David Riley

If you travel through large Airports or Shopping Malls, the option usually exists for you to either use an escalator or an elevator to move from one level to the other. Escalators take up more space, they move a bit slower, and takes a while for you to get to the top top. I want to suggest, that the transition of our Elite Juniors to being successful Seniors is more like the escalator experience. It takes time, patience and a plan.

The current restrictions on non-contact sports is really a playing out of the national prejudice that exists towards people who play sports. There is this idea that sports is unimportant and such error is woven within the fabric of the society and is also institutionalized.

If this was a multiple choice quiz, most persons would go with the choice that says “Both” because it seems like the most sensible answer. But in real terms and working with real people, the seemingly simple answer of developing both strengths and weaknesses may prove to be a huge task that will require a lot of time and patience for both athlete and coach. Time might not be something that the coach may have a lot of, as it will depend on what the weaknesses are and when in the season they were identified.

Every so often you might hear a discussion in coaching circles as to whether a...