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Make time for the things you love
Yesterday I went paddling for the first time since early September. The air was fresh. The river was full of life. Upstream, the water was calm and the trees were turning yellow and red. Near the boathouses, the river was busy with Oxford University students training and learning to row. When I got home, I…
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Beyond the Odds: The Sum of the Parts
Last night, my son and I watched Oxford City play Leicester City in the first round of the FA Cup. We are season ticket holders at Oxford City, our local non-league club, so it was a special occasion to see them take on a former Premier League champion. Seeing Leicester brought back memories of one…
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A sporting childhood should be bigger than one sport
From time to time, my sister sends me pictures of my nephews playing all sorts of sports. Both boys love football, but the pictures are just as likely to show them playing handball, athletics, rugby or volleyball. They take part in Eskola Kirola, the school sport programme in Gipuzkoa, the region where I’m from. It…
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Early exposure, late specialisation: Are we developing athletes or just developing young performers?
For many years, I’ve been advocating for early exposure but late specialisation. It’s a position I’ve held throughout my career, and one that sometimes goes against the way talent development is organised in many countries. I have always believed that children should be exposed to sport as early as possible. They should have opportunities to…
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Are we preparing to compete, or just preparing for competition?
When I was a youngster, I competed almost every weekend, sometimes in two different sports. Football, athletics and canoeing. Eventually, I chose canoeing. From March to September, I raced most weekends over different distances: river races, 3ks, 5ks, 200m, you name it. From October to March, we regularly did time trials and performance tests to…
