informed trumps driven

*First published on Seriously, September '25

Having spent in excess of 25 years coaching youth in team sport. I have been witness to and also a part of a range of different methods of talent identification and development of youth athletes. From school team selection, pooling community youth basketball, representative squad selection and coaching.

It was in the late 90's, as a Physical Education Teacher, we fed all of our fitness tests results into a larger data base, for our Year 7 to 10 Physical Education. Students could see how they rated with others of the same age. Assisting in the talent selection of athletes who one day might be great rowers, basketballers or high jumpers at an elite level. But the only catch here is they are a bunch of metrics from a single testing day... I wonder how helpful they really were in identifying talent that actually made it to the big time.

The identification of potential talent, for the physical domain (sport), is not actually that complicated to the trained eye. However well-meaning, often least knowledgeable or inexperienced coaches, are well known to select the easily observable traits, limited by data driven thinking! Don't get wrong, these metrics have some value, BUT extremely limited and often of low value long term.

Real talent is discovered and nurtured using data-informed thinking. This type of talent identification has far greater success than simply using two or three physical traits, due to ignoring human endeavour, task commitment and creativity. Some fitness traits can easily be trained and we know the discourse associated with training for the test! Do these results actually translate into good performance when it comes to competing, with those high pressure moments.

Using data-driven results may be effective but often has low efficacy. For the coach, you don’t have to work very hard to eliminate athletes from your training squad, using this method. Better described by some as the lazy approach. This type of method is known to overlook great talent and the said talent gets burnt out or peak too early - what a waste of resources!

There is plenty of current research on data-informed approaches, more than scratching the surface if worth the investment.

Next time… try the data informed approach. A little extra effort for greater efficacy, greater talent potential and utilisation of resources.

ageing out is more about beginnings

*First published on Linkedin, September '25

We dismantled our tired old basketball ring last month, beginning it's own journey into the metal recycling system. Our backyard basketball court now being repurposed as a different type of family space, for more chilled activities. Timely in terms of the weather. A new fire pit installation, sitting exactly where the base of the basketball ring once sat, a 15 year tenancy now over. Our families landscaping projects are actually not the purpose of this article, however symbolic!

Each sports season, not just limited to basketball, marks the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of our three boys. Participating in team sports has given them the opportunity to be challenged with new skills, new teammates, new plays, and different coaching styles. Increased responsibility, confidence, resilience and leadership all great outcomes from being raised in team sport. Our boys, the beneficiaries of an active lifestyle.

When it comes to basketball, they often found themselves returning to the same caravan park at the end of each day. Team bonding moments included mini golf, competing to see who can create the largest splash by dive-bombing into the pool or tackling the annual go-cart racing title at the Bendigo Australia Day Weekend tournament.

Among basketball families, caravan park chatter typically revolved around sizing up how the opposition had grown taller or were more skilled since the last competition AND probably disagreements over coaching strategies were on the table. Deeper discussions often focused on which athletes are excelling, getting playing time, or had left the sport altogether. Of course, there's the endless competition among the players about who’s wearing or has ordered the latest release of LeBron or Nike boots.

We closed the books on our families basketball last summer, 14 years representing the Wodonga Wolves. No more coaching for me, no rostered score-table duties, no team manager roles and no more team parent chat group requests - "can someone do my fruit duty?" or "I need transport for my son to the next game please". Good times!

However, we haven't ended our basketball journey cold turkey. Personally, I have spent the last twelve months serving on the Senior Representative Commission, Basketball Victoria. Formerly on the Southervale Albury Wodonga Bandits Board from it's inception of Youth League. Together with the family we spectate games, continue to follow games on PlayHQ and keep up with the the basketball news. None of us play competitive basketball these days. Our eldest boys have however found outdoor community courts to play at leisure with their mates. We watch past opponents successes in the big time and we attend local Big V Youth League and NBL1 South games from time to time. All the while, I still consider whether I should go back to playing basketball myself...

So what is the end of a basketball journey meant to look like for a junior ageing out? Should youth be finishing up their basketball career at 17 years old or is there something else to entice them to keep hitting the court? AND what does that look like with study, work and summer holidays?

AFL Grand Final celebrations roll in this week. For longer than I remember we live streamed 'the big dance', on our mobile phones, court-side at the annual Echuca Basketball Tournament. Not this year.

Now to enjoy the fresh start of our family’s summer. Hopefully with a little more time for golf, surfing and maybe some casual tennis.

With the privilege of our kids aging out of junior summer sports comes a welcome break: no more training, no tournaments, no extra sessions, and blessedly, no last minute reminders to register for the next tournament.

…At least until footy season rolls back around, by then, our youngest will be nearly old enough to drive himself!

parents & team sport

*First published on Seriously, August '25

Gosh it's tricky being a parent of a youth athlete. You want the best for your child, however you can't control the environment, owing to dynamic nature of youth sport season to season.

Some athletes grew faster than others, some master skills quickly, some get injured, others move clubs or simply drop out all together. Other athletes have natural attributes, while others work tremendously hard developing master of their craft. 

There's not much that's consistent from athlete to athlete, owing to the constant changes due to phenomena of puberty. A period of life characterised by one the fastest rates of physical, social and emotional growth for your child, not excluding intellectual understanding of the game. Each athletes' timing is biologically driven and it often doesn't align with the offical age brackets used in community or representative competitions.

Lots to consider... from a coaches influence of athlete development and a supportive parents perspective.

What you can control, as a parent, is your response to those ups and downs of development for your child, from their point of view. When I say they may experience, I really mean they will experience some moments that will make then question their commitment to their involvement in sport. Enjoyment factors tends to be in question and are well represented in research as being the key to retention in youth sport. 

The research informs us that the youth sport experience has many lenses, mostly held by involved adults and often the most influential. Exploring the game through the eyes of the athlete should be the main focus BUT as many know, this lens is often blurred...

Families should be their child's biggest cheerleader, despite the lumpy road the child may navigate in their chosen sport. Through the wins, the loses and the skill development challenges to improve.

bandwidth

*First published on Instagram, April '21

Elastic bands really do have some amazing properties, they can solve all sorts of challenges but they are often only temporary, degrading over time causing a need for another to replace it. Makes me think about our thinking capacity and how sometimes we simply don’t have the bandwidth to reason or think critically. These are the moments that our bandwidth for processing may be at its capacity. Potentially our thinking strategies are not serving us and it may be time to rethink our thought processes and strategies for thinking. Consider that busy day when there is so much to do and feels like there is no time to do it.

The chaos of your day comes from various pressures and expectations. ALL of us uniquely different, managing it in our own way. Some of us will stick to old strategies while others will explore other alternatives. It’s a mindset thing for most, changing the way we think.

To explore the utility of this bundle of elastic bands by liken each colour to a different type of thinking process. Some elastic bands have limited capacity while others have ever expanding elasticity or may be joined together to maximise bandwidth for more complex challenges.

Our brain is often described as elastic in nature and has an ability to grow new neural pathways as a result of new experiences.

Like the elastic bands deep inside this ball of elastics, our brain has capabilities that we are yet to call upon. If we continue doing life the same way we will never realise we have greater bandwidth for coping with life’s ever changing dynamic landscape.

hand-fed benefit - are there any?

*First published on Instagram, January '21

I am always baffled by the concept of ‘hand-fed’ strategies for learning, particularly if it is the dominant approach.

Don’t get me wrong ... support is essential BUT we can’t do the thinking for the learner, some struggle must take place in order to promote new neural growth.

I recall a quote from our sons Year 1 teacher (nearly 15 years ago now) “...by spoon-feeding our learners we simply teach them the shape of the spoon”.

Hand-feeding or spoon-feeding information doesn’t really allow for curiosity BUT simply the ability to regurgitate information (or not even) AND with limited understanding of the connections with other material... seems somewhat pointless and for what long term benefit to learn this way?

Like the pelicans in this image, being hand-fed along the Noosa River, I wonder if you might consider them as captive or free? Captive because they have learnt to no longer seek food for themselves or free because they have more time to do what?

If the pelicans don’t find food for themselves and rely on the daily feeding provided for them at the boat ramp, what skills (thinking) of independence have been created?

Potentially more harm than good results when we offer more support than is necessary. A little bit of struggle is good, a little more struggle each time weans the support and allowing growth opportunities.

The possibilities are infinite!The next series of Rivers of thinking is just around the corner. Click the wait list button below to ensure you don't miss out! 

so what is mental fitness?

*First published on Instagram, December '20

NOT a NEW term (#mentalfitness) but beginning to get some traction these days. To Google the term, you will see it started being used at the start of the new millennium.

While the term doesn’t belong to anyone specifically, it is a terrific way to guide the understanding of, highlight the importance of brain health. Likened to your individual hardware AND your thinking processes, like running the software of your computer.

If the hardware is not operationally sound then the software is going to be glitchy isn’t it - hey?!?

Commencing a health and movement bachelor degree nearly 30 years ago and spending more than two decades in the education and awareness setting, I have witnessed much change in how we go about talking mental fitness (I should specify here that I am not talking about mental health or mental illness). BUT, unfortunately, due a multitude of determinants our mental fitness is at an all time low - VERY concerning!

Creating attitudinal and cultural change is where the heart of the problem lies. AND to say I haven’t tired to create awareness and provide educational opportunities is an understatement, as have thousands of others. Mental Health certainly has a public relations issue, hence our focus on the capabilities of our thinking for life long learning - mental fitness.

Creating individual awareness, leading to a desire to become more knowledgeable and a willingness to change (do things differently) are the greatest obstacles toward achieving mental fitness for individuals in our communities.

NOW to share my journey ... (in the following posts) BUT for today enjoy resting the mind and body, making the most of the ‘pause’ to share in the joy of the Christmas Spirt 

upstairs and downstairs (brain)

*First published on Facebook, August '18

Loads of benefits for the learner knowing more about metacognition. AND after some great Sunday conversations it reinforces how training, practice, strategies, experience, etc helps us keep the upstairs brain engaged.

There are some excellent explanations about how our brain works, our favorite is Dr Andrew Wake’s “The Good Enough Parent ” - how to provide for your child’s social and emotional development. AND our preferred method for developing the upstairs brain is using Professor Reuven Feuerstein’s method for improved cognition.

Here’s a sketch of a brain to help demonstrate the role of each in terms of function, up upstairs brain, mid-brain and the base of our brain.

Let’s check them out..

REPTILIAN BRAIN

• this is known for keeping us alive!

• initiates the ‘fight or flight’ response.

• no language or communication present when we are using the ‘downstairs’ part of our brain.

 MAMMAL BRAIN

• this is the part of the brain responsible for emotion.

• we respond with emotion to situations when the mid-brain is dominant, sometimes our actions may be undesirable, ie. too confident.

• care and empathy sit here, but when sadness dominates then we can’t engage our upstairs brain effectively. 

HUMAN BRAIN

• otherwise known as our ‘upstairs brain’...

• responsible for cognition; critical thinking, reasoning, problem solving, etc.

• development is rapid from birth.

• the frontal lobe (another name for it) develops all the way through to the mid 20’s. *Which is quite challenging when lots of life-time decisions are made before this developmental milestone.

We have particular interest in developing the upstairs brain...

sport - it's more than just playing!

*First published on LinkedIn, November '21

Last week I finished a rewarding five years serving as a Board Member of the Wodonga Junior Football League (AWJFL). While this picture was taken several years ago at a dinner farewelling some long-serving Board Members and transitioning Operations Managers. This picture truly represents some of the best people in the game, not serving their own agenda BUT rather a coalition of the willing. Willing to govern sport for the betterment of the game and obviously create the best experience for our junior participants is the highest priority.

The last two years we have endured more Board meetings online than anyone would wish for and we know are not alone. BUT governing a sporting community that straddles state borders during COVID restrictions for the past two years had another layer of constraints. These constraints prevented our fixture from playing out like other regional communities were able to. We had our NSW clubs playing catch matches to keep their community engaged, while our Victorian clubs (only 7km away) were in lockdown. Another extraordinary year not able to completely finish the home and away season AND yet again without finals. On a positive note, we played more fixtures games than the previous season and that we are grateful.

Finishing my Board role mid-term was not quite how I planned it. Prioritising my family and taking up the opportunity to again coach development basketball for our local Wodonga representative team. Our youngest son asked me to apply for the coaching role in the hope that I could coach him for the Wodonga Wolves Juniors, as I had done for his older siblings.

Our youngest gets his wish and fingers crossed our basketball season gets underway at the end of this month. I get the privilege of taking away learnings that will last me a lifetime while serving on the AWJFL, wisdom gained from working alongside those captured in this image and those that are not. The many conversations about youth development has me well-positioned for future influence in my ongoing role for the NBL1 Albury Wodonga Bandits and sport in our Border Community.

Sport is more than just playing, it's the connection with your community, the richness of learning from others and meeting people you might not have otherwise. Our sporting clubs are the lifeblood of our communities and have had a hell of a time in the past two years. Not to forget to mention the lifeline friendships you will develop.

Remember it's NOT what the club can do for you but what you can do for your club. Our sporting communities need you, don't drop off your children or sink into the background. Step up and offer your support for future seasons for our young people, they deserve it and you know it! Volunteer today.

hand-fed benefit - are there any?

*First published January '21

I am always baffled by the concept of ‘hand-fed’ strategies for learning, particularly if it is the dominant approach.

Don’t get me wrong ... support is essential BUT we can’t do the thinking for the learner, some struggle must take place in order to promote new neural growth.
fi
I recall a quote from our sons Year 1 teacher (nearly 15 years ago now) “...by spoon-feeding our learners we simply teach them the shape of the spoon”.

Hand-feeding or spoon-feeding information doesn’t really allow for curiosity BUT simply the ability to regurgitate information (or not even) AND with limited understanding of the connections with other material... seems somewhat pointless and for what long term benefit to learn this way?

Like the pelicans in this image, being hand-fed along the Noosa River, I wonder if you might consider them as captive or free? Captive because they have learnt to no longer seek food for themselves or free because they have more time to do what?

If the pelicans don’t find food for themselves and rely on the daily feeding provided for them at the boat ramp, what skills (thinking) of independence have been created?

Potentially more harm than good results when we offer more support than is necessary. A little bit of struggle is good, a little more struggle each time weans the support and allowing growth opportunities.

The possibilities are infinite!The next series of Rivers of thinking is just around the corner. Click the wait list button below to ensure you don't miss out! 

athlete-centred is the solution

*First published on LinkedIn, April '20

"DO young people's experiences of movement opportunities leave a positive and lasting impact?"

It is a really good question and one that I have been exploring for a number of years.

Right now, in the absence of sport participation, due to social distancing measures, our general movement for overall health has never ever been a higher priority. For obvious reasons, simply moving our bodies to maintain our physical condition (or further enhance it) also has the added benefits for our social and emotional wellbeing.

Knowing how you can help yourself at this point, to satisfy health individual daily movement patterns, is a real advantage! Developing an understanding of the benefits of functional movement, strengthening and conditioning for injury prevention is also a bonus. Core stability enables a range of skilful movements to be more effective during training and play (when we get the opportunity to return to the court or field). Therefore individuals are more than likely going to experience greater success of the desired performance or required skills if the fundamentals are in sound condition. AND of course, a greater sense of wellbeing is possible!

Consider yourself in the role as a movement expert, involved in sport at any level of sport or competition; medical professional (physiotherapist and sports science expert), educator or experienced grassroots coach. The current COVID-19 'pause in play', is an excellent opportunity to explore how we prepare our young people to return to the field or court of play.

What are the fundamentals we need to promote that are most desirable for positive movement experiences for athletes and potentially improve participation rates, retention and lifelong active lifestyles? Core muscle conditioning, aerobic fitness and a positive mindset are an absolute must! But what else needs to happen?

Place yourselves in the shoes of the game administrators, what considerations or measures do they need to explore before the season commences? For many competitions, it will NOT be a replication of seasons of the past; it will be remarkably different! Health and safety measures will be more critical than ever before. The season may be shorter, some rules and regulations may need to change, and club personnel will be looking for guidance and resources to support their players in 'returning to play!'.

The health and wellbeing of the athlete may take centre stage, rather than the competition itself! Just because "we administered like this in the past" does NOT mean it will be the same for the future. This 'pause in play' provides the best opportunity to rethink how we deliver the (your) game, attract and retain players, members and sponsorship.

Should we look at the game through the lens of community connection and sustainability? Is there a need to revisit the clubs' mission and vision to put the 'athlete at the centre'? Do we need to bring back the 'love of the game' for all involved, how might we do that in a healthy way that boosts our participation rates, grows membership and sustainable for seasons to come?

Lots of bits and pieces to ponder BUT ... to ponder with inaction would be foolish! I have been exploring athlete development and wellbeing more intentionally for the past seven years, once our eldest started negotiating his way through athlete development pathways in several sports. It prompted me to finally begin noting the differences and commence writing down ideas and experiment with my own coaching with the hope to share with others one day.

More than two decades of coaching behind me and recently, before Easter, delivering a unit themed "Are we in a fundamental movement crisis?" to my Masters of Education, Physical Education (Primary) students. It seems timely for me to share my thoughts and strategies in the hope of promoting greater engagement and enjoyment for our young athletes in team settings.

"Is the future of Austalia's love for sport and many Australian's health and wellbeing relying on it?"

In the coming weeks, I will be launching a new feature to my website, sharing my experiences in the hope to assist others who work with young people. I will not be starting with functional movement as there are plenty of reputable experts that can guide you in this regard. Instead, the focus is on how we create enhanced cognitive capabilities, the first series is applicable for those involved with youth athletes in team settings. Promoting the athlete's ability to achieve functional movement/skill proficiency, developing mental tools for greater engagement in the game (suitable for coach, player & parents) , while promoting the team ethos. Looking forward to sharing with you.

Yours in development and wellbeing.