EUOC performance coach - 3 month report
Credit: Wendy Carlyle
Earlier in the year we made an award to Edinburgh University Orienteering Club (EUOC) to fund a performance coach for athletes on their performance programme. Mark Nixon was appointed as performance coach, and the athletes have have now completed their first 3 month block of the coaching scheme. 10 athletes were part of the first block, and all 10 are continuing for the next 3 month block. A report on the first 3 months follows, with thanks to the support from the Orienteering Foundation in making this possible.
So far, the coaching has worked out as planned, with athletes getting regular individual 1-1 meetings and some additional group online sessions to go through preparation for specific competitions e.g.:
- BUCS
- British Middle champs
- JK (2x sessions)
- British Long Champs
There has been flexibility on the frequency and duration of meetings based on the athlete’s circumstances e.g. for those who are injured and unable to plan too far ahead, regular short catch-ups has enabled week-by-week planning, whereas other athletes have had less regular but longer meetings with focus on longer term technical/physical training planning, or technical analysis etc.
It has been useful that Mark Nixon has co-ordinated the sessions being set to enable training together as a group, whilst also making sure it is personalised to the individual athlete as far as possible. Mark has also been in communication with staff from the university, especially regarding the competition calendar of those athletes on the performance programme to assist with strength & conditioning planning and physical prep.
Athlete Feedback from first 3 months
“Very easy to schedule meetings and very responsive to last min questions about training”
“Very very helpful with catering to what I need from that session individually whilst also providing his own thoughts”
“Really brilliant coaching where I can talk about the bigger picture plans over months and years, to the small everyday detail of session planning, and a second confident voice to work with and back up your training decisions”
“It’s been great. It’s so nice to just always have someone to speak to and also he does know his stuff. It’s nice to have full trust in what he is saying. (Not that I haven’t had this before, but it is good). Scheduling meetings has always been chill, and I feel like I’m always getting the support I need, as he is very flexible with changing priorities etc.”
“Nixon is a great coach who always promotes confidence and gives world class coaching which is helping me build towards being a competitive senior orienteer. He is particularly helpful when planning training towards the key races and giving insights into preparation techniques”
“since I started Nixon's coaching I had the best JK I have ever had as a senior and I entered the top 100, which has been a major goal of mine for a number of years. I have to say that his insights have proved productive”
“So far the coaching programme has been very useful, providing very beneficial 1-to-1 focused training that has helped me highlight critical areas for development in my technique”
“I definitely feel supported and heard in the meetings, and feel like a get a new understanding of my orienteering after every analysis session”
“The coaching I feel has really been helping me with the consistency I was needing for my training and the technical analysis always gives me guidance on how to improve my orienteering ability”
Notable athlete results
- Two athletes were selected for JWOC (Isobel Howard, Imogen Pieters)
- EUOC took the silver for both Men’s and Women’s relays at the British championships, and won the Women’s relay at the JK
- Isobel Howard won British Middle championships and JK Overall (W20E), making the senior podium in the JK Sprint (3rd W21E)
- Euan Tryner became the Senior JK Champion, and was selected for World Cup 1
- Fiona Bunn came 3rd overall at the JK, 2nd at JK Sprint and 2nd at the British Long and Middle championships (W21E)
- Fiona Eades came 3rd at the Scottish Middle championships and 5th in the Scottish Long Championships, in her first year as a W21