1 The setting of entry standards for all OGMs (meaning a change of title, perhaps Athletic Graded Meetings or Athletics Challenge) high enough to deter those whose performances are clearly so poor that they have no prospect of reasonable levels of achievement, or who need both hard work and coaching before forming part of the ever longer queues to run, throw, jump etc at ogms. Even ogms need to be selective if excellence is the aim.
2 To help enlarge the genuinely competitive athletic community,and to give it an effective sense of community, Scotland tracksuits – with appropriate badging as below – should be made available for purchase for confirmed performance levels that meet or exceed
Club,
County,
Regional,
National,
International . . standards (with possible sub-grades within each main standard)
The level of achievement should be shown clearly on a badge on the front of the tracksuit, with Scotland – athletics - on the back, creating an athletic community that members will feel pride in belonging to, and that will be readily recognised by the public.
The standards/grading system should be set by an adjudicating body/individual based on percentages of national or other records.
Those athletes who want to achieve, not just to participate, will have clear targets to aim at with a tangible and displayable reward (Scotland tracksuit badged pertinent to their level of achievement), and at OGMs (renamed of course) will not find that they are wading through numbers of athletes who have no interest in achievement or lack the ability to achieve the most basic, reasonable level.
Those who don’t qualify for the lowest level, but who want to, might be more inclined to start applying themselves to training with the necessary intensity before turning up at competitions, if they aim to be legitimately wearing a Scotland tracksuit. Clubs would be the natural vehicle for providing the facilities and coaching necessary to raise standards to the necessary minimum and for certifying that athletes are sufficiently proficient to qualify for Graded meetings.
Those who do exceed the lowest standard might then find OGMs more hospitable to the notion of achievement. They would not be obstructions to it, as some are where high numbers turn up, the performance levels of many are very low – frequently accompanied by a lack of focus which can make it difficult for officials - and warm up activities are restricted to the point where performance is impaired or dangerous – only 1 warm up throw was allowed at a recent shot competition at Linwood, in very cold and wet conditions (spring 2012).
At the moment the numbers participating at certain OGMs are high and that may have political value, but it may actually prove to be detrimental to the achievement of high levels of performance. Widening participation is fine, so long as it is a widening of participation that is driven and organised by, and especially not obstructive to, the pursuit of excellence, and which doesn’t at the same time become elitist.
3 If qualifying thresholds are deemed unacceptable then a small but significant change to enhance competitiveness and sharpen rival focus at OGMs would be to abandon the current practice at many of these of lumping all age groups together for specific events, and instead, break them down according to age group so that individuals compete only with their direct rivals. It might be convenient for officials to round everyone up at the one time and have 9 year olds throwing with 25 year olds but it detracts from the competitive intent of athletic competition, isn’t conducive to optimal performance (excessive delays between throws which means cooling down and stiffness which increase the risk of injury and compromise performance), and in the case of throwing events makes it difficult for the officials to keep a check on whether the correct weight of implement is being used, through error or otherwise.
4 The creation of practice/warm up areas at all new tracks – and old ones where it’s possible to add them nearby – so that athletes can be properly prepared. The best tracks south of the border already have these. 2 warm up throws at the competition point for example is too little for most throwers wanting to do justice to their abilities. Performing at a satisfactory level in competition is important for motivation and further development. Every effort should be made to facilitate this. Proper practice/warm up areas at all the main tracks as soon as possible should be an urgent objective.
5 Improve access to/availability of the simpler type of training facilities. Shot putting for example is an area in which Scotland performs very poorly, and not because of lack of talent. In many areas of the country Shot circles with stopboards built in could be installed in corners of public parks, near football pitches etc. There are many suitable areas within most regional authority areas and an initial 100 new shot circles across the country with accompanying publicity might help take us forward at very little cost in one of our national sports, with the eventual aim that every village should have one available for budding putters. We have many potential 20 metre putters out there. Anything that’s easy to do and not too expensive in these austere times to encourage them to bring their talents into the sport should be done asap. 2014 is no longer a realistic target for new entrants – except the most gifted and determined - but it’s not too late yet for the next Commonwealth games beyond that.
6 I appreciate that my perspective is conditioned to a degree by my choice of events and that there's probably a huge variety of views out there on these issues. My comments and suggestions are not meant to be agenda setting by any means but as a modest contribution to the debate from one individual's necessarily personal point of view. Thanks for reading. |