Athletics 20 - The Road to Munich (1968)

St. Nicholas has often been described as a "good Athletics School". I have never shared this opinion. I regard St. Nicholas as a good Rugby School which keeps itself fit between seasons by doing Athletics. The success which the School achieves within these limitations is obtained because it measures itself against other schools doing much the same thing.

It follows that individual athletes who are developed by such a system can never reach their full potential. Year after year we send boys to the All-England Championships, hoping that they will do well but knowing that they will be competing for medals against others with a full winter's training behind them, many of whom are already under the guidance of Arca and even National coaches.

One remedy to the situation is to join a local club - not any club but one which is going to help. Remember, it is the easiest thing in the world to join a club but extremely difficult to leave it and join another. Find out what facilities are available for your event. If you are a hurdler or a steeplechaser or a polevaulter, does the club cater for you in their competitions? What facilities are there for serious winter training? Is there any coaching available? You don't need John le Masurier, but just one or two senior athletes who are experienced in your event and are willing to lend a hand. Lastly, and most important, is the club interested in what it can do for you rather than what you can do for it? If it is, it deserves your loyalty and support.

Joining a good club will inevitably solve another difficulty from which School athletes suffer - a lack of awareness of standards and, consequent on this, a lack of ambition. How many of you approach a season with a specific target in mind in terms of time, height and distance? How many know what they must do to achieve an AAA Grade Standard or an English Schools Standard or an A.A.A 5-star award? My guess is that it would be very few.

By the time this article is read, at Christmas, some of the winter season will already have passed but, fortunately, not the most important part. There will still be four months before the track season starts and a great deal can be done in that time. The School will be trying to help in a limited way by arranging, in conjunction with other local schools, regular coaching sessions throughout the winter at Southall; by holding regular training sessions throughout the Easter holidays; and by participating in one or two Spring meetings to demonstrate to certain people how unfit they really are.

The main responsibility, however, rests with the individual. If you don't do well next year, it will be your fault. You can help yourself immediately in two ways: firstly, by joining that club; and secondly, by badgering the P.E. staff, even in the midst of their January and February involvement with rugby, to get things going earlier than usual.

The road to Munich starts here!

P. J. CAHILL