MEDAL MAKERS 5
I ndividual athlete plans, competition plans for the year, psychology, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning. The list of tailored coaching and advice given to the British Para team is extensive. And impressive.
With UK Sport boosting their funding from £ 3million to £ 3.5m for the next four years, the challenge is for the players and staff to do everything possible to rake in even more medals at Tokyo in 2020.
‘ Once players arrive with us we add a lot to their training,’ begins Shaun Marples, Pathway Manager at British Para TT and a key piece of the elite level set-up, linking as he does the grass – roots with the international.
Having previously worked as a regional development manager, Marples is in the ideal position to compare the attention given to players at a local level with the support they get at British Para TT. It’ s a vast gulf.
‘ The coaching sessions themselves are much more tailored towards an individual’ s game. Martin Perry for example, one of our Class 6 athletes, is an amputee on both arms, so he doesn’ t have wrist functionality.
‘ He’ s also a leg amputee from the knee so he uses a prosthetic leg. Working with Table Tennis Scotland, we were able to find Martin some support that would benefit his performance. He has a fantastic level of support back home that helps him with his prosthesis. It then took time for us to position the prosthetics so that they’ d help his performance both in training and at international competitions.
‘ The key thing is working in partnership with his coach back home in Glasgow. Before he moved down to Sheffield, we looked at different exercises he could do that would benefit his class, and built his athlete plan to balance training, competition, and rest periods.’
More important than the physical resources available at the elite level is the time, focus and experience of the six-strong non-playing staff.
‘ The coaches have a great knowledge of the international game, which is really important in terms of understanding what a particular class looks and plays like around the world,’ explains Marples.
‘ Billy Shilton for example, who is Class 8, gets access to the knowledge of the coaches and also has two teammates who are Class 8 and have valuable international experience in winning major medals.
‘ The athletes are in an environment here where they get that access on a daily basis – they are here