identification Scheme: A Call to the Coaches.

a little bit snipped

Does this mean the coaches are revolting?
Can I get the flags out yet?

Not yet...

What it means is that Graham Campbell (National Fla****er Development Coach)
is a bit miffed because some of his paddlers didn't get selected for a team
and he wants some support, so he's called a meeting... though he hasn't yet
declared his interest.

The BCU Talent ID scheme has gone tits up since some parents wrote to their
MPs about the way their children were being treated.

Typical, half-baked, bird-brained idea made without consultation, contrary to
all the advice and evidence and the wealth of experience and knowledge
available. Serves the arrogant ***** right!

We ran a Talent-ID symposium a few years ago in which I presented a brief
review of the available literature - the conclusion, then, was that selection
according to limited physiological parameters was not the way forwards, but I
guess they just wanted to try to prove me (and much more knowledgeable
people) wrong.


Allan Bennett
Not a fan of undercooked poultry


--

Talent Identification Scheme: A Call to the Coaches.

a little bit snipped

Does this mean the coaches are revolting?
Can I get the flags out yet?

Not yet...

What it means is that Graham Campbell (National Fla****er Development
Coach)
is a bit miffed because some of his paddlers didn't get selected for a
team
and he wants some support, so he's called a meeting... though he hasn't
yet
declared his interest.

The BCU Talent ID scheme has gone tits up since some parents wrote to
their
MPs about the way their children were being treated.

Typical, half-baked, bird-brained idea made without consultation, contrary
to
all the advice and evidence and the wealth of experience and knowledge
available. Serves the arrogant ***** right!

We ran a Talent-ID symposium a few years ago in which I presented a brief
review of the available literature - the conclusion, then, was that
selection
according to limited physiological parameters was not the way forwards,
but I
guess they just wanted to try to prove me (and much more knowledgeable
people) wrong.


As a lowly level 2 Coach who has become involved in Kayaking/Canoeing
through youth work where our aim is to provide an introduction to the sport
and ensure that our charges, should they decide to take up kayaking/
canoeing, do so safely and legally etc. I find this debate interesting, if
slightly above my own experience.

It seems to me that there are two types of coaches, those who get involved
to make kayaking available, as we do, to others, if they produce, by
happenstance, an athlete from that ppol of paddlers, then most need to
direct that paddler in the direction of one of the other types of coaches.

The second type of coach is the stereotypical motivator of athletes, he/ she
drives them and develops their skills, monitoring growth in early years and
so on and so forth to create the Olympic winning athlete.

I read David Train's letter with interest, I'm not too sure that I fully
comprehend the tortuous historical explanation of the situation - I know
very few of the names involved, and frankly, care litle about the politics.
However, what does concen me is the increased involvement of politicians
and political appointments in sport. This is, I believe , the thin end of
the wedge that we will see being driven into all areas of sport should
London win its Olympic bid.

We will see a funded drive to develop gold medal winners that will filter
down through the sport. Coaches will be increasingly encouraged to drive
those with any individual talent at the expense of the "also rans". We will
see increassed elitism in all sport. In kayaking that will take many good
coaches out of lower level participation and club activities.

On a sporting level we will see young people developed to the peak of their
fitness and performance to the exclusion of all else. We may well develop
the finest athletes, but by and large the single-mindedness they are
encouraged to develop to that level will deprive them of social skills and
other interests. When they fail to win, or pass their peak they will,
largely be discarded.

At my own level of kayaking I'm interested in seeing people enjoy
kayaking/canoeing for the access to fresh air, open countryside, and for the
development of their own enjoyment of the activity ( I really don't like
calling it sport). I've seen gawky, lumbering, unco-ordinated, insecure,
non-competitive kids develop self confidence and pride in their own ability
to deal with kayaking in a non-competitive environment and it frightens me
to read articles written by coaches who are driving at the highest goals in
"sport".

We ought to be moving to promote kayaking surely, to a wider audience. To
develop the activity as a pastime first. When people on a wider base enjoy
paddling the sports-based coaches will have a wider pool of potential
athletes to draw upon. I believe that we have things tits over elbow in the
UK. We have a nation that is rapidly declining in fitness and health. So we,
in all sports through the coming five step coaching plan, are putting in
place a structure that is designed solely to create world class athletes. By
definition those who are not world class athletes will be dropped - they
will reach a glass ceiling in the activity because there will be no-one
available to help them take skills further for their own satisfaction.

If on the other hand we encouraged people to participate in activities,
regardless of their athletic ambitions, we would maybe start to address a
far wider and far more important issue than winning a few medals.

Ewan Scott

SATURDAY JULY 2ND

NWSC (Lecture Room) 8.00PM — 9.30PMŒ.

As the central theme of LTPD is ”Athlete CentredŒCoach steered•, all Racing
and other Coaches are invited to attend and take part in an open discussion
on the future of our sport.

With the Long Term Paddler Development model now formally adopted by all
strands of the BCU, it is time for our Coaches to take the lead in the
structuring of our sport, and work to ensure that we are doing the best for
our athletes and the sport.

We are asking for you to come and share you and your club‘s views on issues
such as:

How the LTPD philosophy impacts on our system

Elitism v inclusion

Selection and competition

Crew boat racing

Development of women paddlers

Clubs and Programmes working together.

Talent ID Projects

This meeting will be chaired by Graham Lyon, Chair of English Coaching.

A short presentation will open the meeting and will outline some issues for
discussion.

For those coaches who will be dying of hunger after a day‘s racing, we can
set up a communal order to Pizza Hut!!

Further information from:

National Development Coach for Fla****er: Graham Campbell

07768 512934


--

SATURDAY JULY 2ND

NWSC (Lecture Room) 8.00PM — 9.30PMŒ.

snipped outline agenda


Further information from:

National Development Coach for Fla****er: Graham Campbell

07768 512934



Oh dear!

No sooner than I had despatched the details of the meeting to this group,
when a telephone call from 'a friend' in high places (OK, the Ivory Towers
place in Nottingham) now leads me to believe that the meeting has got to be
cancelled, by order of the Win Commander (Performance Dictator, himself).

When will they ever learn?

I understood that the meeting had already been sanctioned by the Racing
Committee, so what the hell has it got to do with the Sports Council (whom
Anderson the Dictator works for)?

What an appalling removal of civil liberties, right to free speech, freedom
of expression and all those other things enshrined in our culture. Remember
the committees? They are bodies supposedly elected by /us/ to represent our

Now, all those doubters out there can be convinced that your democratic
rights that were once enshrined in the constitutions are not worth a jot.

I say the meeting should go ahead - with a few other items on the agenda now
that everyone can see the pervasive, sinister, protectionist regime that now
dictates the future of our sport.

As I recall, David Train did write: "...this meeting...if it goes ahead...^
what an astute visionary he is! If he were President instead of the Clown
Prince Albert, he would have stepped in to ensure democratic principles
prevail. But the clown won't, will he? Because he is in their pockets, too.
That's (one reason) why he shouldn't be Prez.

When will they ever learn?


Allan Bennett
Not a fan of told you so





--

In article , Ewan Scott
wrote:

Talent Identification Scheme: A Call to the Coaches.

a little bit snipped

Does this mean the coaches are revolting?
Can I get the flags out yet?

Not yet...

What it means is that Graham Campbell (National Fla****er Development
Coach)
is a bit miffed because some of his paddlers didn't get selected for a
team
and he wants some support, so he's called a meeting... though he hasn't
yet
declared his interest.

The BCU Talent ID scheme has gone tits up since some parents wrote to
their
MPs about the way their children were being treated.

Typical, half-baked, bird-brained idea made without consultation, contrary
to
all the advice and evidence and the wealth of experience and knowledge
available. Serves the arrogant ***** right!

We ran a Talent-ID symposium a few years ago in which I presented a brief
review of the available literature - the conclusion, then, was that
selection
according to limited physiological parameters was not the way forwards,
but I
guess they just wanted to try to prove me (and much more knowledgeable
people) wrong.


As a lowly level 2 Coach who has become involved in Kayaking/Canoeing
through youth work where our aim is to provide an introduction to the sport
and ensure that our charges, should they decide to take up kayaking/
canoeing, do so safely and legally etc. I find this debate interesting, if
slightly above my own experience.

It seems to me that there are two types of coaches, those who get involved
to make kayaking available, as we do, to others, if they produce, by
happenstance, an athlete from that ppol of paddlers, then most need to
direct that paddler in the direction of one of the other types of coaches.

The second type of coach is the stereotypical motivator of athletes, he/ she
drives them and develops their skills, monitoring growth in early years and
so on and so forth to create the Olympic winning athlete.

I read David Train's letter with interest, I'm not too sure that I fully
comprehend the tortuous historical explanation of the situation - I know
very few of the names involved, and frankly, care litle about the politics.
However, what does concen me is the increased involvement of politicians
and political appointments in sport. This is, I believe , the thin end of
the wedge that we will see being driven into all areas of sport should
London win its Olympic bid.

We will see a funded drive to develop gold medal winners that will filter
down through the sport. Coaches will be increasingly encouraged to drive
those with any individual talent at the expense of the "also rans". We will
see increassed elitism in all sport. In kayaking that will take many good
coaches out of lower level participation and club activities.

On a sporting level we will see young people developed to the peak of their
fitness and performance to the exclusion of all else. We may well develop
the finest athletes, but by and large the single-mindedness they are
encouraged to develop to that level will deprive them of social skills and
other interests. When they fail to win, or pass their peak they will,
largely be discarded.

At my own level of kayaking I'm interested in seeing people enjoy
kayaking/canoeing for the access to fresh air, open countryside, and for the
development of their own enjoyment of the activity ( I really don't like
calling it sport). I've seen gawky, lumbering, unco-ordinated, insecure,
non-competitive kids develop self confidence and pride in their own ability
to deal with kayaking in a non-competitive environment and it frightens me
to read articles written by coaches who are driving at the highest goals in
"sport".

We ought to be moving to promote kayaking surely, to a wider audience. To
develop the activity as a pastime first. When people on a wider base enjoy
paddling the sports-based coaches will have a wider pool of potential
athletes to draw upon. I believe that we have things tits over elbow in the
UK. We have a nation that is rapidly declining in fitness and health. So we,
in all sports through the coming five step coaching plan, are putting in
place a structure that is designed solely to create world class athletes. By
definition those who are not world class athletes will be dropped - they
will reach a glass ceiling in the activity because there will be no-one
available to help them take skills further for their own satisfaction.

If on the other hand we encouraged people to participate in activities,
regardless of their athletic ambitions, we would maybe start to address a
far wider and far more important issue than winning a few medals.


I don't disagree with anything you say.

except the bit about the Type 2 coach - it is no longer allowed for any
coach to take a paddler to Olympic level - they are taken away by the
state-run system, remember?

Unfortunately, our whole sport is now run by the state and funding (including
that which goes to the base of the sport) is determined by how many medals we
get.

That's what you all (all you BCU members) voted for, isn't it?


Allan Bennett
Not a fan of the thin end


--

Ewan Scott wrote:
Talent Identification Scheme: A Call to the Coaches.

a little bit snipped

Does this mean the coaches are revolting?
Can I get the flags out yet?

Not yet...

What it means is that Graham Campbell (National Fla****er Development
Coach)
is a bit miffed because some of his paddlers didn't get selected for a
team
and he wants some support, so he's called a meeting... though he hasn't
yet
declared his interest.

The BCU Talent ID scheme has gone tits up since some parents wrote to
their
MPs about the way their children were being treated.

Typical, half-baked, bird-brained idea made without consultation, contrary
to
all the advice and evidence and the wealth of experience and knowledge
available. Serves the arrogant ***** right!

We ran a Talent-ID symposium a few years ago in which I presented a brief
review of the available literature - the conclusion, then, was that
selection
according to limited physiological parameters was not the way forwards,
but I
guess they just wanted to try to prove me (and much more knowledgeable
people) wrong.


As a lowly level 2 Coach who has become involved in Kayaking/Canoeing
through youth work where our aim is to provide an introduction to the sport
and ensure that our charges, should they decide to take up kayaking/
canoeing, do so safely and legally etc. I find this debate interesting, if
slightly above my own experience.

It seems to me that there are two types of coaches, those who get involved
to make kayaking available, as we do, to others, if they produce, by
happenstance, an athlete from that ppol of paddlers, then most need to
direct that paddler in the direction of one of the other types of coaches.

The second type of coach is the stereotypical motivator of athletes, he/ she
drives them and develops their skills, monitoring growth in early years and
so on and so forth to create the Olympic winning athlete.

I read David Train's letter with interest, I'm not too sure that I fully
comprehend the tortuous historical explanation of the situation - I know
very few of the names involved, and frankly, care litle about the politics.
However, what does concen me is the increased involvement of politicians
and political appointments in sport. This is, I believe , the thin end of
the wedge that we will see being driven into all areas of sport should
London win its Olympic bid.

We will see a funded drive to develop gold medal winners that will filter
down through the sport. Coaches will be increasingly encouraged to drive
those with any individual talent at the expense of the "also rans". We will
see increassed elitism in all sport. In kayaking that will take many good
coaches out of lower level participation and club activities.

On a sporting level we will see young people developed to the peak of their
fitness and performance to the exclusion of all else. We may well develop
the finest athletes, but by and large the single-mindedness they are
encouraged to develop to that level will deprive them of social skills and
other interests. When they fail to win, or pass their peak they will,
largely be discarded.

At my own level of kayaking I'm interested in seeing people enjoy
kayaking/canoeing for the access to fresh air, open countryside, and for the
development of their own enjoyment of the activity ( I really don't like
calling it sport). I've seen gawky, lumbering, unco-ordinated, insecure,
non-competitive kids develop self confidence and pride in their own ability
to deal with kayaking in a non-competitive environment and it frightens me
to read articles written by coaches who are driving at the highest goals in
"sport".

We ought to be moving to promote kayaking surely, to a wider audience. To
develop the activity as a pastime first. When people on a wider base enjoy
paddling the sports-based coaches will have a wider pool of potential
athletes to draw upon. I believe that we have things tits over elbow in the
UK. We have a nation that is rapidly declining in fitness and health. So we,
in all sports through the coming five step coaching plan, are putting in
place a structure that is designed solely to create world class athletes. By
definition those who are not world class athletes will be dropped - they
will reach a glass ceiling in the activity because there will be no-one
available to help them take skills further for their own satisfaction.

If on the other hand we encouraged people to participate in activities,
regardless of their athletic ambitions, we would maybe start to address a
far wider and far more important issue than winning a few medals.

Ewan Scott

I am reading this with interest from Canada.
Our government balks at sending people to the games that are not likely
to bring home a medal.
It is heart breaking because for every winner there are many loosers. (
Loosers being relative we are talking world class athletes )
It is my uninformed opinion that anyone qualifying for the olympic
challenge should be sent if the country can afford it. ( Canada and the
UK can! )
I have competed in cycling at a national level and was dusted off by
some of the finest riders in the world. No shame there.
Both these views are well written and well thought out. I trust there
is another side , I should like to see it too ; but the fact remains
kayaking is and should be for the masses.
Alex

In article .com,
wrote:


Ewan Scott wrote:
Talent Identification Scheme: A Call to the Coaches.

a little bit snipped

Does this mean the coaches are revolting?
Can I get the flags out yet?

Not yet...

What it means is that Graham Campbell (National Fla****er Development
Coach)
is a bit miffed because some of his paddlers didn't get selected for a
team
and he wants some support, so he's called a meeting... though he hasn't
yet
declared his interest.

The BCU Talent ID scheme has gone tits up since some parents wrote to
their
MPs about the way their children were being treated.

Typical, half-baked, bird-brained idea made without consultation, contrary
to
all the advice and evidence and the wealth of experience and knowledge
available. Serves the arrogant ***** right!

We ran a Talent-ID symposium a few years ago in which I presented a brief
review of the available literature - the conclusion, then, was that
selection
according to limited physiological parameters was not the way forwards,
but I
guess they just wanted to try to prove me (and much more knowledgeable
people) wrong.


As a lowly level 2 Coach who has become involved in Kayaking/Canoeing
through youth work where our aim is to provide an introduction to the sport
and ensure that our charges, should they decide to take up kayaking/
canoeing, do so safely and legally etc. I find this debate interesting, if
slightly above my own experience.

It seems to me that there are two types of coaches, those who get involved
to make kayaking available, as we do, to others, if they produce, by
happenstance, an athlete from that ppol of paddlers, then most need to
direct that paddler in the direction of one of the other types of coaches.

The second type of coach is the stereotypical motivator of athletes, he/ she
drives them and develops their skills, monitoring growth in early years and
so on and so forth to create the Olympic winning athlete.

I read David Train's letter with interest, I'm not too sure that I fully
comprehend the tortuous historical explanation of the situation - I know
very few of the names involved, and frankly, care litle about the politics.
However, what does concen me is the increased involvement of politicians
and political appointments in sport. This is, I believe , the thin end of
the wedge that we will see being driven into all areas of sport should
London win its Olympic bid.

We will see a funded drive to develop gold medal winners that will filter
down through the sport. Coaches will be increasingly encouraged to drive
those with any individual talent at the expense of the "also rans". We will
see increassed elitism in all sport. In kayaking that will take many good
coaches out of lower level participation and club activities.

On a sporting level we will see young people developed to the peak of their
fitness and performance to the exclusion of all else. We may well develop
the finest athletes, but by and large the single-mindedness they are
encouraged to develop to that level will deprive them of social skills and
other interests. When they fail to win, or pass their peak they will,
largely be discarded.

At my own level of kayaking I'm interested in seeing people enjoy
kayaking/canoeing for the access to fresh air, open countryside, and for the
development of their own enjoyment of the activity ( I really don't like
calling it sport). I've seen gawky, lumbering, unco-ordinated, insecure,
non-competitive kids develop self confidence and pride in their own ability
to deal with kayaking in a non-competitive environment and it frightens me
to read articles written by coaches who are driving at the highest goals in
"sport".

We ought to be moving to promote kayaking surely, to a wider audience. To
develop the activity as a pastime first. When people on a wider base enjoy
paddling the sports-based coaches will have a wider pool of potential
athletes to draw upon. I believe that we have things tits over elbow in the
UK. We have a nation that is rapidly declining in fitness and health. So we,
in all sports through the coming five step coaching plan, are putting in
place a structure that is designed solely to create world class athletes. By
definition those who are not world class athletes will be dropped - they
will reach a glass ceiling in the activity because there will be no-one
available to help them take skills further for their own satisfaction.

If on the other hand we encouraged people to participate in activities,
regardless of their athletic ambitions, we would maybe start to address a
far wider and far more important issue than winning a few medals.

Ewan Scott

I am reading this with interest from Canada.
Our government balks at sending people to the games that are not likely
to bring home a medal.
It is heart breaking because for every winner there are many losers. (
Losers being relative we are talking world class athletes )
It is my uninformed opinion that anyone qualifying for the olympic
challenge should be sent if the country can afford it. ( Canada and the
UK can! )
I have competed in cycling at a national level and was dusted off by
some of the finest riders in the world. No shame there.
Both these views are well written and well thought out. I trust there
is another side , I should like to see it too ; but the fact remains
kayaking is and should be for the masses.
Alex

If you genuinely believe that, then you must include the 'elite' as a section
of the 'masses' if they choose that route to personal happiness and
fulfilment.

Allan Bennett
Not a fan of exclusion

--

In article , Allan Bennett
wrote:


SATURDAY JULY 2ND

NWSC (Lecture Room) 8.00PM — 9.30PMŒ.

snipped outline agenda


Further information from:

National Development Coach for Fla****er: Graham Campbell

07768 512934



Oh dear!

No sooner than I had despatched the details of the meeting to this group,
when a telephone call from 'a friend' in high places (OK, the Ivory Towers
place in Nottingham) now leads me to believe that the meeting has got to be
cancelled, by order of the Win Commander (Performance Dictator, himself).

When will they ever learn?

I understood that the meeting had already been sanctioned by the Racing
Committee, so what the hell has it got to do with the Sports Council (whom
Anderson the Dictator works for)?

What an appalling removal of civil liberties, right to free speech, freedom
of expression and all those other things enshrined in our culture. Remember
the committees? They are bodies supposedly elected by /us/ to represent our

Now, all those doubters out there can be convinced that your democratic
rights that were once enshrined in the constitutions are not worth a jot.

I say the meeting should go ahead - with a few other items on the agenda now
that everyone can see the pervasive, sinister, protectionist regime that now
dictates the future of our sport.

As I recall, David Train did write: "...this meeting...if it goes ahead...^
what an astute visionary he is! If he were President instead of the Clown
Prince Albert, he would have stepped in to ensure democratic principles
prevail. But the clown won't, will he? Because he is in their pockets, too.
That's (one reason) why he shouldn't be Prez.

When will they ever learn?


Allan Bennett
Not a fan of told you so


Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 12:36:13 +0100
From: GRAHAM CAMPBELL
Subject: Important - Open meeting
To: "Undisclosed-Recipient:;":

Dear coaching colleagues,
To my dismay, I have been instructed by the Performance Director, the
Development programme manager, and several senior figures in the BCU Board
to cancel the open meeting for coaches that was arranged for July 2nd at
NWSC. It is clear that if I do not cancel it I will be sacked. It is obvious
from many of you in fla****er and slalom that there are crucial issues that
affect the young athletes we bring into paddling and the future of our sport,
and they need open discussion. Colleagues, it is down to you now! I will see
many of you no doubt at the Nationals Sprint Championships. If you need
further information on the reasons for this situation, you may of course
contact John Anderson or
- both tel. 01159 822094

Best regards Graham Campbell
--