competition structures: learning from the southern hemisphere martyn rothwell ... · 2014-09-17 ·...
TRANSCRIPT
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust 2011
Competition Structures: Learning from the Southern Hemisphere
Martyn Rothwell
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1, 2
New Zealand – The land of ‘mana’ and ‘wairua’ ......................................................................................... 3, 4
Wairua .................................................................................................................................................. 4, 5, 6
Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) ............................................................................................... 7, 8
Alternative Competition – The kids just want to play ............................................................................. 9, 10
The sport culture ................................................................................................................................... 10, 11
Australia – Science and the mental edge ....................................................................................................... 11
Creating the creative ............................................................................................................................. 12, 13
Meeting Ric and Sid in the capital ................................................................................................... 13, 14, 15
Location effect ............................................................................................................................................ 16
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………17
So what? ........................................................................................................................................................ 18
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the WCMT for giving me a fantastic opportunity. To Lynn and Bob for welcoming me into their home
and family, and helping me to settle in. The AUT gang Tony, Skate, Kirsten and John thanks for all the
information and knowledge. Thanks to Dean, Rikki and Doug at the Warriors, they have some stars in the
making. Andy Rogers at Greater Auckland Coaching Unit, what a guy, keep up the good work. Dwayne and
Simon at New Zealand Soccer, keep leading the way and innovating. Dan Floyd at New Zealand Rugby League,
thanks for your time and sharing your ideas. Thanks to Moony, for giving me an insight into a powerful
coaching tool.
Thanks to Lee Wharton, I’m still laughing at your antics and I hope to see you in the UK soon. Ian Renshaw at
QUT, your words of wisdom have helped me to understand. David Bannister and Brad Donald at Queensland
Rugby League, thanks for taking the time out to help me with my investigations. Dan Kerr for stepping up and
proving that it’s not game over at 23, keep it up mate.
Jeremy Hickmans and Luke Ellis thanks for sharing. Thanks to Ric and Sid, great characters and always
innovating.
The Wilsons, thanks for taking me into your home and making me feel welcome. Keep enjoying life, you
deserve it. Thanks to the Rugby Football League and in particular Julia Lee and David Butler for agreeing to my
leave of absence.
And last but most importantly thanks to Sarah and Jasmine for sacrificing so much to let me take up the offer
of the Winston Churchill Fellowship. You were dearly missed.
1.0 Introduction
I have had a lifelong interest in sport, I was always kicking a football around the back garden pretending to be
a professional footballer or bowling any small ball against the shed like the West Indies fast bowlers of the late
1970’s and dominant 80’s. Honing skills that later in life would give me an enjoyable career in amateur Rugby
League and after that a motivation to keep fit through regular physical activity.
This love of playing sport was also matched with an obsession to watch any sporting event on TV or go to
watch the local professional football team. The first memories of watching sport on the TV are of the 1984 Los
Angeles Olympics and the 1986 Mexico World Cup. It appeared England or Great Britain failing at major
tournaments was the norm and no one seemed surprised, not at least the media with their usual back page
assassination of players, athletes and coaches. I remember watching in amazement as the skilful Brazilians
passed a ball around as if it were a yoyo and breezing past players with a flick of the foot or swerve of the hips,
or the All Blacks playing with flair and excitement to score tries that I only wished the England team could
score.
This disappointment of the national team failing at major sporting tournaments of all kinds has continued
throughout my adult life. At the time of writing this, England Rugby Union stuttered their way through a world
cup eventually losing to France. There has been the odd success and moment of magic, such as England lifting
the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and Linford Christie cruising to 100m glory in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Still we
did not see the domination on a world level like the Brazilian football team or the Australian and New Zealand
rugby teams.
This led me to wonder why we do not challenge on a world level, we are a country who has social parallels
with other nations who compete and dominate on an international level. We are a country who even in this
current financial climate are considered wealthy, have a leading health care system, have easy access to most
mainstream sports and sports that are well funded. Perhaps more significant is the easy access to the majority
of sports and an apparent pathway into a professional career or playing the game at the highest level. As I
developed a better understanding of sport and player development through my professional career, my
curiosity moved away from why we don’t succeed at an international level. The answer to this question has
many considerations and factors that make it unrealistic to try and answer across a diverse range of sports. My
curiosity was now with the question why do we not produce skilful world class decision makers in invasion ball
sports.
I’m almost certain this question will cause some debate but do we really produce players who are comparable
to some of the best in invasion ball sports? This is a subjective point of view of course and without
sophisticated software packages it is hard to evidence. However, observational analysis would suggest that we
do not produce players of this level who make correct decisions under extreme pressure in big game
situations, decisions in big games that win World Cups. When in the company of sports fans I always ask who
they think is the best footballer or rugby player in the world, similar responses are common. Most state Lionel
Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Cesc Fabregas as the best footballers or Dan Carter, Jonathon Thurston and Benji
Marshall as the best rugby players. Not once have I heard a British player named, this is a very unscientific
exercise of course and what does “best” mean? However, I think it’s fair to say that the players mentioned play
with flair, excitement and skill attributes that sports fans want to see, and attributes that win big tournaments.
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In a recent Guardian article, Andy Wilson commented on English rugby league: “for more than a decade, since
the heyday of Martin Offiah, Great Britain and more recently England have been worthy plodders of
international Rugby League, capable of securing the odd victory through a resolute pack, but lacking the
attacking firepower to match the sparkling talent from the Southern Hemisphere out wide”.
Chris Waddle had a passionate rant after England’s 4 – 1 loss to Germany and subsequent exit from the 2010
Football World Cup: “the FA just sit on their backside and do nothing after tournament after tournament, why
don’t they listen and look at other countries and say how do they keep producing talent. We coach it out of
them, I’m telling you we coach talent out of players. Look at Steven Gerard and Wayne Rooney who haven’t
turned up in this tournament, Steve Gerard has been half decent, where do we go from here. Where’s our plan
B, we haven’t got one, they say we have pacey wingers no we haven’t, we haven’t got players who can run, the
back four can’t pass it or control it we lack so many ideas it’s frustrating and all the money in our league it’s
frightening and all we do is waste it on rubbish ideas”.
It would appear that English teams do sometimes lack real flare and excitement, perhaps they are hardworking
and tough but when competing against the best in the world that doesn’t always cut it. Thinking back to the
days of Paul Gascoigne, George Best and Ellery Hanley players who would excite the nation, where are these
sorts of players today? All these players came through an era when sports were newly professional and not
financially or scientifically comparable with the professional sports’ standards of today. Interestingly most
major sports in the UK now are armed with the latest sport science, medical teams and coaches on multi
pound contracts but the skilful players of yesteryear appear to be a dying breed.
I first heard about the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (WCMT) whilst attending a coaching workshop
delivered by 1992 Winston Churchill Fellow Rod Thorpe. Rod had visited New Zealand and Australia nearly 20
years ago to look into Aussie Sports and Kiwi Sports. These were approaches designed to give children in
Australia and New Zealand more appropriate sport experiences, through discussions with Rod it became
apparent that maybe an alternative approach to coaching and competition could enhance the development of
young people and elite athletes. I was intrigued by this and immediately set about conducting some further
research through reading academic papers, recommended books and contacting coaches and academics who
were involved in sport in New Zealand and Australia. After several months of research it was very clear that
some innovative practice was happening, albeit in small pockets across both countries. Equipped with this
information I set about submitting an application to the WCMT to look into alternative competition structures
and to visit coaching academics to establish the impact they had on developing talent.
During my visit to the Southern Hemisphere I spent time with a Rugby League World Cup winning player,
academics who lead the way in developing policy and coaching interventions, performance and community
coaches, undergraduate and postgraduate students, a professional rugby coach who spent time coaching in UK
premiership rugby, I observed young kids playing a range of sports and visited a skill acquisition expert. All
these experiences helped me to gain a greater understanding of sport in New Zealand and Australia and
perhaps an understanding of why invasion sport athletes in the two southern hemisphere countries are
regarded as some of the best in the world.
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2.0 New Zealand – The land of ‘Mana’ and ‘Wairua’
I arrived in New Zealand on a rainy morning in July. My first observation was the laid back and relaxed
atmosphere, people didn’t seem in a rush to get anywhere and the traffic was nonexistent compared to the
UK. On the drive to Lynn and Bob’s (my hosts for the first few days) house I noticed the large amount of
sporting facilities and the idyllic scenes, my first impressions of the country were good even though I was
struggling with jet lag.
It soon became apparent that New Zealand is a country with great culture and strength, it was also noticeable
that the country had an incredibly rich and dynamic history in Maori culture. I was immediately aware of the
Maori language as the vast majority of place names are of Maori origin. At first, I was puzzled by the seemingly
impossible to pronounce names, after a few goes I started to get to grips with some of the places I would be
frequently visiting. I soon realised that Maori has a logical structure, and, unlike English, has very consistent
rules of pronunciation.
The culture of its indigenous Maori people affects all New Zealanders, and recently there has been a push to
reintroduce the language into schools through the national curriculum. The most recognised tradition today is
the Haka which is a war dance. The Haka was performed before the onset of war by the Maori last century, but
has been immortalized by both of New Zealand's rugby codes the All Blacks, who perform this dance before
every game. Other Maori traditions that are very noticeable to visitors are the welcome called a Powhiri (that
involves a Hongi which is a greeting that involves pressing noses as opposed to a kiss) and the Moko (full faced
tattoos), which I found very hard not to stare at. I spoke to a lady who had a Moko, and she informed me that
it still lived on and that young Maori were encouraged to receive the Moko in an effort to preserve and
connect with their culture and identity.
What was also noticeable in the first few days of me being there was that New Zealand was a country
passionate about sport from grassroots participation to elite performance. People were constantly talking
about the forthcoming Rugby World Cup, it was common place on the news, commentators discussing player
selection, tactics and who would pose the biggest threat to New Zealand lifting the cup. It would also be
common place to see young children playing rugby, basketball or soccer in the park or on green space. For a
nation of 4 million people it is quite remarkable the amount of sporting success they achieve, the table below
indicates the country’s success on the international stage.
Sport Competition
Men’s Rugby Union Tri nations – 10 times winners
World Cup – 2 times winners
Women’s Rugby Union World Cup – 4 times winners
Women’s Rugby League World Cup – 3 times winners
Men’s Rugby League Tri / 4 nations – 2 times winners
World Cup – 1 times winners
Netball World Championships – 4 times winners (7 second
places)
Commonwealth games – 2 Gold’s, 2 Silvers
3
Whilst in New Zealand I had some incredible experiences and got an insight into performance pathways,
coaching interventions, sport at a community level and the culture of sport and physical activity. Over the next
few pages I will give you an insight into my experiences and lessons learnt. Please read it with an open mind, it
is not my intention to say what is right or wrong but to share my experiences with you.
2.1 Wairua
“The culture is something that is there all the time, when nobody is looking” Moony
Although this might not have a direct impact on developing skilful players I thought it was an area too
important to exclude from the report. Wairua is the Maori word for spirit or soul, in a sporting context it
relates to team culture. There was a real understanding and appreciation of team culture with everybody I
came into contact with, from the undergraduate and postgraduate students to the coaches in performance
pathways and at community clubs, and perhaps most significantly an ex All Black’s captain who had been part
of an explicit team culture process that he believed won them the world cup. Team culture is something I’ve
heard about but perhaps have never knowingly experienced it first hand; perhaps all the media around the
England soccer team in the 2010 world cup might indicate a poor team culture. In a recent Times article Rugby
Correspondent Stephen Jones wrote about the leaked player evaluation of 2011 World Cup campaign, a
campaign that went horribly wrong on many accounts. Commenting on the leaked information he said “The
team culture was revealed to fragmented, ill-disciplined, childish, graceless”. The more I came into contact
with people involved in sport in New Zealand the more it became apparent that “Team Culture” was an
essential part of being in a team, and for a team to be successful.
One Saturday morning I visited Victoria Park to watch some local Rugby League, it was no different to the UK.
The same coaches, spectators and officials were present just with different faces and accents. One noticeable
difference was the physical stature of the Polynesian kids and the respect they had for the opposition’s players
and spectators. Over the course of the morning I must have watched eight games, at every game I observed
similar pre and post match rituals. Pre match, the teams would perform a sort of dance with chanting, all
teams had a different routine and used different dialogue. It was similar to the Haka that is famous with the
New Zealand rugby teams, and the meaning of the rituals I witnessed was to welcome the opposition and wish
them good luck. Post match, both teams would form one long line and approach the opposition’s coaches and
spectators to thank and applaud them for their support. The pre and post match rituals were examples of
team culture in process, although it was a lot more complex and deeper than what I had witnessed.
To get a better understanding of Team Culture I interviewed a lecturer at Auckland University of Technology
who had a research interest in the area. He explained about his sporting past where he had been involved with
teams that wanted to play for each other and teams that didn’t have any real team spirit. He also had second
hand experience of a well-known Premiership Rugby Union team that had employed the services of a company
to specifically embed team culture into the club through delivering a very explicit process. He started by
explaining to me his first experiences of a dysfunctional team where players did not work or “give physically”
for each other. He also explained the good experiences he had of teams that had players who wanted to play
for each other, where players felt a real sense of belonging for the environment and each other. These
experiences ignited his interest in the area which led to him taking some further and in depth research.
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The whole notion of team culture was a very interesting one, a process whereby players develop a vision and
values for the team and where the athletes are at the centre of the model. These important values then drive
behaviours and facilitate behaviour change to improve performance. The whole process must be consistently
allocated time to work effectively. It is easy to see why this approach could be a challenge for a traditional
coach, letting go of responsibility and handing it over to the players or athletes. Now I had a better
understanding of team culture it was obvious why so many teams appear to be dysfunctional, especially teams
rich with talented players. Two other pertinent points I gained from the interview was how detrimental using
the process is if it isn’t followed through and how skilled coaches must be to use the approach effectively.
From my observations of the Polynesian culture it was clear that morals and values are a big part of it. Could
this be a reason why the whole idea of team culture is more obvious and readily accepted and valued in New
Zealand? Although I had some knowledge of what a quality team culture meant prior to my visit to New
Zealand, my experiences really opened my eyes to its power and probably highlighted how ignorant I was to
the real meaning of it.
The most powerful Team Culture experience I had whilst
in New Zealand was with Papatoetoe Rugby Union Club
and a very interesting character called Moony. Moony
was an ex teacher who had years of coaching experience
in amateur and professional sport, he had spent time in
England coaching Bristol in the top flight league of
English Rugby and had experience of coaching grass
roots and in representative environments. He had
worked with a number of young players in New Zealand
during his teaching days who were now playing
professionally, perhaps the most high profile player he
had a significant impact on was Keven Mealamu the
current All Blacks hooker, as Keven was a pupil of
Moony’s whilst in secondary school.
The previous year Moony had agreed to coach Papatoetoe who were at the time a struggling team who lay at
the bottom of the table, had poor discipline, lacked structure and guidance and were in desperate need of
some strong leadership. Moony immediately set about developing a team culture, this took priority over
everything else including field based sessions. Local veterans of the team were brought in to speak to the
players and this started the process of developing a team culture. In one season with the same players,
facilities and finances the team went from finishing bottom to third in the league.
Moony explained that the first step in getting the culture right is to identify a leadership group to establish and
grow the culture. This was done on their preseason camp through players and coach selection, 11 players were
selected from a squad of 45. All had their own area of responsibility to lead on, Mooney strategically placed
certain players into specific roles to improve the effectiveness of the team and to help the individual grow and
develop. Players had to write their own role descriptions for their area of responsibility, once Mooney had
signed these off players went live with their roles. Examples of the leadership areas are;
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Young players
How we train
How we play the game
Sponsors
Life members
Dress
Values
Entertainment
Alcohol protocols
Ambition
A good example of a player leading on one of the above areas was the responsibility Timau (a very talented
player) had around alcohol, Moony explained; “Timau was a piss head but a very talented player who had
played for Samoa, he was slowly wasting his talent and was also a negative influence on some of the players.
He set the standard of no drinking before games and after the game if we were going to have a couple of drinks
it was up to him. It just made him responsible and the rest of the leaders would look to him and if he thought
the team could have a few drinks on the bus on the way home it was up to him. It was up to him to say when
enough was enough or not enough, so when we did or didn’t. So it wasn’t the coaches saying no to drinking it
was the leaders. Timau was a real loose unit but the responsibility tightened him up and he might even play in
the world cup”.
The Team Culture within Papatoetoe was so powerful
that the players named it “Papatoetoeism”. The team
dedicated time to it every week to ensure the team
was on task and challenged each other when
behaviours were not being adhered to. It really was an
amazing experience but appeared a lot deeper and
more in depth than I observed or have explained. I also
met people in New Zealand who thought that team
culture didn’t require an explicit process but should be
lived everyday by the coaches and players, resulting in
a high quality environment. On reflection I’ve probably
experienced good and bad team culture, any success I
had in amateur sport was accompanied with a quality
environment and players who worked for each. I have also experienced the other side of team culture, poor
attitudes to training, players criticising the coach in an open forum and a big blame culture, these experiences
have always been associated with poor performances and unhappy teams.
Pictures: First team squad during a team culture meeting and Papatoetoe Rugby Football Club Training venue
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2.2 Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) and a sharing nation
“Teaching kids how to tackle is a problem of perception and not a problem of technique, not just how to
tackle but when to tackle, human bodies are very good at adapting to environmental conditions” Tony
Oldham
I wanted to talk about TGFU in my report because I think my experiences of it in New Zealand highlighted a
culture of innovation and openness to new ideas, perhaps an approach that was one of the reasons for the
country being so successful as a sporting nation. TGfU is a coaching approach born out of Loughborough in
England, it was created by Rod Thorpe and David Bunker in the 1980’s. The TGfU approach to teaching and
coaching games and sport was proposed as an alternative to the technique approach because it was noted
that techniques practiced in isolation did not transfer to the game. In addition Thorpe and Bunker observed
that “games teaching shows at best, a series of highly structured lessons leaning heavily on the teaching of
techniques, or at worst lessons which rely on the children themselves to sustain interest in the game”. The
TGfU approach was proposed as a way of putting the WHY of a game before the HOW.
My first experience of TGfU was with a group of undergraduate students at Auckland University of Technology
(AUT). The group were taking part in a sharing best practice exercise, working in groups to present their
coaching issues to each other and then sharing similar experiences to identify ways to resolve the issues. A
common theme would be how to motivate young participants or how best to improve the skills required to
play the sport. Time and again students would advise each other on using a TGfU approach. The students’
knowledge of the approach was impressive but perhaps more significantly was their perseverance when using
the intervention. Anecdotes would be shared of when the approach didn’t work but after reflection and
evaluation of the session adjustments were made which subsequently developed the coaches’ working
knowledge and experience of the intervention. When chatting to one student he said that he liked using TGfU
because the kids enjoyed the sessions, when questioning him further he said “motivation equals more training
hours away from the traditional training sessions”, I thought wow what a smart kid. The determination
demonstrated in using the intervention and the belief in the effectiveness of the approach highlighted a
resilient and ingenious attitude to coaching, if these kids are to be the next generation of coaches in the
country then New Zealand sport will be in a good place in years to come.
Another significant observation I made in New Zealand was the inclusion of ‘Learning Framework’ in coach
education (this was a common theme during my visit to NZ and Australia). TGfU and the Constraints Led
approach were in several sports coach education programmes, a key to creating a culture of coaches who have
a philosophy of participants or athletes as learners. This philosophy immediately gives the coach the problem
of how he or she is going to design sessions to give participants the best chance of learning and not as in so
many cases the problem of what content is going to be delivered. The people who were responsible for
managing and developing the coach education programmes had strong links with academia and worked
together in developing programmes not only in content but in the best way of delivering the programme.
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Somebody who was responsible for driving the use of
TGfU in a community sport setting was a charismatic
man called Andy Rogers. I spent three days at Greater
Auckland Coaching Unit (GACU) with Andy getting a feel
for the work he did and looking into the programmes
that they had developed. GACU’s theme was
“Connecting Coaches”, and they were responsible for
running a national mentoring programme that involved
project groups at a national level, where elite national
coaches would mentor talented up and coming coaches.
GACU were also responsible for driving the TGfU
movement within community sport, this movement is
highly significant on many fronts and highlights a national sporting structure that is committed to change and
innovation in order to continually strive for excellence. The open mindedness I experienced in trying new
things from inexperienced and experienced coaches, administrators, players and people in professional sport
was perhaps another reason why a small country was so successful a sport.
However the work of GACU in rolling out TGfU in the community setting did encounter some issues. Coaching
workshops or seminars did not appear to be working in changing the behaviour of coaches, and coaching
officers and coach educators openly discussed the challenge in connecting with hearts and minds to change
behaviour. They also highlighted how inexperienced coaches struggle with the complexity of using such
approaches, one coach educator told me “coaches come on a six hour workshop and we expect them to retain
information and go way and use it, this just doesn’t happen in the real world. The best ways to get coaches to
change behaviour is to observe and mentor them over weeks or even months in using a new approach, and
that’s if they want to change”.
Although issues might be present in developing coaches I think the important factor is that on a strategic level
there are many change agents who are continually pushing a consistent message. Whilst in Auckland I
experienced a range of organisations, academics, community and performance coaches and key figures who
championed interventions such as TGfU and the constraints approach, with these people consistently
promoting the movement change will eventually happen.
http://www.gacu.co.nz/
Picture: Undergraduate students at Auckland University of Technology, I delivered a TGFU session to the
group.
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2.3 Alternative Competition - The kids just want to play
One of the main areas I wanted to look at whilst in New Zealand was sports who engaged in alternative forms
of their game during competition. These alternative forms of competition were designed to be fun, motivating
and more conducive to skill and decision making development. The common denominator when interviewing
coaches and development officers who were involved in developing these programmes was that the sport
must be fun and motivating to ensure continued participation. When observing these sports it was noticeable
that coaches simply facilitated game play and didn’t shout from the touch lines giving numerous instructions.
Player’s visibly created order through their own learning; this simple strategy gave the young players
ownership of the game and clearly increased enjoyment levels and the competition itself was valued as a key
learning opportunity. It isn’t surprising that New Zealand were so successful at invasion sports, young people
regularly engage in games as described below developing decision making, movement skills, coordination and
passing, catching and kicking skills from an early age and through fun games.
Another observation I made through this alternative approach was what happened during training or practice
sessions. Traditionally some coaches coach teams regardless of age to produce a result on the weekend, when
the kids attended weekly training sessions for the sports discussed below they would turn up and play the
game. Rarely did I see lots of instruction, demotivated kids or boring sessions. This way of delivering sport was
a great way for kids to enjoy sport and develop, coaches seemed to be comfortable to let go and let the kids
play, they didn’t feel the need to demonstrate their knowledge of the game through correcting every fault or
talking for long periods. This appeared to be a very effective coaching approach.
V Ball
V Ball is an adaptation of netball designed to increase time on task and give participants role rotation of the
positions within the game. Teams have reduced numbers and are not constrained by areas as in the full
international game. Speaking to a postgraduate student who was involved with the programme she explained
that V Ball was designed to “develop better players for the international game” and the real challenge in skill
acquisition is in “designing small sided modified games to reflect the long term skills required for the elite
game rather than short term skills”. The game certainly appeared to challenge participants’ all round skills. I
observed kids running, changing direction, passing and catching and shooting, these actions were repeated
lots of times in shorts bursts. It provided participants more involvement opportunities than the full
international game that I also observed, and the difference was very noticeable.
Turbo Touch
Turbo Touch was a game I heard about prior to arriving in New Zealand, the game is fast and explosive but
simple to play and attracts players of all abilities. The game is an invasion game using a rugby ball and is a
mixture of netball and rugby. The attacking team has two plays to score and then hands the ball over. I took
part in a game with a group of AUT students, it was certainly fast and furious and the amount of information to
be processed during game play is very high. Again I made a similar observation as with V Ball around coach
behaviour when watching school sessions, that coaches would turn up and facilitate the game and traditional
coaching did not apply. Game play implicitly teaches participants the value of keeping the ball and how
important it is to create opportunities with limited possession, key principles of play to invasion sports. All
these skills and behaviours were learnt through playing the game. A great example of the game can be seen on
the following clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOmFcD4zN6k
Turbo Touch Website http://www.turbotouch.co.nz/index.php?id=194
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New Zealand Soccer
One of the most inspiring experiences I had in New Zealand was when I got an in depth look into New Zealand
Soccer’s alternative competition format. I spent a day with Dwayne Woolliams who explained their new
approach to developing young people through soccer. The governing body was a very forward thinking
organisation who championed change and innovation. Dwayne showed me the Football in Schools Programme
which had two strands, Football Literacy and Let’s Play. The two strands were very similar to programmes I had
seen in the UK with games a key focus with global and specific learning intentions. The emphasis was on
problem solving and how to play the games, and through the games participants would develop physical,
mental, technical, tactical, game understanding and social skills. Interestingly the Let’s Play programme
outcome was “To engage children in more unstructured self-guided play to promote and develop players with
game intelligence”. This was a similar theme to many sports that I came into contact with on my journey.
The real exciting part to the new programme was the competition format that the governing body had
introduced in the community game. Up to age 12 full size pitches and 11 a side matches had stopped, as is the
case with most countries. However the alternative was not just standard 5 v 5 small sided games but a range
of carefully designed games each with its own implicit outcome. Full size football pitches were divided into six
smaller pitches, on each smaller pitch teams would play a 4v4 format for a set period and then move to the
next pitch (with different rules and outcomes) to play again. Teams didn’t have coaches but parent leaders
who would ensure the efficient running of the games and all the administration duties on the day. Results did
not matter and no leagues were published, the main focus was clearly on development.
It was good to see a governing body driving change and trying things differently, however the changes did
come at a cost. New Zealand Soccer ran education sessions for parents, coaches and administrators prior to
rolling out the new initiative; this was to ensure a clear and consistent message was delivered as to the
rationale behind the change. The messages and correct information had not reached everybody and this
caused issues when rolling out the new competition format. Dwanye informed me that some parents had
removed their children from the sport because they felt the competition did not resemble the 11 a side game
and was ‘pointless’ and not ‘worth the effort’. This was disappointing and highlighted the importance of
educating the right people and getting them onside. However despite some unhappy parents I felt the steps
New Zealand soccer were taking in developing meaningful competition were exciting and a step in the right
direction.
2.4 The Sport Culture
One of the best experiences I had in New Zealand was the obvious culture of sport, whether this was informal
or formal sport in structured or unstructured settings. It appeared that everybody had some interest in sport
whether as a spectator or participant. There was a real sense of community about the whole sport experience,
this was highlighted when I visited Victoria Park to watch rugby league, where brothers and sisters, aunties
and uncles, mums and dads and grandparents attended to show their support. Perhaps the most memorable
experience I had that highlighted community spirit and a strong sport culture was in Whangarei, a city
surrounded by rural suburbs in the North Island with a population of about 50,000. I was in Whangarei to
observe a weekly netball event, and when I arrived at the venue at 0800 people were already arriving for the
day’s activities. Throughout the day approximately 2000 people were involved, whether it be playing,
spectating or officiating. Players as young as five and as old as 60 took part in some form of netball and size,
shape, ability and results didn’t seem to matter. Some took it seriously, others just wanted to have fun but the
important factor was that sport was being used as a vehicle for people to come together and socialise.
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Within school physical education and sport children experience lots of different sports and participate up to
five hours a week in the school setting. Even when school children move into the final years of high school they
still access the five hours. It was interesting to watch school kids of all ages engaging in free play through
various game types, learning innate skills that transfer across many sports and that would give them the skills
to confidently play most sports. The school also had a strong community focus and many clubs played out of
the school facility, who were normally serviced by the kids who attended the school. This was a very smart way
of attracting kids into playing new sports through a familiar and comfortable environment, rather than asking
them to step into a new environment in the form of a community club. Teachers were flexible with the
talented kids and would carefully timetable after school clubs to avoid clashes enabling kids to access a range
of activities and sports, there was an appreciation of the child who seemed to be at the centre of sport in the
school setting.
Another by-product of the sport culture was the seemingly common practice of late specialisation. I got the
chance to run a focus group with a group of players who were part of a rugby league performance squad,
some were contracted to a professional club and were paid a small wage. The purpose of the focus group was
to get a feel for the players’ sporting journey from an infant to the present day, trying to establish any
significant information about what coaching practice and competition the young men were exposed to
growing up. As I dug further I was amazed to discover that the majority of the group (about 15) still played
competitive basketball, many of them were 19 or 20 and were aiming for a full time professional contract with
the rugby league club the following season. This multi-sport approach was uncommon and from my
experiences and I had never experienced it before, compared to sport in the UK where its common place for
talented kids as young as eight to spend most of their adolescent years engaged heavily in one sport. Late
specialisation was very common across many sports and perhaps even more significant was the coaches and
clubs acceptance of this practice.
2.5 New Zealand key findings
1. The power of team culture in driving performance and the importance of it in New Zealand culture.
2. How driven some academics, sport administrators and key figures in sport are to changing current coaching
practice and to instigate and champion change.
3. Alternative forms of competition that are being used in New Zealand with the outcome of developing
players, and the importance of using research to support the new approach.
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3.0 Australia – Science and the mental edge
Having visited Australia before, I was aware of what to expect: a bit livelier than New Zealand with more going
on. My first stop was Brisbane (Queensland), and my host in Brisbane was a lecturer at Queensland University
of Technology (QUT) called Lee Wharton (Wharto). Wharto was a great guy who had been involved in coaching
rugby league for 20 years. His academic specialisation was coaching, with a particular focus on expertise in
coaching, specifically looking at what makes an expert and how to develop expert coaches. My time with him
was a fantastic experience and an eye opener to other coaching methods. Wharto also had contacts all over
Queensland which he used to arrange meetings, interviews and observations that took me on an informative
journey. Somebody else I met at QUT was Ian Renshaw, who had completed extensive research around
something called the “Constraints Led Approach” to coaching. A coaching approach that was very different to
traditional methods adopted by many coaches and sports, and an approach that was considered essential to
skill acquisition and to developing decision making.
After Brisbane I took the short flight to Sydney (New South Wales). Sydney was the final leg of my trip but my
enthusiasm was still high and I was excited by the prospect of some of the meetings I had planned in the final
week. For the final week of my trip I was staying in Manly with a great family called the Wilsons, a great
location and great company. During the week I visited the Australian Institute of Sport, several National Rugby
League clubs, staff at the Australian Rugby League and I also got to spend time with a rugby league coach who
is considered the best ever by many coaches, players and commentators in the game. The next few pages
explain my time in Australia and hopefully highlight some of the informative experiences that I had. Again
please read it with an open mind, as the purpose of it is to simply share my experiences and not state what is
right or wrong.
3.1 Creating the creative
“The best players who have played our game have all learnt to play in the backyard” Brad Donald
In Brisbane I spent some time with Brad Donald who worked at the Queensland Rugby League as a
Development Manager. Brad had time in the game coaching and playing and had worked in development for
11 years. Over this time Brad had observed that kids and elite players of rugby league were bored of
traditional coaching methods and players of all abilities were being constrained by this approach. There was
also some concern that the Australian version of mini and mod rugby league (for players up to the age of 11)
had constrained players so much that the game was no longer producing elite players in key positions.
Brad explained that in elite rugby league in Australia there is a real shift away from drill based practice and
small sided games are used as the main vehicle to deliver coaching sessions through situational learning. There
has also been a push to change the coaching approach in schools. The sport had observed that pupils were not
enjoying traditional sessions and within a class only a few pupils would be motivated or benefit from the
session leaving the majority de-motivated and not enjoying the physical activity. There was also a concern
across Australia that kids were not playing backyard sport anymore. The technology culture was common
across Australia like most developed countries, with kids choosing to spend time on a computer over playing
sport. Many sports were developing backyard programmes to reintroduce free play back into children’s daily
routines.
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Brad gave me an insight into rugby league’s programme and what the governing body was trying to achieve
from it, the new approach was called ‘Backyard League’: “The game gets more out of it because when our
development officers go to schools which is a big part of our programme at grassroots, the kids walk away
having played the game (rugby league) or a form of the game. What we wanted the kids to do is learn to play
the game so when they went away they could play the game anywhere, at the bus stop, school yard or in the
garden. The problem was that footy has been banned here (in some school yards) for the past 10 or 15 years
because kids tackle and get hurt, so we wanted to try and reintroduce footy. So with this programme we give
away footys, week one we get them to a point where they’re scoring tries and beating a defender, week two
we get them playing games against each other and let them know that one on one is a game of footy or two on
two or whatever, that is backyard footy. Then we walk away and the teachers run it, we leave them with a bag
of footys and four markers and say listen it’s just like a lunch time duty. Just put down the markers chuck them
a footy and let them negotiate (the rules) and just sit up on the hill and watch them”.
When I observed Backyard League in action teachers would hand over the equipment bag and kids would run
off to a spot on the school field and just play. When speaking to one teacher she said “Creating motivation for
the sport is just as important as creating skills because we want them to practice away from the school
environment”. It was clear to see that the high school kids were enjoying the games, probably because they
were free to play how they wanted. In one particular session a kid consistently scored very easily because of
his superior athletic ability, after he scored a third try his team decided that he could no longer score which led
to him creating opportunities for the other players in the team. This was great to see, the players managed the
rules themselves and adapted on the run, always thinking of different ways to change the rules or score points.
As I watched more and more Backyard footy in action it was clear to see the role of the game, the game gave
participants the opportunity to develop in varying conditions that allowed them to develop unique skills. It also
had softer consequences than in a formal setting, both physically and mentally. For example if a player didn’t
make a pass or tackle he or she wouldn’t be judged or criticised by an overbearing coach, nor would their way
of doing things (passing or tackling for example) be changed perhaps making the experience boring and not
engaging. When reflecting on this way of introducing rugby league to young people it was easy to understand
how the role of the formal game may de-motivate interest in the game in general. This approach was no
different to how I used to play the majority of my sport growing up over 25 years ago, had things really
changed that much?
3.2 Meeting Ric and Sid in the capital
Whilst staying in Sydney I made the three hour drive over to Canberra to visit the Australian Institute of Sport
(AIS), where I had arranged to meet Richard Shuttleworth (Ric). Ric works for the AIS as a Skill Acquisition
Specialist working directly with sports coaches to ‘conduct applied scientific research into elite and sub-elite
sport and explore innovative strategies and technology to enhance learning and performance’. From our
meeting I could sense that Ric was a champion of chaos coaching and the constraints led approach, these
approaches were a common theme throughout his work at the AIS, and he had a firm belief that coaching
should be to ‘facilitate a learning experience’. Ric also spent time educating coaches across a number of sports,
particularly looking at traditional coaching methods and the constraints they placed on performers. He would
discuss the impact that years of structured coaching would have on young performers and the barrier it
presented to decision making, from my time in Australia it appeared that this was a major worry to certain
figures in rugby league.
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Time and again Ric would highlight the importance of ‘Learning Framework’ and advocated the use of it in
coach education to help coaches understand the stages that a performer might go through. Through this work
he was also working with key figures in Australian rugby league to help better shape developmental pathways
and to better equip the coaches on these programmes to understand how people/athletes learn. A key to this
was using a problem based approach to coaching where open game play would be used to shape behaviour
and magnify the problem, coaches would then identify rules and conditions (constraints) to implement that
would help solve the problem. This approach was very different to traditional coaching methods and was
anticipated that it would help develop better decision makers and reduced ‘robotising’ coaches and players.
Whilst in Canberra we got onto the topic of Technique v Outcome, a common debate amongst coaches. Ric
offered some commentary on his thoughts around the debate: “So it’s like a passing technique if you’re going
to keep doing this (passing action) in a drill, your just drilling it and you’re not thinking why you’re doing it,
because you’ve isolated the problem into a closed situation and the problem is your over there and I need to
pass to you and there’s a guy coming quickly. The goal now isn’t getting it to you at the right time, the goal
now is the way I do it and that’s irrelevant. So I think you’ve got to have a hierarchy of what are the outcomes
and what are the goals in a situation, and the reason why Wayne Bennett is so good is that he doesn’t work on
technique but the timing of your pass. But that’s not to say technique work is out the window, say if I had a
problem getting the ball to you under pressure. Then it’s born and it emerges out of a situation, tradition does
it the other way where you put everything together (techniques) and you end up with the game. There is little
transfer under pressure through doing it this way, you see players struggling to adapt when under pressure
because they’ve only every practiced one solution to the problem through the drill”.
Another good experience I had during my visit to Canberra was meeting a fascinating character called Sid. Sid
had years of experience coaching rugby league, this was very evident through the conversation we had and the
anecdotes he offered about teams and players from years gone by. Perhaps more significantly he had great
knowledge and experience of using non traditional coaching and learning strategies.
Sid had spent time coaching at one of the National Rugby Leagues (NRL)
under 20s teams, a very prestigious coaching and playing environment
which historically has proved a pathway through to coaching and playing
in the NRL. Sid’s approach to coaching an under 20’s team in the local
Canberra competition was very unorthodox and could be considered by
traditionalists as not coaching or even reckless. A strategy of causing
chaos, due to the team being over reliant on instruction, which would
lead to self-organisation, was implemented through what would appear
to be chaotic and disorganised environment.
An example of this was turning up to the first training session with no
apparent session plan or idea of a session goal or outcome. Sid
approached the playing field, addressed the players and then threw a
ball onto the pitch and shouted “just play”. This was obviously met with
a confused response from the players who didn’t know what to do,
probably as a result of not being put in this position before. The approach understandably led to lots of
questions from players, a usual response from Sid would be “I don’t know you sort it out!!” Similar adaptations
of this approach continued throughout the season with interesting results.
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Eventually this approach led to the players creating their own order and systems and order was formed as a
result of the chaos. Players had developed consequences for lateness, non attendance and other actions
considered not conducive to the team culture and performance. Players were also responsible for selecting the
team and would justify their selection to the playing group.
A great example of the athlete centred environment and how comfortable Sid was with totally letting go of the
team was the day just before the semi-finals. Sid used the excuse that his battery was flat, this led him to
turning up late, he arrived at half time and because he hadn’t had the chance to inform the players of his
lateness prior to his arrival he was ordered by the players to sit in the stand because of his late arrival. Happy
with their decision Sid proceeded to watch the game in the stand. The players had warmed themselves up and
were well ahead when Sid arrived and ultimately won the game.
You probably wouldn’t find this approach on any coaching course or see it used in a performance
environment. Coaches are under pressure to get results and under these pressures coaches normally go back
to what they know best and coach teams through a very coach centred approach. In Sid’s case he was
summoned to meet with senior management on several occasions to explain his approach and on several
occasions he was nearly removed from the coaching position. Understandably it would take a very confident
and secure coach to adopt this way of coaching, but are the results more powerful and effective?
So what was Sid’s rationale behind enabling the players to have ownership and responsibility for their
environment? Sid kindly offered some commentary on his experiences and approach: “I first began to adopt
this approach when I went to play professionally in the Brisbane competition in 1985. I was instructed by the
coach that as I was a front rower if I wanted to run the ball it would need to be on the first 3 tackles and I was
not to pass the ball just “stick to the game plan”. This game plan centred approach made me feel de-motivated
and lacking ownership for my performance. I felt that even though I was a front rower I was capable of passing
the ball a short distance if a defender rushed out of the line and left a hole for my support runners to run into.
As a consequence of these instructions I saw that I no longer had support runners and the other forwards were
‘merely doing a hit up; to position our backs to attack’.
As I began coaching I discovered that coaches felt that they needed to be the “expert” and instruct their players
as to what to do. I feel that it is quite strange that a coach confidently predicts the oppositions movements and
reactions at the last training run before a game, which could be up to 48 hours before the contest in some
cases, and then instructs his players what to do and when.
I am not against game plans but feel that players that can identify what is happening in the moment and make
decisions based on the opposition’s actions can add great value to a good game plan. My reason for adopting
such an approach that Martyn has described was to firstly create players that can adapt to different situations
and solve problems and then put a game plan for specific opposition in to place”.
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3.3 Location effect
Whilst on my travels I got talking to a number of rugby league enthusiasts, who would tell me who they
thought would win the Grand Final and the next State of Origin Series (both major rugby league events in
Australia, equal to the soccer Premiership decider in the UK or England playing a six nations decider at
Twickenham). On one occasion I got chatting to a guy who was probably in his 70’s, he was a Queensland
supporter and had in depth knowledge of lots of NRL players which he demonstrated by telling me the
background of players who currently played in the Queensland State of Origin team who were currently on a
major winning streak against their counterparts New South Wales. At the time I didn’t realise the significance
of the conversation we had but on reflection I realised that the majority of the players who the guy got excited
about were born and raised in the country, in remote towns or cities across Australia. In Australia this is
actually a phenomenon called the ‘Location Effect’ or ‘Wagga Effect’.
The ‘Wagga Effect’ is a phrase used by the Australian Institute of Sport to describe the disproportionately high
number of elite sports men and women who come from regional cities. A study by researcher Dr Damien
Farrow confirms the existence of the phenomenon, which concluded sports stars are more likely to be born
and raised in a regional centre like Wagga Wagga than a big city. Dr Farrow reasoned children from smaller
towns have more space to play, are exposed to many different sports, and because competition is limited, will
often participate alongside adults. With so many high-profile sportspeople originating from Wagga Wagga, it's
also believed many children are motivated to follow in their heroes’ footsteps. Famous sports people born and
raised in Wagga Wagga include Wayne Carey, Paul Kelly, Michael Slater, Peter Sterling and the Mortimer and
Daniher brothers (very famous athletes in Australia).
This phenomena supported anecdotes, theories and opinions I had come across in both New Zealand and
Australia around transfer across sports and the value of kids engaging in free play. In both countries what is
apparent with some of the top athletes and decision makers is that they have played many sports from an
early age, and in many cases the adolescent years have been spent unsupervised and without coaching. The
Queensland Cup in Australia has seen many of the current Australian rugby league team come through its
ranks, interestingly due to the geographical spread of Queensland many of the players in it have not accessed
a performance pathway and their first taste of semi-professional sport is the Queensland cup. The competition
offers the perfect environment to prepare athletes for professional sport, and equally significant is that some
of the athletes coming into the competition have had many years in the phenomenon that is the location
effect.
3.4 Australia key findings
1. The importance of free play in the development of creative players and decision makers and how the
Backyard League programme is key to reintroducing this.
2. How essential learning framework is in coach education programmes, and the importance of using this
approach to enhance the effectiveness of coaches.
3. The importance of the formative years in an athlete’s career, and ways in which this could improve the
development of players in sport.
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5.0 Conclusion
When setting out on the Winston Churchill Fellowship I had the specific question of ‘Do alternative approaches
to coaching and competition structures enhance the development of young people and elite athletes?’
In this fast moving world it is clear that there is less opportunity for kids to participate in unstructured outdoor
play, the landscape has drastically changed over the past 30 years. School yards are no longer breeding
grounds for soccer, rugby or netball players and clearly out of school activity has also lost its appeal. I believe
this is one of the main reasons for the demise of world class decision makers in UK sport, but what can be
done about it?
Although I didn’t see evidence and research of alternative competition formats enhancing player and talent
development, I do firmly believe that the experiences young people get in the formative years have a
significant influence on their future performance levels. Opinions from key people in Australia around the
rugby league mini and mod competition constraining young performers so much that the elite game was no
longer seeing a wealth of players in key positions and indeed highly effective decision makers, might highlight
the importance of creating the right competition environment for the young. Another essential component to
creating the right competition environment is to educate coaches around the importance of player
development over preparing a team for the weekend competition; observation of this approach normally
offers long periods of inactivity and a constraining environment. However, unfortunately sport appears to be
awash with coaches who have different agendas based on league tables and results.
To further support this, the examples given around the power of the location effect on the development of
elite players and the recent developments of the Backyard League programme, could suggest the value of
letting young performers just play without coaching intervention or as in many cases coaching interference.
My time in Canberra highlighted how much of a negative and positive impact coaches can have on an athlete’s
career, and the value in promoting learning framework before technical or tactical content. The games based
approach is clearly a valued coaching intervention in New Zealand and Australia and this is accompanied by
coaches who create the right learning environment over a coach centred approach and over bearing adults.
Although the TGfU approach lacks theoretical basis anecdotal evidence and slowly research is starting to
support the intervention, furthermore the function of TGfU does fit the constraints led approach which is
becoming more popular in Australia through the introduction of Skill Acquisition experts.
All my experiences would point towards the value of competition and coaching interventions being
appropriate and motivating and how important it is to get them right. I didn’t experience wholesale
differences to the UK across both countries, but the small differences were significant ones and ones that
would ensure they stay one step ahead of the game. Of course change can only occur when key people see the
value in it and can influence the change. New Zealand and Australia seem to have personnel in key positions
that are consistently driving change for the better, perhaps a reason why they continue to lead the way in
some invasion sports.
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6.0 So what?
So what have I done since my return to the UK? It would have been a waste of time if I wasn’t going to use the
experiences and knowledge gained on my visit to the southern hemisphere. The five actions below are
currently underway or have been planned for 2012.
1. Introduced new coaching interventions on the Midlands Rugby League Scholarship programme for players
aged 14 to 16. This has engaged with 48 players and six volunteer coaches.
2. In March 2012 the Midlands Rugby League Service Area programme will launch, the programme’s outcomes
lead the delivery of the programme but lessons learnt will be implemented onto the programme. Coaches will
have a remit of ensuring the kids on the programme develop a love of the game through carefully designed
games that will motivate and develop the players involved. This will engage with up to 180 players and 12
volunteer coaches.
3. Changes will be made to the Midlands Youth League game format, these will be done to increase time on
task and role rotation giving participants more opportunities to develop. A key to this is the education of
parents, players and coaches.
4. The 2012 Midlands Community Rugby League Coaches CPD programme will have some of the content in this
report on the agenda. The eight coaches on this programme engage with approximately 800 children
throughout the academic year.
5. Dialogue with the people I met will be maintained which will hopefully lead to specialists visiting the UK to
share information and shape developments around coaching and developing players.
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