Sonia O’Sullivan: An all-inclusive pathway to getting more young people into athletics

At a cursory look, certainly in recent years, it can seem that athletics – as an individual sport – has taken a back seat to many team sports in Ireland. Yet – and I don’t believe I am in any way biased in saying this – athletics is the backbone of most sports. The fundamentals of most team sports require some combination of speed and endurance and, in whatever training or competition young boys and girls are exposed to, there comes the realisation that even though they may not be the fastest, they can keep going for a long time.

Speed is great, but so too is stamina. And these fundamentals are discovered by the children themselves and often identified by their coaches during team sessions in whatever sport that is: football or hockey; hurling or camogie; or rugby, or whatever. And athletics, of course.

Many youngsters get pulled towards team sports. For many, that’s a natural thing to do. It is seen as more social, obviously more team orientated, and there is the sense of sharing the load in training and in competing and celebrating. For others drawn to individual sport, there is the sense of being more in control of your own destiny.

There’s a great deal to be said for multisport involvement but, from an athletics perspective, there should also be a way to attract more young people into the sport.

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There’s unquestionably more choice on offer for youngsters playing sport these days, and especially for girls, when compared to the 1980s and 1990s.

Even with choice, however, there are still limited numbers that make a team, so there could easily be a catchment route back to athletics.

As with all sports, there is commitment and dedication required to reach the highest levels and this needs to be understood through the champions’ culture and mindset. This is a message that needs to be embraced to keep the sporting dream alive into the teenage years: that there are many paths to take and, if one doesn’t work out, there are always other options – which is also true with non-sporting interests.

[ Sonia O’Sullivan: Irish athletes to the fore again at the famous Penn Relays ]

I look at the impact that Ireland’s women’s hockey team qualifying for the Olympics in 2020 brought with it, and you see, too, the more recent joy of Ireland’s women’s Rugby Sevens qualifying for the Paris Games next year, and those achievements only show there are more ways to qualify than ever before.

And, in many ways, the qualification for individual sports, athletics among them, has become more difficult, with the bar raised internationally every year and also with the advancements in technology and a far greater understanding of training methods.

So, how do we attract more young people into athletics?

There is always the desire for successful athletes as role models to want to give back and encourage the next generation. But it is not always easy to put structures in place on your own; you need a team to back you and support you and see things beyond sharing what you did and encouraging others to follow in your footsteps.

I have had many conversations with fellow athletes and have dabbled in trying to encourage and support the next generation of athletes.

I recently spoke to Rob Heffernan, my fellow Cork athlete, a world champion and Olympic medallist, about his growing initiative with the Cork City Athletics Club. Like myself, Rob has had many conversations and positive energy to help grow and develop the sport in Ireland but never really gained any traction on a national level. I believe what Rob is doing has the potential to provide a blueprint nationally.

Rob has ideas not just to coach young athletes and help them to find a pathway but to think a bit outside the box in a way that may take some time to see the fruition of his work. Starting with big numbers, his is an all-inclusive philosophy using the backing of already-successful people outside of sport who know what it takes to be successful on many levels, not just on the running track.

Cork City Athletics Club is open to athletes of all abilities, to attend sessions and to be introduced to a culture of high performance.

The introduction on a smaller scale of what a professional athlete does to become great ultimately includes enjoying what you do and having a lot of fun. There are many levels of fun in sport but, as an athlete goes through the development stages of sport, that fun comes from competing, from winning and losing and finding a way to win again.

To identify those with potential, young athletes need to be exposed to the culture of competitive sport where everyone is encouraged to be the best that they can be, all with the aim of finding the very best and skimming them off the top and handing them over to coaches with the knowledge and work ethic of how to take an athlete with obvious talent to the next level.

[ Rob Heffernan announces retirement from race-walking ]

The natural runners will only go so far before they need to be shown a level of work and commitment that is required but still maintaining a level of enjoyment within a team environment surrounding an individual sport.

On the first night Rob set up for athletes to come and join Cork City AC, just two athletes and 12 coaches showed up. It would’ve been easy to pack up and wonder, “Is it worth it?” Then, those people who Rob had confided in for advice and support could see that the initial message was too niche, too elite, and had actually scared people away.

The key is to be all-inclusive and give everyone a chance, to bring a friend and have fun.

There are three parts to most athletic training sessions: (1) the warm-up; (2) the session, and (3) the warm down.

All the laughing and chat is dispersed within the warm-up. Then it is time to listen and learn and try your best in the session, not compared to those around you but compared to what you did last week. Everyone is encouraged with a level of improvement and that could be faster, further, higher or longer. There are so many variables to work with and find success.

It takes time, commitment and passion, and now with upwards of 200 members in less than a year, it feels like Rob Heffernan’s programme provides a wonderful opportunity for Cork City AC to find the next champion Irish athlete. This is in just one small part of Cork. I get the feeling if this blueprint could be shared and replicated throughout the country there is room to introduce athletics to the lives of people who don’t come from an athletics background, many waiting to be discovered.

Great athletes. Great sportspeople. Wherever you end up, more often than not the foundations have all come from athletics.