Gary Wilson

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship Report 2010

How limited resources are maximised in Jamaica and the Bahamas to achieve elite

success in Athletics

Introduction

The sport of athletics has been a source of joy, entertainment, personal triumph and development for millions of spectators and athletes over the years. The last six years within the sport have seen a significant and unmistakable shift of dominance from the larger countries i.e. the United States of America, Russia, Germany and Great Britain to the much smaller in comparison Caribbean island of Jamaica. Since winning a complete tally of five silver medals and four bronzes at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 the island has gone from strength to strength at each following championship event. The breakthrough moment for the nation took place at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in which they claimed ten gold medals, four silvers and eight bronzes, more than doubling their previous medal haul for the event. Most significant however has been the transition and emergence of new talent year upon year. Stalwarts of the long standing Jamaican team have been incrementally replaced by unknown yet extremely talented and exuberant youngsters who have gone on to achieve remarkable feats. Veronica Campbell-Brown, Asafa Powell, Shelley Ann Fraser and Usain Bolt are just a few names from the rich and deep talent pool that Jamaica has produced. Bolt himself has gone on to achieve global stardom and success by dominating World and Olympic championships and also breaking both the 100m and 200m sprint World Records on a number of occasions. The interest in Usain Bolt seems to stem not from the fact that he wins his races, but rather from the relative ease with which he does so.

As an athlete myself I am both fascinated and curious about this steady ascendancy that has taken place and relished the opportunity to travel specifically to Jamaica to understand the culture of athletic development that is taking place there. Another fundamental issue in the forefront of my mind was that as a country much worse off in terms of financial affluence compared to the larger nations (14.8% of the population in Jamaica are below the poverty line), how are they able to produce such a wealth of elite level athletes and sustain success regardless of a deficiency in financial resources? As another successful and small Caribbean nation, I chose the Bahamas for an accompanying insight into a country which consistently succeeds on the global athletics stage. With a population and financial resources even less than Jamaica‘s, the Bahamas is producing young athletics talent at an increasing rate and still picking up medals at elite international level. Young athletes from both countries feature heavily in the world rankings for both youth (14 – 17 years old) and junior (17 – 20 years old) athletics event. I see this as an indication that there is a long term progressive development plan taking place on both islands and jumped at the opportunity to research it further.

Aims of Fellowship and Itinerary There are a couple of fundamental questions to address in order to gain the answers I want from this fellowship. A) With a lack of financial resources and elite level training

facilities, how are the youth programs of both countries producing so much talent?

B) Can elements of the Caribbean programmes be adopted by the UK in order to improve our own global performances?

With these questions in mind my aims for this fellowship were to come back to England with resources and information that could enable me to help;

i) Increase participation in athletic events for young people in the UK.

ii) Spread useful and practical coaching methods adopted in the Caribbean

iii) Help contribute towards the UK‘s current plan for developing young athletes approaching the London 2012 Olympics and beyond.

In order to gain this kind of information a necessity of this fellowship was that I gained access and spoke to the best available athletes, coaches and organisational officials on my travels to get the insight I needed. Thankfully this was possible and I visited a number of locations and people that allowed me to complete my report in the best possible way.

Itinerary

Jamaica: Norman Manley International Airport

Monday 3rd March 2010 Arrive in Jamaica

Jamaica National Stadium Independence Park Kingston

Tuesday 4th, Thursday 6th, Saturday 8th March 2010

Watch training sessions and speak to coaches and athletes.

High Performance Centre University of Technology (UTECH) 237 Old Hope Road, Kingston

Monday 10th, Wednesday 12th ,Friday 14th March 2010

Watch training sessions and speak to coaches.

Ardenne High School, 10 Ardenne Road, Kingston

Wednesday 5th, Friday 7th, Tuesday 11th March 2010

Speak to teachers about the emphasis on participation in athletics for young children.

Norman Manley international Airport

Saturday 15th March 2010 Depart Kingston

Nassau International airport

Saturday 15th March Arrive in Nassau

Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations 1 Colony Club Inn and Suites P.O. Box SS 5517 Nassau, New Providence

Monday 17th , Wednesday 19th , Thursday 20th , Monday 24th , Wednesday 26th March 2010.

Speak to BAAA key officials on youth development plan for Bahamas.

Thomas Robinson Stadium Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre Nassau,

Tuesday 18th, Wednesday 19th, Saturday 22nd, Monday 24th, Tuesdays 25th , Wednesday 26th March 2010.

Speak to head coaches, athletes and watch training sessions.

College of the Bahamas Nassau

Monday 24th, Wednesday 26th March 2010.

Talk to teachers and students about sport and education balance.

Jamaica

With Jamaican sprinters dominating the Beijing Olympics, it was inevitable that fans of athletics and scientists would wonder what exactly has contributed to this huge sweeping national success.

Before leaving for Jamaica I did some research on the scientific element involved following the argument by many a scientist and sports pundit that Caribbean athletes are genetically predisposed to run faster than others.

Following a vast number of reports on the subject there have been some findings: 70 percent of Caribbean‘s appear to have ACTN3, a gene that codes for fast-twitch muscle fiber, which contributes heavily towards producing quicker sprinting ability over short distances.

The best criticisms of genetic determinism in sprinting have come from an UK based researcher Daniel MacArthur. According to MacArthur other nationalities have even higher levels of

population-level ACTN3 expression, but produce few accomplished sprinters — and at the Olympic level, most athletes are going to express ACTN3.

So is Jamaica‘s success merely genetic? I would not want to think so. If this vast improvement in global championships and individual achievement is put purely down to racial genetics then why didn‘t Jamaica do better at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, in which their men won just one silver medal?

I wanted to discover more to the equation than just leaving this national success down to racial genetics. From what I‘ve gathered so far the development in athletics that has been taking place is cultural, institutional and individual. Whereas some say that Jamaica is genetically blessed with raw talent, there is a systematic motivation and a culture of competitive spirit that outweighs individual athletic potential.

I believe that all major success must come following an equally as impressive plan and it‘s this plan in effect which could benefit so many athletes and coaches worldwide!

Jamaica National Stadium (Tuesday 4th – Saturday 8th March) After arriving in Kingston my first port of call was to head straight for the training facilities used by the top level athletes and coaches in the country.

Jamaica National Stadium

As I travelled there by taxi I had an interesting conversation with the driver that seemed to mirror a number of others I had had since arriving in the country. The driver stated that Jamaicans are as serious about their 10 year old child‘s sports day as they are about the Olympic Games. Many others also said to me that the actual environment of the country is the main factor towards their success. The hilly terrain is perfect practicing ground to develop muscles, strengthening the heart and improving aerobic capacity and stamina. It‘s been highlighted as purely cultural and nationally individual that most youngsters in Jamaica spend time running miles over hilly terrain merely for the fun of it. Whilst unknown to them at the time, this fundamentally acts as early resilience

and strengthening work for youngsters as the body adapts to these demands improving their future athletic potential. With this in mind I made my way into the National Stadiums adjoining smaller Stadium East at 6am to find a hub of concentrated and focused activity. Any athletics spectator could pick out the stars that were in attendance; former 100m World record Holder Asafa Powell, current women‘s 100m Olympic champion Shelly Ann Fraser and a number of other awe inspiring elite athletes carrying out their training. Most interesting of all was that amongst this plethora of talent were school children going through their own training sessions before their school day started.

Asafa Powell and others training

Speaking to one of the younger groups‘ coaches Dwight Milligan gave me a sense of just how focused and respected the work ethic is in Jamaica even at a young age. ―The kids wake up at 5am and get to the track for practice at 5.50am three days a week. At this time of the morning we can get the most out of their concentration and the heat that comes later in the day is not a factor. It‘s great because they go from being star struck the first time they see the big guys and girls training to wondering how they can replicate the same running movements. This is just how we do things here, we believe these kids will take over from the great guys we have representing us currently so why not give them access to those they aspire to be like.‖ I found this perspective fascinating. Watching the children absolutely fixed on their own national champions and then following them after their runs or technical drills immediately gave me my first taste of insight into the culture that is being adopted here. There are no airs and graces about the ‗big athletics stars‘ which allows their younger much inspired counterparts to realistically contemplate one day being in their shoes.

What is also a major factor is ultimately the level of coaching quality that these kids as young as 10 years old are exposed to and given. Speaking to a number of coaches on different practice days there seems to be a very apparent element of collective resourcing in term of coaching. As in all sports in all countries there is a hierarchy of coaches ranging from those who coach elite international athletes to those who coach for get fit purposes. Jamaica's recent successes are thanks to home

based coaches like Stephen Francis and Glen Mills. With this quality sprints coaching available, Jamaican athletes have decided to stay in Jamaica to train. Stephen Francis a Jamaican coach created the MVP (Maximizing Velocity and Power) club in 2001 based in the University of Technology, Kingston. He created the club to keep Jamaican athletes in Jamaica rather than going to train in the US or Canada.

Glen Mills who set up the Racers Track Club has developed the careers of athletes such as Usain Bolt and Daniel Bailey from Antigua. He has guided Bolt to triple Olympic success and also smashing World Records.

What is clear in Jamaica however is that the coach training his high school kids before school can quite easily consult the elite coach for tips, advice and even an eye on what his athletes are doing. This is an extremely beneficial lifecycle for the sport of athletics in the country as inexperienced coaches gain valuable knowledge, young athletes are given the best training and direction available and the talent pool is readily accessible for the top coaches to notice outstanding individuals. Currently in the UK I don‘t believe that the same culture is adopted. With the wealth of sporting experience and coaching knowledge in the UK it‘s a shame that it is so fragmented. Coaches are very much individuals rather than a collective source of knowledge to be shared and used to improve the nation‘s athletic chances as a whole. Maybe this stems from the basis that track and field is an individual sport and therefore helping another coach with knowledge may lead to insecurity about limiting your own athlete‘s advantage against their peers.

Back to the track my first natural question was whether there was an effect on the education of youngsters with such a focused drive on sport? This led me to attend some schools in Kingston and gain an idea of how the Jamaican education system holds its importance. I attended Ardenne High School in Kingston and was fortunate enough to speak to teachers and parents.

Through the Jamaican physical education syllabus and its teachers a great effort has been made and long established in supporting athletes and helping them to stay focused on education. Much like the United States there is a tendency for teachers and coaches alike to monitor educational progress and encourage youngsters to develop scholastically as well as athletically. Instead of attending their early pre-school training sessions; those falling behind on school work or reading have to make up the deficit until their teachers/coaches are satisfied that they are on course for expected grades.

Jamaica‘s track and field program can be seen as second to none even though it is restrained by funding. The program set out by the Jamaican Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) promotes track and field from as early as kindergarten. The journey from primary school level to international competition usually follows a set path.

Annually there is the sport day for all kindergarten and primary schools, high schools and colleges. For these events the students compete among themselves in organized house competitions. Next there are the Parish Inter School Sports competitions much like the County School Athletics competition in the UK. From this event the best youngsters are chosen for the all island sports meets such as The J.T.A. primary and the Boys and Girls Champs for high schools. The foundations for

this were laid in 1910 with Champs, a scholastic sporting event designed to discover and develop the best school sprinters.

Intercollegiate and university sports events all have a special emphasis on providing a fierce and high enough level of competition to keep Jamaican athletes training in Jamaica instead of moving to and performing for other countries like the USA and the UK. At or after this stage of development comes a period of screening where the best are selected to compete on the international stage. Also fortunately, the Caribbean sporting calendar is full of events across all the islands geared towards preparing Caribbean athletes all year round.

In light of the success of the island and the need to sustain the academic levels of young athletes, a number of funds/ scholarships have been developed. The Jamaican charity organization Fastest Nation has created the Jamaican Track Fund and the Fastest Scholarship Grant.

The Track Fund provides grants to select track athletes who show high potential for international success representing Jamaica yet lack major sponsorship to support their training needed to become elite athletes. The Fastest Scholarship Grant provides scholarship opportunities meant to alter the lives of Jamaican boys and girls from disadvantaged economic backgrounds. Those chosen as ―Fastest Scholars‖ receive support in paying all or a portion of their educational expenses at some of Jamaica‘s top schools.

The Jamaican Government has also now established the Herb McKenley Scholarship Fund, with a view to awarding full

scholarships to 100 student athletes over a four-year period to the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport.

Some 50 students will benefit this year, with approximately $9 million already made available through the Sports Development Foundation (S.D.F.) The scholarship will cover full tuition for each stipulated year of the program

Awardees will have to maintain a certain academic standard, which will be determined by the committee, and will have to participate in track and field activities over the life of the scholarship.

Continuing my observation of the Jamaican training sessions I travelled on three occasions to the University Of Technology (UTECH). The thing that hits you most first and foremost is that this is where some of the nation‘s iconic sprinters train on a regular basis yet it consists of a grass track marked with paint. Maybe it is the ignorance of luxury that we have in countries such as the UK but I wouldn‘t have assumed that the top sprint stars known to break world records on synthetic track surfaces around the world would prepare to do so on grass. Watching these sessions is a mind opening experience as it comes back to the simplicity of using what resources you have around you to benefit your progress. I spoke to some sports students at UTECH who emphasized this point. ―In Jamaica there is grass almost everywhere so I guess it means there can‘t ever be any excuse at any point not to get some training done. That‘s the culture. We work really hard wherever we train because it all counts. We see the grass as just as good as anywhere else to train plus you can make

allowances for the times you produce in your training sessions and compare them relatively to what you run on the track. Imagine if you‘re a young kid who just wants to train. You don‘t have to worry about paying money getting in to a fancy stadium when everything you need is right there for free. Running is the main sport you can do almost anywhere without equipment or money so we love it.‖ Watching the training sessions take place on the grass 400 meter track emphasizes this. The sessions are just as technical and professional as you would expect for the standard of athletes who are taking part. It is now becoming clearer that athletic success can be determined by financial resources in some ways but talent, knowledge and coaching ability can most certainly overcome financial barriers. ―At the point where you are an unknown athlete money isn‘t so much a factor. We can do our training sessions and get around to competitions in Jamaica just fine. The main expense a young athlete might have is kit and running shoes. Hardly anyone buys the stuff new other than the top guys. They then hand down what they don‘t use and everyone can get some good kit to train with. I guess money only comes into it when you need to actually start travelling internationally to compete. At that point you either have a training grant or you are working a job to make money for yourself. In terms of physiotherapy or treatment, most of our guys will all see the same physio and we all collectively put money in the pot to make sure he can treat everyone all year round. He teaches us techniques that we can teach the younger kids so that they can give each other a massage at least after training if worst comes to worst.‖

Bahamas

For another island nation, the Bahamas have had notable success in athletics. Since Frank Rutherford‘s bronze medal in the 1992 Olympic Games they have gone on to win three gold, two silvers and two bronzes in different disciplines. They have also been a consistent presence on the podium in both the World indoor and outdoor athletics championships. Most noticeably, the Bahamas has recently become a prevalent force in the youth and junior world rankings in athletics. This is not only exciting for the country but also intriguing to outsiders as their development program is producing huge results. My first stop in the capital Nassau was to meet with the Bahamas Amatuer Association of Athletics to speak about the plans they have put in place to develop the future of the countries athleteics progression.

I met with Head youth coach Peter Pratt, Head strength and conditioning coach and former Olympian Bradley Cooper and former 400m international Tim Munnings. The Bahamas Association of Athletics at the time were preparing the selection of their team for the 2010 Carifta Games, an annual spectical athletics event held only for young athletes from the Caribbean islands. Young athletes who do well here have gone on to usually achieve major athletic success including Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Sherrone Simpson and Bahamians Chris Brown and Leevan Sands. The Carifta Games is there a very serious event in the caribbean calender as it acts as a testing ground for their future stars of athletics. Coach Pratt who is also a school teacher in his day job layed out the clarity of vision that the country has in its youth. ―We are currently preparing for the Carifta Games. One of the biggest events in the sporting lifetime of a youngster from the Caribbean. If you look at the facilities across the whole of the Bahamas there is only one main stadium. Some kids have to travel miles to train here, some coaches have to travel miles to coach athletes here. All we do is use the little that we‘re fortunate enough to have to the best of our ability. Heres a few examples…Rather than putting all the responsibility of coaching talented athletes on individuals, out here we share the responsibility with collective input from as many sources as possible. As long as we all agree on the direction we‘re going in terms of the development of a particular athlete or group we can get the most out of all our knowledge and experience to bring back medals for the Bahamas. Some of it can also come down to common sense and using your surroundings. You don‘t have to go far for great beaches here. When our guys get injured young or old, we go down to the beach and get them doing light jogging

on the sand. This not only provides cardio activity but the instabilty of the sands surface forces the foot to overtime cope with this and improve balance, foot control and overall stability. The resistance that occurs from overcoming this instability also strengthens the joints and ligaments in the ankles. When the guys are young they see it as a light or easy session if we take them down to the beach to train not knowing how beneficial it is as a injury prevention method. Another very useful tool we have is the ocean. After training it is a great idea to jump in the ocean as preventative treatment for muscle aches and strains. It reduces inflammation and aids the healing process of any muscle damage. Whereas we would have nowhere near the funds of our international rivals to throw into private clinics and treatments for our athletes, we do have natural resources, research and knowledge to allow us to cope just fine if not better than our compatriots.‖ This I found very interesting for its simplicity. Back in the UK we now follow a lot of sports science research in our injury preventative methods. We also pay large salaries to biomechanical experts and physiotherapists to oversea treament and rehabilitation of our athletes. This however leads to a gulf in which the best knowledge is not readily available to inexperienced coaches or athletes not based at High Performance Centres. ―Just like the Jamaicans we have limited stadia and infrastructure for training on. So why not use all of the green parks and land around us? Its free for use and just as effective. Over here we believe that its not the stadium you train on, or the clothes you are wearing or the shoes on your feet that create excellence, it‘s

the knowledge of the coaches and the willingness to work to the maximum. I coach athletes week in week out on the grass and even have them doing runs on the track barefooted. When these athletes develop into internationals and go on the international circuit to compete they love running on the modern tracks because it feels like luxury. Most importantly they have fun because they know that if they were running impressive times on the grass or the old track back home they are going to do something special on the synthetically laid ones.What we do is build these kids‘ resilience. Most of the physical attributes elite athletes need are developed in them from a young age. Just the sheer fact that most of them walk to school every morning whether it takes them 10min or 30mins helps as well. Plus pretty much all of these kids in comparison to their counterparts in say Great Britain or the US are from less affluent backgrounds. I have always seen this as a great advantage over your peers as you have a hunger for more and to better your situation. This aspect of things leads onto the mental toughness of our kids who seem to cope so well under competition stress, because they see competition as fun.‖

Coach Peter Pratt (Right)

Seeing coach Pratt at work you get the sense that the talented kids who turn up to train under his guidance do not just train, they all train with purpose. Having a look around the Tony Robinson Stadium this seems to be reflected in all the training groups. Whereas the children are visably enjoying themselves there is an air of professionality about how they are drilled and taken through exercises. It really is not endorsed to them that it is just about the taking part, these children are bred to be as competitive and successful as possible. This is by no means a bad thing as explained to me by Head of strength and conditioning Bradley Cooper. ―When I was a youngster hoping to go the Olympics or the World Championships it was purely in my coaches favour to nurture a focused competitive attitude in me and my peers. We didn‘t train for the sake of it, we trained for the opportunity to match our skills against the other nations in the world and find out who was superior. We adopt this very same way of thinking now. With the youngsters coming up the ranks even those who are not necessarily going to be world beaters we instill in them a sense of competition and pride. I took a sports day just last week and every time I take one I give a speech before the event starts. I say respect your parents first and fullmost and follow their direction. Then respect, listen to and learn from your teachers in school. Do all of you schoolwork and homework to the best of your ability so that once you get the time to play your mind is free to focus on and enjoy the task at hand. Once your step on the track today go for every race, every jump and every throw like its your last opportunity. Show yourself what you are capable of and I‘m sure you will be happily surprised. Talent is God given, hard work generates success.

These are things you would associate with telling teenagers mayber fourteen or fifteen. We tell our youngsters as young as 10 years old so we have a good 10 years to nurture and develop their competitive edge and mentality. By the time they are 14 they are already inspired to want to be the best domestically and want to compete internationally.‖

Members of the Youth Olympic Games team with BAAA officials.

Both Jamaica and the Bahamas went on to do exceptionally well at the 2010 Carifta games. Jamaica dominated the event finishing top of the medal table with 72 medals in total, 37 of which were gold. The Bahamas finished third in the table with 29 medals of which 6 were gold. When you combine this with the recent results at the Youth Olympics in Singapore you can see that the development and progression plan in both countries is very strong and future orientated.

This aspect of youth development must surely be encouraged even further in the UK rather than just having a sole focus on current stars and medal prospects.