Comm Games

This blog is more for me to look back on and relive making my first major games team as a coach.

It was great. Awesome result and everything I hoped it would be like being deeply involved in a major games camp. The team was tight and well run. Athletes close. Coaches worked hard and that showed in the results. I am super proud of my selection into the team and proud of the work I did that got me there. There’s a certain feeling about an event like this and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s hard to describe in writing to be honest and I wish I could let it all flow out.

Being there for the athletes in such a high pressure environment is perhaps the biggest thing to absorb. They only have a couple of shots at these moments. You have to make sure it is all running along seamlessly by sticking to the process without thinking of the race itself. Session by session and day by day you take the team along towards the event.

We had a diverse team. Athletes at all different points of their journey.

The whole team was very tight. I saw nothing but a well oiled machine that was supportive yet driven for success. A sign of the times perhaps that we are entering a new phase. The athletes never left each other’s sides. They were very tight. I felt there was a really nice balance between being well prepared but staying relaxed.

On the daily, our routine was train in the mornings and the afternoons. Some work was done on course, we went to the pool almost daily, and afternoons were mostly spent on a quiet local road working away at transitions, bike efforts and running either pre-race efforts or aerobic runs. I managed to get lost a few times driving around and made a joke of it in the end. A great way to break some ice is to put crap on yourself ;) After a while the crew took over and made sure they were in charge of Google Maps when I got behind the wheel.

Meals were great. Everyone switched tables around a lot and spent quality time just chatting to each other. Really relaxed and a big contributor to success in my view. Before dinner we would have a Para athlete meeting to establish the next day’s schedule. After dinner would be a staff meeting also to discuss the next day. Simple but effective well executed team management.

Now it’s back to the grind. I love the grind. Success leads to further success. I know this from deep experience. Athletes are sometimes left with a feeling of what next but I can guarantee that once the dust settles you are left higher up the ladder and able to go to even higher levels.

Here’s a few pics that hopefully describe some of the “moments” that you remember as being special.

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