Through the looking glass with the Junior Colts, my year as a coach!
In the two year period since I left Monkton Combe School I have been working under GPR in the Boat Club; I started as a volunteer coach with the J14 squad, and then progressed in my second year to become a part-time coach working with Mike Smith with the same boys I had coached the year before. Between the two years of work I attended the Level 2 coaching course run by the ARA, which provided me with the basic coaching methods - but nothing would prepare me for what in hindsight has been an extremely important learning experience and I have enjoyed every moment of it.
Throughout this year I tried to provide as varied a training programme as I could; the boys and I had a Monday afternoon land-based training session to fill each week, as well as two water sessions on Fridays and Saturdays. We started with the usual training with Ergos and tank-sessions, preparing them for sweep-oared rowing, which they start at Colts level. As the term progressed and the weather improved we started to vary the land training; I incorporated medicine ball routines and hill sprints and the boys were starting to shape up into a rather strong group of oarsmen. Alongside this regimen reminiscent of holiday camp drills, the boys were working well on the water to develop their technique and starting to gel in their crews.
During the Lent Term, we attended the third annual Junior Colts training camp at Wimbleball lake on Exmoor. It was bitterly cold with snowy banks but the boys pressed on well and trained hard as a squad and in their crews. After the half-term break the boys raced a couple of times at local events including the three way event at the Wessex Head Race between Canford, Bryanston and Monkton; the boys in the A-quad set a very quick time early on in the day and it stood as the fastest time of the day; the boys walked away with a taste of success that would stand them in good stead going into the regatta season.
The boys struck gold early on in the summer term at Birmingham regatta with the A-quad racing through to beat two crews whilst the B crew had an unfortunate delay to racing and a long wait on the water. The next event was Avon County Regatta; here the boys raced through and were pipped to the post by the Wycliffe Quad which was coached by Johnny Garrow, who was a "gappy" coach during my time in the senior squad. After this the boys started to work towards a qualifying time for the National Schools Regatta, the A-quad raced hard but failed to qualify; the whole crew agreed that they hadn't 'clicked' when they needed to. After a short discussion and a quick re-shuffle the boys were suddenly firing on all cylinders again, being pushed on as always by their very vocal cox.
The next event would allow the boys to show their true colours. We headed off to the local meet at Bryanston - the Wessex Regatta. The A-quad set the standard in the first race with a successful lengthy row, beating the opposition by a good few lengths. Each member of the squad who raced walked away with a smile on his face and most of them had a pot in their kitbag. Overall the Junior Colts boys squad took 4 Gold medals and 2 Silvers at Wessex, a mammoth effort that contributed to Monkton winning the prestigious Victor Ludorum.
After this success the boys were preparing for their final event of the year, Tewkesbury. The boys raced hard in their quarter- and semi-final where we met the Wycliffe quad, the boat that had haunted us since early on in the year. Standing on the bank I couldn't believe what I was seeing: Monkton rounded the corner at Tewkesbury in the lead. It was not however to be the fairytale ending that I had wished, but as they finished I could not have been happier with them. Five red-faced youths clambered out of the boat for the final time, each one of them with a smile on his face.
After the boys collected their medals we spoke briefly with Johnny's crew from Wycliffe, both coaches and crews present; at the end of the season all rivalries had dropped away, for then at least, but I feel this taught the crew a lot more about opposition than they realised.
At the end of term the crew presented me with a tankard that now neatly nestles among the few pots that I won when I was at their stage. I hope the whole squad continues to demonstrate the enthusiasm that they had all year; not one member of the squad shied away from the hard work, every single one of them experienced highs and lows throughout the year and they have been rewarded for this with an overall tally of 6 gold medals and 4 silvers.
Working with the squad as a coach has taught me lots that the coaching course couldn't, and I will not forget this year quickly. I have learnt a lot and have experienced the satisfaction that can be achieved from coaching. I wish the boys all the best of luck as they move on to sweep-oared rowing and I hope to see them represent Monkton in the Senior Squad in the coming years. All the best, chaps!
Toby Johnson