2010 USOC Blog
Ms. Estony Hattingh, Botswana Judo Federation, 9 November 2010
Today was the last day of the ICECP class of 2010 participants together in the USA. It is amazing how quickly six weeks can go by when you have the company of great people. We entered this course as strangers and now we depart as friends. It was an emotional day. It was the last day for everyone to present their final project presentations. One of the presentations that stood out was Arilson Soares da Silva. At the end of his project presentation he had an amazing array of photo's and video's on visualization and knowing that if you believe it, if you can see it, you can achieve it, a true inspiration for us all.
Our day ended on a very special note, we all went to dinner where the participants were each handed a course photo. The ICECP Class of 2010 handed a gift to each of the six organizers of the course, Dr. Matt Robinson, Carolina Bayon, Jeff Schnieder, Regina Hartman, Steven Amster and Dan Trimble. The gifts that were handed to the members was symbolic of the class of 2010. The gift was a globe and it shows that although we are from so many separate countries and continents we are all still from one world. As coaches united together we can change the world.
On that note I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who was part of making this ICECP course a reality for us the coaches and believing in our dreams. If it were not for you we would never have had an opportunity like this and for some of us it is a "once in a life time opportunity".
To my fellow friends, classmates and coaches I leave you with my wish for you:
My Wish for You ICECP Friends
I wish you happiness -
The kind that's deep within your soul
and shines through your eyes.
I wish you serenity
and a sense of perspective
that calms you and lends you understanding
in the most difficult times.
I wish you success
in every facet of your life;
Satisfaction and contentment
in everything you do.
I wish you dreams
with the promise of their fulfillment;
a lifetime of extraordinary memories
and a path which leads to beautiful tomorrows.
Above all I wish you could see
What a difference you make in my life
and how grateful I am to know you.
So after all is said and done and we are all a million miles apart, I can only say that this is not farewell but take care until we next meet again.
Mr. Sidi Boedi Darma, Indonesian Athletics Federation, 4 November 2010
The importance of the tapering phase is preparation. Coach Joe I. Vigil explained how to reach ultimate performance right before competition. The decrease of volume and frequency in training, up to 50%-70%, as well as bringing the intensity to highest level can reverse the training induced fatique without loss of training adaptations to best condition of the athlete. This method has prevented athletes from over-training. Attention must be given to the length of taper between event to event. It also depends on the athlete’s physiological character. The enzymatic and hormonal changes that occurs in tapering phase are decreasing of Creatine Kinase, Cortisol production, level of protein catabolism and increasing of oxydative enzymes as well as MAT. Testosterone (and its ratio to Cortisol) supports greater energy levels and facilitation of anabolism, which improves running economy, power output of the athletes.
Coach Genadijus Sokolovas showed us how the rate of physical adaptation in aerobic and anaerobic energy zone training are best methods to guide the training development. These two kinds of adaptation rates must be used properly in every phase of training to gain the highest value of performance enhancement. The adaptation rate can be developed through continuous testing of maximum volume or intensity that athletes could achieve in every training phase (from where the S form graphical rate development are drawn). This is best method to prevent an athlete from over-training is bring them to the best physiological and psychological condition. He showed us that the rate of physical adaptation of younger athletes is higher than older athletes. Boys have faster rate of adaptation than girl in the same age.
Not to be forgotten are the pre game administrative “dirty” works. They prepare all supportive conditions that the athletes need to reach their best performance. The different kinds of conditions in competition place are: “last training possibilities”, food, accomodation, pre competition activities etc. They are all non technical training aspects that support physical as well as psychological preparedness. These activities are planned far before competition and need secure finances as well as manpower to make it happen effectively.
Ms. Nargis Anny, Bangladesh National Swimmming Federation, 3 November 2010
It’s a nice day. I woke up at 6.00 a.m. and started my daily routine. I went to breakfast and it was really good and healthy. After that I went to our classroom for our lectures. The lectures of the day were very useful to me. We spent all morning talking about sport psychology which is a very interesting topic for our sports. At lunch time, I used the library to find books. I also went to the Medical Center and observed the treadmills and scientific equipment. After the lectures, I went back to my room and refreshed. I observed the swimming pool in this Olympic Traioning Center and it was a high standard for training. Once I left the pool, I ate dinner now am planning to play pool.
I want to thank all the teachers, the U.S. Olympic Committee and special thanks to Carolina Bayon, for taking care of me.
Ms. Tien Ying Liaw, Chinese Taipei Judo Federation, 2 November 2010
It was a very exciting night. We, the international coaches, had friendly competition tonight in the gymnasium. We decided to play table tennis. Not many of the coaches had much experience playing this sport besides Aaron and Khalique. One can only imagine how fun it was. The Judo coaches swung at the tiny ping pong ball as if it were Jugogi. The Weightlifting coaches lifted the rackets like a bar, and basketball coaches were not use to playing with that small of a ball. The Taekwondo coach showed off his skills by kicking the ball with his legs. Some of the coaches never played table tennis before but most importantly "We all had fun". This is the message we want to pass around in sport: “To make people happy.”
Mr. Ratnatilaka Bandara Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka, 30 October 2010
Our ICECP group had two hour time period to give our apprenticeship presentations. There were presentations from each sporting group. After that we were guided to visit Manitou Springs to see the Emma Crawford Races by Miss. Regina and Mr. Dan. The experience was joyful. The crowd gathered in the city to view the races. Most of the people dressed with various costumes like animals, masks, and some are with colored hair. There was no age limit for this event. Many older men and women dressed in costumes. This race was held for groups. All the groups had decorated coffins and the participants also dressed with costumes. They pushed the coffins and ran on the road to the end line. Everybody was celebrating the day happily with unity. Afterwards we came back to our residence through the down town. After dinner Uros helped me update my lap top. Thanks to the staff of ICECP for your guidance.
Some pictures of the day!!
Mr. Dejan Pejinovic, Serbian Swimming Federation and Serbian Olympic Committee, 28 October 2010
After two weeks of practice, in the two clubs, the second module of this excellent program came to a close. Today's flight to Colorado went well. After 5 hours of travel from Philadelphia to Colorado Springs (with a stop in Denver) we were at the final destination of our program. I met my good friend from Serbia at the Denver airport. He will spend the next three days in Colorado with the USA swimming camps. He works with selected swimmers under sixteen years old. He also coaches four selected swimmers from North Coast Aquatics. I think we will have a couple good days to catch up about everything. We are finally reunited with our old new friends from the ICECP. They were all in a good mood and the atmosphere was refreshing. There were many stories about our experiences with the apprenticeship. The Olympic Training Center Complex is probably the best training facility, located in high altitude, in the world. The weather was nice and provided unexpected warm and sunny weather. I think we will have fun here during the next two weeks.
The best two weeks of our program was with United States Swimming. The apprenticeship was dynamic because we traveled to two places for our practices. Our first destination was in Baltimore, Maryland with the NBAC swimming club. The club is the home of the greatest athlete ever, Michael Phelps, who won eight gold medals in the last summer games. The second site was Germantown Academy. The apprenticeship allowed us to have access to the legendary coach, Richard Shoulberg. This was a great experience and I learned lot of new aspects about coaching philosophies.
