REBECCA DELIVERS A CLASS ACT STATESIDE

Trackspeed1 UK’s annual pre-season training camp in the USA sadly left behind a large portion of the squad this year, but a new member of staff is in the process of making it a very worthwhile trip for those who did make the journey!

Physiotherapist Rebecca Webber has proved a huge hit with both athletes and coach.  She is in the process of conducting full screenings of each athlete, and has organised daily clinics to avail treatment or maintenance post-training sessions.

New Trackspeed1 UK physiotherapist,
Rebecca Webber MSc MSCP

The group are based again at the USA National Triathlon Training Centre in Clermont, not far from Orlando, Florida.  They are benefitting this year from the added feature of a brand new track that was laid just weeks ago.

Trackspeed1 UK Head Coach, John Powell, who is leading the group again this year was very enthused by the group’s 2014 set-up:

“Rebecca has proved a big hit,” he said, “and she is very professional and clearly knows her stuff.  We have had the privilege of Dr John Allen in past years – one of the best therapists in the UK – and there was always a danger we could lose out on his expertise, but Rebecca is delivering a very impressive physio’ service indeed.

“The Clermont facility was showing signs of wear last year, so to turn up to a brand new track was an added bonus,” he continued.  “We are only a few days in to the trip so far, but to date things have gone remarkably well.  It’s just such a shame that so many couldn’t afford the trip this year despite a small amount of sponsorship being made available.

“Warm weather training is not only what the term suggests – training in warm weather.  It also avails the opportunity for the group to focus 24/7 on themselves as athletes, and hence improve performance in both training and the one competition we hope to take part in this year later in April.  And so far, that is exactly what they are doing!"

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT JP AND TS1 UK...

As the summer season beckons and the Trackspeed1 UK annual warm weather training camp approaches, Head Coach John Powell has been reflecting on years gone by.  Here are a few facts - not so well known by many…

·      The squad’s first ever sponsor was Fila who stepped in during the early nineties;

·      The squad’s first source of funding was the National Foundation for Sport and the Arts (who took a backward step when the National Lottery emerged);

·      More on funding – the squad’s immensely generous benefactor and Patron, Sir Eddie Kulukundis OBE, bankrolled a huge amount of support to John Powell and his athletes through the nineties before the lottery kicked in;

·      John Powell himself has belonged to three clubs – Herne Hill Harriers where he was Junior Captain, Blackheath Harriers where he founded what was to become the most successful youth scheme in athletics, and Belgrave Harriers where he reformed their youth and junior section, winning the national league in 2000, and for whom he still sits as club Chairman;

·      Educated at Alleyn’s School, Dulwich, John’s athletics career opened up as the establishment’s Cross Country Captain who also skippered then Southwark Borough teams;

·      Numerous coaches have partnered John during his almost four decades now as a coach.  They include the long jump legend Alan Lerwill, sprints coaches Clarence Callendar, Donovan Reid, the late Roger Walters, and others way too many to name here, but several more he met the other side of the Atlantic…

·      USA coaches John has worked with have included the late Paul Turner (Harvard), Brooks Johnson (Florida), Lance Brauman (Florida), Mike Holloway (Florida), Bryan Fetzer (Virginia), Walt Cline (Washington), and a host of others including squad Diagnostic Advisor Gavin Fernandes now based in Sydney, Australia;

·      John’s first ever coaching examination took place at Crystal Palace with a certain Ron Roddan – coach to Linford Christie – in April 1976;

·      In 2012 John was short-listed and interviewed for the position of Head Coach for UK Athletics;

Trackspeed1 UK Head Coach, John Powell

·      Athletics has enabled John to travel the Globe.  He follows his athletes everywhere and has supported them - at personal expense in most cases - in Singapore (first World Youth Olympics '10), Deagu (World Universities '03 and World Championships '11), Melbourne (Commonwealth Youth Games '04), Beijing and Santiago (World Junior Championships '06 & '00), Moscow (European Youth Olympic Trials '10) and numerous other destinations in Europe and beyond;

·      As an athlete (a very modest one, he will hasten to add!) John competed in 100m, 200m, 400m flat and hurdles, 800m, 1500m, steeplechase, cross-country, road running, and 3 marathons!

·      Jamie Quarry was the first Trackspeed1 athlete to win an English Schools title, and his Junior Boys Triple Jump record (1987) stands to this day;

·      One of the most famous athletes to be discovered and schooled by Trackspeed1 for the first 4 years of his career was Phillips Idowu;

·      John was head of security, having designed the security plan, for the Crystal Palace Diamond League event 4 years in a row 2008-11;

·      John has been part of TeamGB at two Olympic Games in 2004 and 2012.  He worked with New South Wales Police prior to Sydney 2000, and was involved in early security planning for London 2012;

·      John Powell has met Her Majesty The Queen three times – as a sixth former at school during her Silver Jubilee, when she presented awards to his new Met-Track scheme in 2005, and on receiving the MBE in 2013;

·      John’s battle with Cancer just over 20 years ago saw him survive the rigors of two relapses, becoming the first patient in London to receive then pioneering treatment that ultimately saved his life through a bone marrow transplant in 1992;

·      John’s daughter Jasmine is the oldest IVF baby in British history (see www.jasmine21.com), and his youngest daughter Jessica confounded consultants by arriving in a somewhat more orthodox manner, much to the shock but utter delight of both parents!

·      John acted as a pundit on Sky Sports during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games;

·      Among some dramatic experiences in his Police career, he helped douse a demonstrator in Whitehall who had set himself alight with petrol, and was running toward the Queen and Government officials on Remembrance Sunday at 11am.  He was one of the first on scene at the Poll Tax riots in Trafalgar Square, and he had a giant flower pot rammed over his head outside the Royal Exchange during a large 'Stop the City' demonstration in 1984!!;

·      Of all the international standard athletes moving to other coaches against John’s wishes over the past 3 decades, only four have ever improved.  Interestingly their surnames involve the initials M, B and E !

SPEEDY FAWWAZ IMPRESSES AT THE PALACE

Trackspeed1 UK's English Schools international Fawwaz Okunola made a brief appearance on the indoor circuit on Wednesday (29th January) and sped past the best Crystal Palace could offer.

Fawwaz Okunola - knocked the opposition for six at Crystal Palace!

His closest rival in an indoor sprints meeting at his home track was training partner Kieran Daly, who ended up the day's number two amid a healthy field of both age-group and senior athletes taking part.

Fawwaz clocked a lifetime best 6.79s over 60 metres amid gasps from the onlooking crowd, with Kieran a strong second in 6.87 - his second fastest of the winter.

It was the fastest time of the Palace sprints series so far this season, and gave coach Joh Powell every justification for rushing back from Vienna to watch, after chaperoning an England team in the Wien international.

"That was a terrific performance," said John, "and one well worth watching.  Kieran ran well too, but identified some definite areas we need to look at, so we know for a fact he can go a lot faster, so it was really encouraging all round."

Fawwaz is now ranked 16th in the United Kingdom amid all athletes, and is the fifth fastest under-20, although he is by far the fastest born in 1997 or later, making him an exciting prospect as a potential international in the future.  Kieran is ranked 27th of nearly 1200 male athletes in the UK this year.

Trackspeed1 UK athletes by and large have opted out of the indoor season, but the signs are that preparations for outdoors are going well.  "We have a pretty diverse profile this time round," said John.  "We have a Ugandan international who is tuning up very well, and another permanent visitor from Trinidad and Tobago, not to mention an Italian Junior International."

ENGLAND CALLS FOR COACH WHILE TS1 GRAFT AWAY!

Trackspeed1 UK Head Coach John Powell has been selected as one of the coaching staff to the England team competing in an indoor international in Vienna this Tuesday.

Coaching or managing national teams of course is nothing completely new to John, but nevertheless he was delighted to get included again, especially after the challenging last few months to a year or so, where Trackspeed1 UK's profile has altered considerably.

Trackspeed1 UK Head Coach, John Powell, will fly to Vienna
with an England indoor team.

Meanwhile, his squad have largely opted to bypass the indoor competitive programme.  Although their coach has insisted they adopt a speed-based january whether competing or not, all the signs are that there will be one or two names that prove to be 'dark horses' during the 2014 summer.

Kieran Daly has been training very impressively, and duly produced a huge personal best 60 metre effort of 6.84s at Sutton in early January, and one or two of his training partners are likely to stretch their legs simply to see where they are at, during an open meeting at Crystal Palace.

The England selection for John proved a welcome boost to a coach who has enjoyed little support from on high since the 2012 London Olympics:

"I was delighted to be on the team," said John, "I'm one of the old school who still believes it to be quite an honour, and there isn't an international I've ever been to where I haven't either learned something new, or at least enjoyed some really fascinating networking with coaches from other countries.

"The group are going well in the most part this year.  there are a few whose commitment has fallen way short of what it takes, and I think they know whoi they are, but that is a personal choice.  The recent addition of Josh Swaray has been an inspiration to the younger athletes, and a challenge for me again to ensure an athlete delivers at the very top level of British sprinting."

NEW YEAR PROMISES MUCH DESPITE PALACE FLOODS!

The flooding of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre's indoor track - both during Christmas week, and just after New Year, has not deterred Trackspeed1 UK athletes from soaring into 2014 with a determined resolve!

"It was a bit of a blow to say the least," said Head Coach John Powell, "to arrive for training after Christmas to find three quarters of the indoor facility under water.  Warming up outside is far from ideal, let alone at this time of year when we aim to be speeding up.

"For so many years now we have asked for the leaky roof to be fixed, but nothing happens.  The conditions this year were exceptional, and a lot of rain water came in under the shutters which can't be helped. 

"The whole scenario simply highlights the need to invest in Crystal Palace properly which, with the budget held by current tenants 'Better' isn't going to happen.  Luckily for us we arrived to train in the morning wen there were rare blue skies and sunshine, so it wasn't so bad."

Despite the issues at the Palace, the addition of England international sprinter Josh Swaray has already been an inspiration to some of the younger set in the squad, and he has already had a personal boost with a ninth-place ranking published in the 2013 100m merit rankings for the UK. 

Josh appears ahead of established British internationals Deji Tobais, Greg Cackett and former Trackspeed1 UK sprinter James Ellington, and it is the first year he has made the published top 12..

Among the younger athletes, Fred Afrifa spent Boxing Day and the ensuing days with the Italian national squad for their youth training camp.

"We're cautiously optimistic this year," said John.  "We didn't have a great 2013 which has been the sole blip in a sensational last few years for Trackspeed1 UK, and with the bunch of athletes we have now, I think there will be one or two dark horses emerge this summer!"

Crystal Palace indoor track was unusable last week
due to flooding following heavy rain.

CHRISTMAS CHEER AS SWARAY JOINS THE PARTY!

Trackspeed1 UK sprinters have been beavering away at the gutsy Autumn training schedule this last few weeks, but as the festive season beckons, there are two very positive developments as they head toward 2014.

First, the heavy duty sessions that traditionally prove to be the bane of a sprinter's life in the autumn months rapidly convert to speed as the indoor season opens, and second, international sprinter Josh Swaray has begun training under TS1 UK coach John Powell.

Swaray, who clocked a lifetime best 10.20 in the summer, lifts the bar in the squad significantly, and even in the early few sessions his presence is proving a real motivator for his younger compatriots.

"I've known Josh a long time, because he's coached for my Met-Track programme , but I have always also admired him from a distance as a sprinter," said Trackspeed1 UK Head Coach, John Powell.

"In my mind Josh has more in the tank than his 10.20, and I only hope we can tease that out of him.  He will be great for the group, especially for the juniors to look up to, but also a great training partner for the likes of Kieran Daly, and English Schools international Fawwaz Okunola, whose potential certainly matches that of Josh.

"The winter has gone well so far for the majority.  I'm not going to name names at this stage as it would be unfair to put people under pressure, but they know who they are - just the same as those who haven't quite put in the work - they know they have to up their game if 2014 is to bring them success."

The year has ended for John in the most spectacular fashion possible with the birth of another daughter, Jessica Anne, on 27th November.  Having moved house 3 weeks earlier too, he will be looking forward to a little more stability as the New Year dawns!

POWELL HONOURED AT THE PALACE

Trackspeed1 UK Head Coach, John Powell, received his MBE from Her Majesty The Queen today in an investiture ceremony conducted at Buckingham Palace.  He described the experience as "one of the proudest days of my life."

John Powell with his MBE at Buckingham Palace today

John, who learned of the impending Honour back in May this year for 'Services to Athletics', attended the event along with his wife, Chanphen, mother Ellen, and the person responsible for the nomination in the first place, former junior international sprinter, Jason Hussain.

As if the day wasn't memorable enough, special permission was granted for his daughter Jasmine (19 months), escorted by God Mother Lucy Eggleton, to access the inner courtyard at the Palace for the official photo-calls afterwards.

"That made it all the more exceptional," said John.  Everything is a blur when your name is announced and you walk up to Her Majesty to receive your medal, but afterwards in the Courtyard it was really quite emotional, especially when I saw Jasmine standing there.

"It was an amazing event, obviously very well conducted.  My short conversation with The Queen centred around coaching and the Met-Track scheme.  She actually presented the medals after our first season, when visiting Bexley Borough, where I was serving as a Police Superintendent in 2005.

"I know there must have been a fair bit of support shown for the original nomination, so I can only send out my warmest and most sincere gratitude to anyone involved, especially of course Jason who put the whole thing together. 

"Today was a truly humbling experience that I will never ever forget."

After savouring the experience today, John will land back on terra firma on Saturday as Trackspeed1 UK reconvene for day one of winter training!

"We have a decent group of athletes this year after a bit of a dip this last season, so I am looking forward to getting back into the groove with stopwatch and clip-board," he warned.

NEW TECHNICAL CONSULTANT SIGNS FOR TS1

Trackspeed1 UK have gained a priceless new partner in Technical Consultant, Walt Cline, one of the leading sources of expertise on technique in sport in the US.

Walt Cline is a Sport Science Coach and Consultant to developmental, scholastic, collegiate, and professional athletes, corporations, and military populations in the USA.  Walt's professional training and licensing has allowed him to work with athletes and individuals at every level from youth to professional.  

"I met Walt at UVA (University of Virginia, Charlottesville) and it was clear from the off that he is very passionate about sport, coaching, and possesses a massive depth of technical knowledge," said TS1 Chief Coach, John Powell.

"Even though he may be a few miles away, modern day technology can bring him over to our own front door.  He represents a fantastic source of advice for anyone in Trackspeed1 UK, not least myself, to bounce ideas off, or simply share issues with with a view to finding solutions.  I really hope some of our folks take advantage of what is surely a unique potential learning experience."

Walt has 17 years' experience coordinating and developing programming as a consultant, teacher, coach and subject matter expert to sports programs in youth, developmental, scholastic, collegiate and professional settings - in John's words, he represents "...almost the ideal source of consultancy anyone could wish for."

Trackspeed1 UK's international approach to recruiting the widest and most diverse sources of advice and ideas around training was dealt a further boost after John expanded the association with UVA Head Coach Bryan Fetzer, who willingly moved into the role of Performance Consultant from Training Advisor.

"All this may seem a little heady at first," said John, "but when we all report back for squad training on October 12, I will make sure everyone is clear on just what this represents for them as members of the group."

Asked why he didn't recruit sources of expertise nearer home, John explained: 

"There is a wealth of knowledge here in the UK, and there have been some terrific positive steps toward coach development, especially through the National Coach Development Programme, but ultimately a lot of the expertise is limited to elite athletes.  Sadly there are risks when your athlete starts talking to other coaching regimes locally too."

Walt Cline - new Trackspeed1 UK Technical Consultant.
See http://h2ksports.com/ for his full profile and website.

 

STATESIDE HOOK-UPS PROMISE MUCH FOR TS1

Trackspeed1 UK Chief Coach, John Powell's Stateside visit landed him in the State of Virginia this week, and he had very quickly recruited a wealth of expertise for the squad over the coming year.

After revisiting his old stomping ground at Harvard University, Boston, the hook-up with Virginia's Chief Track and Field coach, Bryan Fetzer (formerly at Harvard) paid dividends.

Details will appear on this blog very soon, but with links continuing at Harvard, and a Washington DC-based coach already buying into links with Trackspeed1, John was already very excited about the potential for his athletes in 2013/14 and on.

"We have a wealth of expertise in the UK, but if you limit the range of your knowledge to your own shores it is a very naive strategy indeed.  I have learned so much from my links in the US over the years, and this summer's trip has extended the potential to develop and learn still further.

"It's potential links for the athletes, most importantly, as well as the coaching staff in the squad," he continued, "and I believe that puts us in a very unique position indeed.  I hope to elaborate very soon."

Trackspeed1 UK regroup as a squad for training on October 12th - two days after John visits Buckingham Palace to collect his MBE from The Queen!

POWELL APOLOGISES AFTER ELLINGTON'S SLATING

Trackspeed1 UK coach John Powell has issued a public apology to James Ellington for holding him back in his sprinting career.  The 27-year-old told the world's media he had not realised he had been subjected to a "young programme" which was "clearly not world class" during his world championship interview with the BBC.

"I can only apologise to James for holding him back," said Powell, " and I must also apologise to the dozens of other internationals who have developed with Trackspeed1 that I did not push them on to coaches possessing magic wands in the past.

"I am devastated that an athlete who I have supported through thick and thin, and probably saved his career on at least 2 occasions, believes that he has been subjected to an inferior training programme.

"To all those athletes who feel they have been held back, I unreservedly apologise.  To the coaches who have 'rescued' athletes from my squad in the past - I now see you were absolutely right.  What more can I say - you are clearly far superior to me.

"I am away on holiday visiting family in the Far East right now and have only heard about James's feelings being aired through numerous messages prompted by his comments.  What can I say - I am truly gutted."