In triathlon we often perceive our sport as individual. No doubt the individual drive and dedication that age group and professional athletes display goes a long way to providing success, but it takes the wider circle of support services to truly achieve our goals and be happy in the sport.
Last week I started my journey to the next level of coaching on the Triathlon Australia Performance Coaching course at the Australian Institute of Sport. During this week a lot of our development was geared towards reflection of our current practices in our daily training environment. It was in this space that I was able to keep reminding myself of the wonderful support services I have available to keep me healthy, motivated and striving to be a better triathlete and coach. While at the AIS and in the presence of Australia's High Performance coaches and AOIS staff, it only exemplified the importance of these teams to create a winning environment for age groupers and professionals.
In my community we have access to the best support services. Some of these are long time associations with the Balmoral Triathlon Club, which is where I started my triathlon pursuits. Some have come through being part of the Energy Link Coaching Team and others are relationships I have forged during my more recent years in the sport. Either way if your looking to succeed, be forthcoming in using the best knowledge available to you.
As an age group or youth athlete, your local triathlon club and triathlon coaches are the best place to start, and often they have already have good networks in place. In addition to this physiotherapy, equipment services, strength and conditioning, family and friends all play a big role in an athletes daily training environment. It's important to take advantage of these services to give yourself the opportunity to achieve your goals.
I continue to work on strong relationships with these services and their input in my goals provides me with added motivation for continued success.
My tips to create a winning team:
- Evaluate what services you currently have in your daily training environment and areas which could be utilised to improve performance.
- Identify who are the industry leaders in your community and get involved!
- Align yourself with like minded, passionate people who share your values and goals in the sport.
- Be yourself and seek services that will provide you with a better preparation in your race build up and on race day.
- Give back to your team and community by recognising the valuable work that the support services provide you and how you can contribute to them.
A big shout out to Energy Link Coaching, Balmoral Triathlon Club, Square One Physiotherapy, Lululemon Mosman, Science in Sport Australia, Giant Sydney, Vision PT Mosman, and Titan Performance Group for having me as part of their community and supporting our shared goals.
