It seems that my previous blog post about why my running is having to take a back seat for a while (link) has upset some people at the club. This was not my intention, I simply wanted to let my friends at the club know why Matthew and myself would not be around for a while.
I suppose I should be flattered that more people are reading the blog than I expected, but the negative side is that some of my comments were misconstrued. When I said that we felt Matthew had been let down by the club, I meant exactly that - "the club" - not his coaches, all of whom we are grateful to for their time and effort.
What I was referring to was how some of the things the club has let happen, either actively, or by turning a blind-eye, have ended up in having a detremental effect on the development of at least one young athlete.
One of the main things was the loss of a number of talented young athletes and their parents/coaches a couple of years back, which resulted in Matthew losing some of the assistant coaches who he was developing well under. I just wonder if the affect it would have on the young athletes was considered at the time when all this was allowed to happen? My guess is that it was not.
The fact that the club has allowed what can only be described as "poaching" of athletes from one training group to another without the knowledge of the current coach I also find quite bizarre, and Matthew, having a strong sense of loyalty to his coach, has twice been left in a group that he was happy in, but then the said group was suddenly split apart by this poaching. Why do we allow this to happen?
The fact that Matthew has for the last 2 years has finished in the top 10 in the British Fell Running Championships, yet received no regcognition within the club rankles him. For us grizzled old fell runners, peer recognition is probably what we care about most, but for juniors, they like to see their efforts being recognised. It seems to him that the club only cares about track and field.
From my side, I'd like to know what the criteria are for being invited to the foreign training sessions? If it's not something open to all athletes (and it seems that way), then should this really be something that's endorsed by the club? Again, youngsters are left wondering why they don't get the same opportunities as others.
These are the things that have gradually eaten away at his enthusiasm. For myself, one part of me is sad, because I don't want him to quit athletics, but another part of me is just glad that he's got into the cycling scene which is also a great form of exercise, and more often than not, he's got a smile on his face whilst he's doing it, and that's got to be a good thing.
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