Australian Women at the Olympics

Australian Women at the Olympics

For the first time ever, Australia’s summer Olympic team has more female athletes than male. The late call up of the women’s eight came after rowing’s international ruling body banned 22 of 28 Russian rowers from competition. The addition of the rowers (8 oarswomen plus the cox who steers the boat) means that the Australian team is made up of 212 women, and 207 men.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the lesser known Australian women at the Olympics over the years.

Wilhemina (Mina) Wylie

mina wylie


Silver medalist in the 100m freestyle in Stockholm, Wylie was lesser known than her friend and rival Fanny Durack. Durack is widely known as the first Australian woman to compete in the Olympics, where she took a Gold medal in the same race in which Wylie took second.

Wylie however, was a champion in her own right. Between 1906 and 1934 she won 115 State and national titles and held world records in freestyle, breast-stroke and backstroke. From 1928 to 1970 Mina Wylie taught swimming at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Pymble, so it’s quite possible some of our current crop of over 40’s and 50’s runners came under her tutelage.

 

Brenda Jones-Carr

brenda jones carr

800m Silver medalist Rome, 1960.

A 400m and 800m specialist, Brenda Jones-Carr missed an opportunity of a home Olympics, as the women’s 800 was taken off the Olympic program after the 1928 Olympics, and not reinstated until 1960. Go figure.

Lynette McKenzie (nee McClements)Lynnette McClements

Gold, 100m Butterfly, Mexico

Silver, 4 x 100m Medly, Mexico.

McKenzie was the first Australian woman to win an Olympic Butterfly event. 

Now age 65, she still swims three times a week. When recently interviewed by The West Australian, she said
“… it does break my heart sometimes when some of [today’s swimmers] act up because they have been handed a gift and they are just so privileged. Some of them do get carried away with their own importance and they just have to…  be a little bit more humble about getting on with the job.” ““All the bravado comes a long way second to what you really have to do to achieve.”

Gail Neall (married Name Gail Yeo)

Gold Medalist, Munich, 400m Medley.

Neall was a little overshadowed by fellow Aussie Shane Gould at the Munich Olympics. Both Neall and Gould went to Turramurra High School, where they both have school houses named after them.

Her performance at Munich won her the Helms Award as Australasia’s outstanding athlete for 1972.

Gail Neall

Photo: JUDE KEOGH 0727clergate6

Gail Yeo is pictured here at the school her son teaches at. How lucky were those kids to have a visit from an Olympian! And if you think you do a lot for your kids, have a read of Mrs Yeo’s reminiscenses of her training regime. Behind every great Olympian is a great parent!

Suzy Balogh

Gold Medalist, Athens 2004. Shooting-Women’s Double Trap

suzy balagh

Suzy was Australia’s first female shooting gold medalist. She lived in Orange where there is no international shooting range, and drove four hours to Sydney most weekends to train. After her win she sent heartfelt thanks to “all the people who have let me stay in their spare rooms.” 

Olympia AlderseyOlympia Aldersey

As a member of the women’s rowing eight, Olympia is one of our newest Olympians, though with a name like that, it was only a matter of time. She was born during the opening ceremony of the Barcelona games.

Kirsten Todd 

Kirsten Todd

Sydney, 2000

Like many Sydney-siders, I was an enthusiastic spectator at many Olympic events in 2000. I’m pictured here  at the athletics, looking forward to an action packed night which included the men’s 10,000m featuring Haile Gebrselassie, the women’s pole vault featuring Australian pole vaulter Tatiana Grigorieva, the men’s long jump with jumping Jai Taurima, and the women’s 400m final, with that other lesser known Australian Olympian, Cathy Freeman.

A good night was had by all!! (including the drunken idiots in front of us who were barracking for “Gabrielle” in the men’s 10,000-that would be “Gabrielle Selassie” one can only presume).

Running in Cold Weather: 11 Infrequently Asked Questions

Cold weather running

1. Does running in cold weather help you burn body fat?

Seemingly, yes. Cold weather exercising can produce high rates of glycogen depletion, and also high rates of fat metabolism. Glycogen is the form that carbohydrates are stored in the muscles (and other parts of the body) and is a readily available source of energy when you’re working out. There’s a limited amount of glycogen your muscles can store, and once glycogen stores are depleted, your body needs to use more fat for energy.

Exercising in the cold increases glycogen depletion in two ways. Firstly, shivering causes muscles to use glycogen at 5-6 times the normal rate, and cold weather causes elevated blood levels of epinephrine, a hormone which stimulates glycogen breakdown. Epinephrine can also help with fat metabolism.

So, a long run in winter can be a great way to improve body composition and rid yourself of some of those fat stores (as long as you don’t go home and drink gallons of hot chocolate to warm yourself up!)

2. What are goose bumps good for? (and is there a case for hairy legs in winter?)

In modern day humans, goosebumps are pretty much useless. They are an involuntary reaction of the sympathetic nervous system to fear or cold. Muscle contractions raise the hair follicles in our skin, causing that plucked chook look.

Biologists believe that they are a reflex that we developed years and years ago. Our ancestors, who were much hairier than us, may have developed this reaction as part of the fight or flight response, making them appear bigger and scarier when their hair stood up on end. Our more hirsute ancestors would also have been able to trap more heat near their skin with their fluffier body hair. So, I’d say that’s case enough for hairy legs in winter, wouldn’t you?

3. Can you get dehydrated running in cold weather?

Definitely! Cold weather inhibits the thirst sensation because blood moves away from the extremities into the body’s core. Because the core fluid level doesn’t decrease, the kidneys aren’t signalled to conserve fluid. The thirst response can decrease by about 40 per cent in cold weather. When you run in cold weather you still sweat and lose body fluids, so you need to be mindful of drinking more than you might feel you need to.

4. What’s the best temperature for running?

A study from the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine conducted a longitudinal study of results and weather data from six major marathons. They found that colder weather generally meant faster times, with the ideal long-distance running temperature being 5 degrees C. Times slowed progressively as the weather warmed above 5-10 degrees C. Slower runners slowed more than elite runners.

The effect of temperature on your performance is definitely something to keep in mind when you’re planning your next race strategy. I think I’d prefer to settle for a slower time than seek out a marathon to run in 5 degree temps!

5. Why does your nose run in the cold?

The nose warms and humidifies the air you inhale so that it is not too cold for the lungs. If the air is cold and dry, fluid production of the nose increases. If it makes too much fluid, your nose runs. Also, water in warm air condenses in cold air. The air you breathe out of your nose is warm, and when it hits the old air, it could condense at the tip of your nose, forming a very flattering water droplet at the end of your nose.

6. Will you catch a cold if you run in cold weather?

We all know that a cold is a virus, and it makes little sense to say you catch a cold by being cold. You catch a cold by being exposed to a cold virus. Your body also needs to be unable to resist the cold virus to contract a cold. But here’s the thing. Researchers have shown that exposure to cold air enhances the activity of “suppressor macrophages”. These are white blood cells which depress the functioning of the immune system.

So letting yourself get chilled to the bone during a workout can increase your risk of getting sick. The lesson to take from this one is you should wrap up and stay relatively warm. Wear layers you can take off during your session, and always keep something warm and dry on hand for when you finish training. This may mean getting out of damp underlayers as well as outer layers if you have a fair distance to drive before you can warm up in a hot shower.

7. Will exercising mean you get fewer colds in general?

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2008, reported that regular aerobic exercise might reduce the risk of catching a cold by up to 50%. People who exercised at least 5 times per week had up to 46% fewer sick days than those who exercised only one day a week or less. When the exercising group did get sick, their symptoms were milder.

And what of the macrophage suppressing cold weather? On the bright side, the Japanese research found that people who are used to training in cold conditions are less likely to experience the same immune system suppression after running in cold weather than people who only do it now and then. So, don’t shut yourself up during winter. Push through those first cold days of winter, and be consistent with your training as the days get shorter and the nights get colder, and you’ll come out the other side of winter with a stronger immune system.

8. Will running in cold weather give you a heart attack?

Probably not, but there are some studies that have shown an increase in exercise related heart attacks in periods of cold weather. Whilst the jury is out on why cold air should increase your risk of a heart attack, it may be because cold temperatures will raise your heart rate and your arterial blood pressure, which increases the stress on your heart. Also, blood clots more easily in cold weather, which could increase the risk of blocked arteries. Frequent exposure to cold, however, modifies these physiological changes, so again, its most likely the every now and then approach to training that is oh-so-tempting to adopt in winter, is likely to hold the most risk.

And if you’re wondering why your heart rate lifts in cold weather, it’s basically as a result of your body’s efforts to keep you warm. You lose body heat to cold air so your heart rate rises to maintain your core temperature and to keep blood flowing to the brain. Blood vessels in your extremities are restricted, your body burns glucose faster than it does in warmer weather, and you shiver. All of these things require an increased heart rate, so if you’re a heart rate monitor, you’ll likely notice your heart rate is elevated during your next cold weather run. (That is, you’re a person who monitors their heart rate during exercise – I don’t really think one of those Garmin thingys can read…yet)

9. Can running in cold weather make you feel like the temperature is colder than it actually is?

Definitely, but there are ways around this. It’s not just the cold air that makes you cold, but a combination of the cold air and sweat. You don’t stop sweating when you’re exercising in cold weather. You lose heat at a faster rate when your clothing is saturated with moisture. Water conducts heat away from the body 25 times faster than air does, so sweat soaked clothing will give you that chilled to the bone feeling.

Most running gear on the market these days is sweat wicking. Making sure you have a layer of sweat wicking clothing next to your skin when you step out the door for a winter run. Layering up over the top of that will help to stop you from losing too much body heat due to sweat.

10. Can exercising in cold weather give you chilblains?

We were down in Canberra for our boys to play in a soccer tournament. After a less than encouraging start to their first game in the cold, the coaches decided they all needed to toughen up a bit and play without gloves. One boy turned up the next morning with his gloves firmly in place, explaining he had a medical condition called “chilled veins” and his mum said he had to wear his gloves.

Chilblains are patches of red itchy skin. They are thought to be caused by a combination of cold weather and poor circulation, though no-one is 100% sure. If you have poor circulation, you will be more susceptible to chilblains, however if you are a regular exerciser, you’re not so likely to have poor circulation.

Wearing gloves whilst you’re running will keep your hands warm in the cooler weather. You’ll probably find that your hands warm up fairly quickly wearing gloves. If you’re going to need to take your gloves off, do so before your hands become sweaty, otherwise you may well find you give yourself a dose of “chilled veins” when you expose your damp hands to the cold air.

11. What about the wind chill factor?

If there’s a cold wind blowing, you’ll feel the cold even more. A 30km/ hour wind can feel like zero degrees very quickly. Running at 10km an hour into a 20km/hour wind is the equivalent of a 30km/hour wind when you’re standing still, so it doesn’t exactly take a howling gale to make you feel 10 degrees colder.

It’s good idea to run the first part of your run into the wind, so that in the second half of your run, when you’re tired and sweaty, the wind is at your back and the wind chill factor won’t come into play so much. If you run at 10km/hour with the wind behind you at 20km/hr, it’s really like a wind of 10km/hour from the point of view of wind chill. So instead of making it seem 10 degrees colder, the wind will only make it feel about 3-4 degrees colder than the temperature on the thermometer. Cheery thought!

The Bottom Line

Exercising in cold weather can improve your immune system function. It can also put you at a slightly higher risk of catching a cold or having a heart attack, but only it would seem if you aren’t a regular cold weather runner.

Take care to keep hydrated when exercising in winter, layer up, with a sweat wicking layer of clothing closest to your skin, and run in sheltered areas if possible. Where you’re exposed to the wind, try to run with the wind at your back in the latter stages of your run.

Winter is a great time to teach your body to burn fat for fuel on those long runs, as you’ll be using up glycogen more quickly than you would in warmer weather. So cold weather training can leave you well prepared for a great spring racing season.

What is a tempo run, a long run, a speed workout?

tempo runs, long runs, easy runs. What does it all mean?
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When I put together a training plan for a runner, I ask myself the question “What is the purpose of this training session?” for each session I put on their program. It helps me to create a training plan which makes the best use of the time that particular person has to prepare for their goal race, whilst minimising their risk of injury.

When I put together a training plan for a runner, I ask myself the question “What is the purpose of this training session?” for each session I put on their program. It helps me to create a training plan which makes the best use of the time that particular person has to prepare for their goal race, whilst minimising their risk of injury.

But…runners are funny creatures. They can convince themselves that running faster, further or harder, is going to have them ahead of the pack, even if the evidence of their own body suggests they might just be overdoing it. I always impress on my runners that running more or running faster than their body needs, could actually inhibit their long term progression, and slow them down in their short term goal race as well. The same applies to all runners of course, not just the ones I coach!

Distance Running Training Plans

There are a few things about a distance running program that are important to note.

  1. You should actually have a training plan. A plan that will tell you each day what you should be doing. If you just have some vague notion in your head that you should be doing this or that, then it’s not a training plan. It’s just a vague notion in your head.
  2. Your training program should be tailored for you. Not much point in you following the same plan as someone who’s going to be running the race in half the time you will be, or who’s 30 years younger!
  3. You should not exceed the mileage or the paces prescribed in your training plan. Doing more and running faster than prescribed, could actually slow you down.

Main Types of Workouts in a Distance Running Program

A distance running program is mainly made up of four workouts types, tempo runs, speed workouts (VO2 max), long runs, and easy recovery runs. Depending on your fitness level, your long run may be an easy run, or it may include some more intense periods of running either mid-run or for the last 20-25% of the run.

Here’s a run down on the different types of workouts that make up a distance running program, what they are used for, and why running them too hard could be detrimental to your training.

Tempo Runs

If done right, tempo runs improve your lactate threshold. They improve your endurance and ability to maintain a faster pace over longer races.

When you’re exercising, your body is breaking down glycogen to fuel the muscles. A by-product of this is lactic acid. Your body recycles this lactic acid into energy, and expels any waste products.

As you run faster, the amount of lactic acid produced increases, to a point at which your body is not able to utilise all the lactic acid for energy production. This point is your lactate threshold. Your lactate threshold pace is the fastest pace you can run without generating more lactic acid than your body can utilise and convert back to energy (usually about your half marathon pace). It usually corresponds to somewhere between your 10km pace and your half marathon pace. It’s about a 7- 8/10 on the rating of perceived exertion (RPE).

During a tempo run, you build up gradually so that you are running at a pace just below your body’s lactate threshold (about 6-7/10 on the RPE). You are training your body to improve its conversion of lactate back into energy. It should be challenging without being exhausting. You should be able to talk in short sentences, but you’re best off doing it on your own with no-one to talk to. Your tempo is unlikely to be the same as someone else’s.

Because a tempo run is aimed at getting your body better at clearing lactate, you have to let it practice doing that. If you’re going too fast, your body won’t be effectively clearing lactate, and so won’t be learning how to do it. If you let the body handle a moderate and consistent amount of lactate, it will learn what to do with it. But if you run too fast and flood the body with lactate, it can’t handle the excess, and doesn’t learn how to utilise it for energy.

So by running too hard, you don’t achieve the benefits the workout is designed to give you.

Speed Workouts (also known as VO2 Max workouts)

VO2 max is a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilise during exercise. Your VO2 max can be improved with training, allowing your body to utilise more oxygen and run faster.

Speed workouts also increase leg muscle strength and power. This means it takes you a smaller proportion of your overall energy available to you, to run at a certain speed.

Because you’re pushing pretty hard during these workouts, you’re at an increased risk of injury. Go just that little bit too fast during these workouts, or do that one repeat too many, and you could push yourself over the edge into injury.

That’s why it’s important not to do more than prescribed in these workouts, and also use your common sense. If you have, say, 8  x 800’s planned, but on rep number 6 your left hamstring’s pinging like there’s no tomorrow, you’d be mad to try to complete the session as planned. Calling it a day at number 6 would be the sensible thing to do, as would telling your coach. Or if you don’t have a coach, you’d need to adjust your next training session yourself as necessary.

Recovery Runs

It may come as no surprise that recovery runs help you to recovery from the harder workouts on your program. Your muscles are likely to feel sore after your harder sessions. This is due to the micro tearing of muscle fibres during the forceful contraction of your muscles when running at faster speeds. These muscles need nutrients and oxygen to repair, which is delivered to them via the blood. Given a chance, your body will heal itself, but it does require sufficient rest between hard workouts.

Recovery runs (easy runs/easy paced long runs) increase blood flow to these muscles, delivering oxygen and nutrients without putting too much force through the muscles. But run too fast on these days, and you’ll cause more micro tearing in the muscles which the recovery run should be helping to repair. This increases the amount of time you need to fully recover. Your body won’t perform as it should in your next tempo run or speed workout, as the muscles are still fatigued. In turn, that means you’re not getting the benefit from these workouts that you should.

If you keep your easy days easy (even if that means some walking during your run) your body will heal more quickly and will be much better prepared to take advantage of the next hard work out.

Know the Purpose of Your Workout

Before you put your running shoes on for your next workout, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of my run today?” It’ll help you keep on track and not be tempted to overdo it.

If you think you could do with a little extra help with your running, we’d love to be the ones to help you.  Find out more about online running coaching from less than $11 per week 

Prepare Your Hamstrings for the City to Surf

The City to Surf is indeed a hilly run. But did you know there is almost as much downhill running in the City to Surf as there is uphill?

It’s essential to prepare your legs for the added stress of downhill running.  Your legs will take a battering if you’ve not done some work to prepare them for the downhill segments of the race. You can prepare your legs for the City to Surf with eccentric squats for your quads, along with this simple hamstring exercise in the video below. 

 

 

The City to Surf is More Than Heartbreak Hill

Why You Need to Train for The Downhill Sections Too

If you’re one of the 80,000 strong field who’ll be making their way from the city to the surf this year, you need to be getting good at downhill running.

Yes, that’s right folks. Being good at downhill running can make your City to Surf!!

Watch the video to find out why running downhill well is important for a good City to Surf experience, and an easy(er) time on heartbreak hill.

httpv://youtu.be/WpwRhcD9tYY

See how the simple squat  can be modified to get your legs ready for the hilly City to Surf course. Combine the squat with a simple hamstring exercise, and you’re well on the way to a better City to Surf experience.

 

 

9 Ways to be a Good Sports Parent

Kids Cross Country - hamming it up

Good Sports Parents Don’t Stuff Up the Car Trip Home

In the US, about 20 million kids register for competitive sports each year. By the time they are 13, just 30% of those kids are still playing sport. And the really sad thing about the other 70%, is that they will never play sport again. That is, not ever.

Whilst I don’t have figures for Australia, anecdotal evidence certainly points to a large number of kids (especially girls) dropping out of sport and physical activity in their early teens. That’s here, in Australia, where we have one of the best all round climates for outdoor sport in the world.

So how do we keep our kids involved in sport into adulthood?

Kids Stop Playing Sport When it Stops Being Fun

According to research, the number one reason kids drop out of sport is because it’s not fun. Very reasonable. Most adults don’t choose to do things which they don’t find fun. So why would kids be any different? The research, conducted by George Washington University, showed the top 6 things which made sport more fun for kids were

  1. Playing your best
  2. When coach treats player with respect
  3. Getting playing time
  4. Playing together well as a team
  5. Getting along with your teammates
  6. Exercising and being active

Further down the list were things such as

  • Winning (#48)
  • Playing in tournaments (#63)
  • Getting medals or trophies (#67)
  • Getting pictures taken (#81)

Take another look at those lists. Playing your best was the number one factor which kids felt made sport fun. Winning (which many of we adults think rocks) ranked only 48th on the list of factors that make sport fun for kids. And that’s what it should be about. Kids sport should be fun for kids, not a competition between parents.

So if we want to keep kids playing sport well into adulthood, we need to make sport fun. Much of making sport fun comes back to the parents. Parents are pretty involved in kids sport these days in Australia. I wonder if sometimes parents don’t have just a little too much invested in their kids’ games.

Best Coaching Exercise Ever

A couple of years ago, I coached an under 10’s soccer team. Whilst I was reading up about coaching, I came across an exercise which I thought was absolutely awesome. It went something like this.

  • Get all the parents together.
  • Give half of them orange bibs, half of them green bibs.
  • Put them on the soccer field.
  • Have all the kids stand around the outside of the field, with instructions to help their parents play, by yelling out where they should be on the field, what they should be doing with the ball, etc. Tell the kids to keep giving them helpful instruction, and to make sure you yell out loud so their parents can hear them.
  • Blow the whistle to start the game
  • See how well the parents play when they are constantly being told what to do and not given a chance to think for themselves.

9 Ways to Be a Good Sports Parent

# 1. Give your child some space

When was the last time you stood over your child in a maths exam and cheered every time they carried the one, or grimaced when they made a mistake? When was the last time you gave them step by step instructions on how to do their homework, without giving them a chance to figure it out for themselves? I’m betting the answer here will be never, or at least not very often. With their school work, we trust them enough to give them the chance to figure things out on their own. Then we give them help if they ask for it.

I’m not sure why this is, but with sport, some parents simply can’t resist the temptation to tell their kids what to do, where to be, who to mark, when to pass the ball, when to take a shot. We’ve all  heard “that parent” on the sideline. What many of us don’t realise is that we do it ourselves, even if it is at a much calmer level than “that parent”. Mostly, our “help” is well meaning,  but every time we tell our kids to “have a shot” “pass the ball” “mark a player” we are depriving them of the opportunity to develop their strategic thinking.

The reality is, if your child could make a play down the sideline, or read the play and be in position to intercept the ball from the attacking team, or if they could have scored the goal, won the race, passed the ball…they would have! There’s little point telling your kids to “run faster” or “try harder”, or “use the space”. It’s a bit like telling them to be taller.

If you really want to help your child develop their skills, keep in mind that the heat of the moment is not the best time to assimilate new information. Leave the coaching to the coach, and show your kids you enjoy watching them play, not watching them be outstanding. Cheer them on, shout out “Go Thunder” (if their team name happens to be “Thunder” that is), but don’t act like your kids are playing sport for your entertainment. If you find you’re screaming like a crazed Sea Eagles fan at Brookie Oval on a Friday night, you might need to take step back so that your child (and everybody else’s for that matter) can enjoy the game.

#2. Trust the Coach

In order for you to trust your child’s coach, you need to find out a bit about them. You can ask them directly about their coaching philosophy. Ask them if they plan to give all kids equal time on the field, what’s their aim for the season, what sort of things will the kids be doing at training?

Many of the coaches you’ll come across, particularly when your kids are young, will simply be the parent who has been good enough to put their hand up, so don’t bombard them with questions the minute you meet them. They may not have thought about it too much themselves when they first start out. But it is important to find out about the coach so that you can trust that they will develop your children’s love of sport, not crush it. So make it your business to engage the coach in conversation so that you can learn about them, and they can learn about you and your child. Make sure you approach the conversation in a non-judgmental manner.

Observe the coach at training and at games. If their values don’t match with yours, talk to them. I’ve heard of cases where parents don’t feel they can call the coach out on inappropriate behaviour because they don’ want to rock the boat and have their kids singled out, but it is NEVER ok for coaches to swear at kids or be generally abusive towards them to “toughen them up”. People like that have no place coaching our kids.

#3. Give the coach some space

 Most coaches will appreciate you giving them space to train your kids. Once you’ve established that you’ve entrusted your child’s athletic development to someone who is worthy of that trust, keep away from the pre-game and half time huddles. Hand your child over to the coach for the duration of the game, and stay out of it, unless there is a real reason for you to be involved. Don’t criticise the coach in front of your kids. The same goes for the referee and other match officials as well! If you have an issue with the coach, take it up in private.

Try not to be the only person who has a significant influence in your kid’s life, because there will be a time when they will need to learn something that you won’t be able to teach them. Gift your children a good relationship with a great coach, which you have little part in.

#4. Know That it’s Okay for Your Kid to be a Ball Hog

It frequently happens in the younger age groups which are not graded, that there are one or two outstanding players on the field or court. Parents of these outstanding players are often tempted to tell their kids to pass the ball, not wanting it to appear that their child is being a ball hog. Whilst developing good passing skills is important, so is developing the ability to dribble and control the ball in an individual play. Kids need to be able to develop the confidence to make a play themselves. Leave it to the coach to decide if someone is being a ball hog. And remember, it may not be that the child is deliberately trying to hog the ball. Awareness of where other players are on the field comes to kids at different developmental stages, so it just may be the child doesn’t know where to pass the ball, or how to get a pass away.

#5. Make Learning More Important Than Winning

Feeling outside pressure to win doesn’t do a lot for our children’s enjoyment of sport. If they can view each game as an opportunity to learn more about the sport, and more about how they play it, it takes the pressure off a bit. I’m not saying kids shouldn’t want to win. There’s nothing the matter with a child being competitive, but your enthusiasm for your child’s victory should not be greater than theirs!

As a sports parent, it’s your job to remind your child that if they love the sport, and devote themselves to the love of that sport, the wins and losses will take care of themselves. In other words, life is a journey, not a destination. If you really love the sport, it won’t matter so much if you win or lose.

#6. Remember It’s Not About You

Remember your child’s sporting success or failure is their success or failure. If you find yourself saying “we scored three goals today” or “we played poorly today”, might be time to take a look at just who it is that’s playing the game. Unless you hold an official position on the team such as coach or manager, you’re not part of the team. You don’t win, lose, play well, score a goal, need to improve your positional play. You are not part of your child’s sporting team, so try to use language that reflects that

#7. Don’t Make Your Kids’ Sport a Contest Between Parents

If you have kids who play sport, at whatever level, you’re going to be spending a bit of time watching it, and you’ll enjoy it more if you’re not comparing your child to others. Proving to yourself and anyone else who will listen, that your child is a better athlete than the next kid, doesn’t prove you’re a better parent, or your child is a better person, or that they are going to have a better life! There is no evidence that shows elite athletes are any happier in life than average athletes.

Twenty years down the track, it’s unlikely to matter who won the under 10 netball grand final. What will matter however, is what the under 10 netballers learned from playing sport, and how that is put into practice in the rest of their lives.

One of my kids ran at national level in the cross country last year. All a bit of a surprise, and it was certainly an eye opener with respect to parental aspirations.

What I hope he took away from the experience, was a mutual respect for the kids who he competed with and against. I hope he remembers the massive game of AFL the Queenslanders, Victorians and New South Welshmen had after the race, far more than the race itself (and I think I’d be saying that even if he’d have won the race!) It was so awesome watching a bunch of 11 year olds who barely knew each other, running and kicking and jumping together for the sheer joy of it, when shortly before they’d been trying to run the pants off each other.

To me, that’s what competing at any level in sport is about. The people you meet and the experiences that you have along the way.

True story. A few years ago just before my 50th birthday, I was leafing through my box of lifetime memorabilia, and found a program for the State PSSA Athletics carnival of 1975. I had completely forgotten that I’d even been to that carnival. But there was my name, in black and white, in the Under 12 Shot Put. I like to think that’s an example of how insignificant that carnival was in the general scheme of things, rather than of my failing memory!

#8. Help Your Kids Accept Defeat

Kids need to learn that victory and defeat are both sides of the same coin. The coin is of the same value, whichever way it lands when it’s tossed. Losing sporting contests can be heart breaking for kids (and for adults). If you’re not prepared to have your heart broken, don’t play competitive sport.

Parents can help kids get over their heart break relatively quickly. Often nothing needs to be said. A simple pat on the back or a smile goes a long. You don’t need to say too much. In fact you might not need to say anything at all. Your kids will know how you’re feeling just by looking at you, so you’d better make sure you’re not feeling frustrated, annoyed or angry with them, as they’ll pick up on that.

I’ve played sport most of my life, so I’ve had my fair share of sporting disappointments. I remember a couple of those disappointments particularly, not because of the result itself, but because of the support of those around me. A simple hug of understanding from my Mum when I missed out on making a state team, and a night out on the town with my boat crew when we missed out on winning an Australian Title, are two of my most treasured sporting memories (not saying I wouldn’t have preferred to have won that Austalian Title mind you!)

#9. Don’t Stuff up the Car Trip Home

 The car trip home is not the time for analysing the game. Win or lose, your kids don’t want to hear you talk about what they did right or wrong, or what they could have done better. Sometimes when things have gone wrong, you don’t want someone to tell you how to fix it, you just want someone to listen to you if you feel like talking. If you’re a Dad of a sporting kid, that might be a bit harder for you to understand, but believe me, on the car trip home, your kid does not want you to approach their sporting performance as a problem you can fix (apparently being Mr Fix-it is more a man thing).

Advice of this nature often feels better for the parent who is giving it, than for the kid who is receiving it. The car trip home, after a win or a loss, is often when your child just wants to sit back and let the game sink in. You don’t have to make conversation to make them feel better after a loss. They’ll know if they played well or badly. And they’ll know you know.

What do you say on the car trip home?

Head of player and coach development at Australian Baseball, Peter Gahan suggests the only thing that needs to be said on the car trip home is……

” Geez I loved watching you play out there”