Over the coming months we will be speaking to members of the British Judo World-Class Performance Programme (WCPP) Sports Science and Sports Medicine (SSSM) team to get an insight into their day to day work.
So far we’ve spoken to Andrew Cruickshank, Senior Sports Psychologist, and Lauren Jackson, Strength and Conditioning Coach, about their work on the WCPP.
This time it’s the turn of Ruth Nichols, English Institute of Sport (EIS)* Performance Lifestyle Advisor as she tells us about her role in supporting athletes away from training and competition.
First things first, how did you get into Performance Lifestyle as a career?
Well I initially started out doing a degree in Sport and PE wanting to be a PE Teacher. It was always the route I thought I’d end up going down but after doing some work in schools I decided I wanted to work a bit more in high performance sport.
I did a Masters in Exercise Physiology and then did a placement with British Swimming which is where I met the Performance Lifestyle Advisor for British Swimming for the first time and actually realised what the role was and found out a little bit more about it.
I kind of realised I wanted to be more in a people-focused and people development role than the more traditional sports sciences roles.
How long have you been at British Judo? And have you worked with other Olympic/Paralympic sports?
I’ve been working with British Judo since January 2014 and in that time as well I’ve also been working as a Performance Lifestyle Advisor with Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Shooting as well. I still work a day a week with Shooting at the moment.
And previous to that I was working with British Swimming on a Sports Science and Medicine internship and then with British Gymnastics so have worked across quite a few different sports.
Can you tell us a bit about what your role entails?
Performance Lifestyle is about helping athletes maintain a lifestyle that’s effective for their performance as an Elite Athlete but also helping them to develop and create a future pathway for themselves, so that when they’re finished in competitive sport they’ve got opportunities and options available to them. It’s very much around having a dual career focus.
It’s also around supporting athletes who are transitioning onto the World-Class Performance Programme for the first time, continuing that support throughout and also when they transition off the WCPP. We look to ensure athletes have the support and the skills they need to succeed at each level and that they have a positive experience within the environment.
Another big focus of Performance Lifestyle is to promote and support athlete wellbeing by providing a safe space where athletes feel comfortable to confide in us, confidentially if appropriate. Ultimately it is important athletes know they’ve got that support if they need it and ensuring they’ve got optimal wellbeing.
How receptive are the athletes generally to that off the mat support?
I think it’s definitely changed over the last few years. People are more and more receptive to it and I think that’s because they are understanding more about what Performance Lifestyle is and also seeing what the benefits are of having a positive distraction or a positive focus outside of the sport, both for benefitting their performance but also just their general wellbeing.
Having something outside of the sport means that when they come to training they’re fully focused on training rather than it potentially getting quite boring and stagnant because if they haven’t got anything else going on in their life that can be quite a challenge.
We know that sport isn’t forever unfortunately. We don’t know when that end point is so having a plan in place can help alleviate some anxieties around what they do next and ensures that they can successfully transition from the Programme at whatever point that might be in their career.
Is there an age difference between the athletes who are receptive to that support? Do you find it’s generally the older athletes who will be looking for that support or is it a broad range of ages?
I think it’s a total mix really. I guess it depends on what aspects of Performance Lifestyle support they might need. From an education and personal development perspective, we’re trying to encourage all athletes at the early stages of the pathway as Academy athletes to have some form of education and/or personal development in place alongside training. Then potentially when they’re moving through the pathway and reach Podium Level, it might be that they’ve got all those things, such as qualifications or appropriate work experience, ready to go and they’ve got a career plan in place, allowing them to just focus on performance.
At that top level, we do have athletes that are doing things outside of judo and they are receptive to the support but it might have a change in focus in terms of minimising distractions and how we can really maximise performance, as opposed to starting a full-time university degree or something like that. So, I think it does depend on age, what stage they are in their performances and what else they’ve got going on in their life as to what support they might need.
How much is it the athlete pro-actively seeking you out for your advice and support when they have a specific Lifestyle need? Or is it a case of working with other members of the Performance team to identify a need and you initiate that contact as a result?
Again, it’s a bit of a mixture, depending on the situation and the athlete in question because I’ve had athletes who’ve approached me and said “I think I want to do a University course. I think I’m interested in sports coaching. What can I do?” Then we work together to figure out what those options could be. In that case they could be quite pro-active in approaching me for that support.
But equally it might come from a discussion the physio or the coach had and they might come to me and say “Oh just so you know, had this chat and they’re interested in this or they might need a bit of extra support because they’re injured. Can you touch base with them?”
In those cases I’ll drop them a message or arrange a catch-up. It’s communication across the board to make sure, one way or another, athletes are getting the support they need whether that’s pro-actively themselves or just through what the Sports Science and Coaching teams see.
How important is it to establish a strong relationship with the coaches especially if there’s potential for those extra-curricular activities clashing with an athlete’s training?
Building strong relationships with the coaches is absolutely crucial for everything. I think it’s important coaches understand and buy into the reasons why athletes might engage in some personal, professional development outside of the sport and understand the positive effects that it can have on performance and wellbeing so that both aspects of the dual career can be successful.
I work really closely with the coaches to ensure that when anyone that is going in to do any form of education or personal, professional development, the coach understands what that looks like and we can identify if there are any clashes. It’s then a case of working to ensure that one doesn’t have a negative impact on the other.
And how receptive have coaches been with the fact that more athletes are engaging in development opportunities away from Judo?
Working with coaches now there’s definitely more support for athletes doing something else away from training. We’ve had examples where you’ve got athletes who have started a full-time degree and yes the coach probably has been a little bit nervous about them doing that, but we’ve managed it really well and they’ve still performed in competition. So, it shows that it can be done and it can have positive effects on both sides.
I think having a few of those positive examples and success stories has helped progress and move that forward. I think it’s also realising it doesn’t have to be all-encompassing, like a University degree, it can be getting a part-time job or work experience, that’s still really valuable for their future.
Outside of the coaching staff and athletes, how much do work with the other members of the Performance team?
I work closely with the Performance Pathway Manager, Tim Ellis. His role is key to getting athletes onto the Programme from an Academy perspective. We’re looking at what transition support those athletes need so that we can move them from a home environment into the world-class environment. So, what does that support look like and what does that transition look like?
We recently recruited a Performance Welfare Officer, Eleanor Cantwell, and we’ve both very much got a focus on athlete welfare and wellbeing. We’re working closely together to ensure that’s the priority of the Programme and that we can optimise that wellbeing within the environment and the culture.
I also work with other members of the Sports Science and Sports Medicine (SSSM) team such as the Physios and S&C Coaches. It might be to discuss if they’ve got clashes with university or if someone has an injury what additional support they need because we know that’s a tough time for athletes.
Having those discussions and conversations with those members of staff is really important
Currently there are 20 athletes on the WCPP (Academy to Podium) in some form of personal/professional and educational development (university, college, training courses etc). Can you tell us a bit about how difficult a process that was to manage?
It’s so positive that we’ve got so many athletes engaged in some form of personal, professional development and education now but it does bring a few challenges.
For athletes on University courses I work closely with the university staff so that they understand the commitments that the athletes have with judo – what their programme looks like including when are they going to be away for competitions and training. It is then important to ensure the right support is in place from a university and WCPP’s perspective. For example, liaising with the university to agree a more flexible timetable so athletes don’t miss too much training.
I will then speak to the coaches and SSSM so they know what each of the athletes have got on and discuss who will be missing which training sessions, so that we can ensure there is minimal impact on the other athletes on the programme.
Ultimately, I think the biggest thing is communication with all the parties involved: the athletes, the Uni and the coaches to make sure that it works.
Do you think having established good relationships with the coaching team helped make that process work well?
Yeah, I think so because ultimately, we’ve got potentially 10-12 different University and college timetables with athletes out at different times. We’re in a sport where people need partners to train with so it’s been very much about trying to work out which sessions athletes will miss and discussing how we can best make the programme work and the coaches have been very supportive in that.
I think having that support and understanding from the coaches has been really good to make sure the athletes feel comfortable to go out there and take on other opportunities
Have you noticed a change over the last few years in athletes appreciated the value of having something outside of judo to focus on?
I think there’s been a huge change in the positive outlook and appreciation of having something else outside of judo. This year alone from September 2016 to September 2017 there’s been a 162% increase in the number of athletes that are enrolled in some form of education or personal, professional development.
That’s not even including the athletes who are doing work experience or have part time jobs, which is a huge increase over one year. Whilst this may not keep increasing, I’d like to think that it’s probably going to remain quite high with most athletes engaging in some form of education or personal, professional development over the next few years, with the understanding that dual career also benefits performance so let’s maximise this and also create success for athlete’s futures.
*The EIS is the country’s largest provider of sport science, medicine and technology and ‘the team behind the team’, delivering a range of performance-impacting solutions to Olympic and Paralympic sports.
EIS practitioners help coaches and Performance Directors to improve the performance of their athletes by delivering services which enable them to optimise training programmes, maximise performance in competition and improve health and wellbeing.
