Professional coaches to guide us, professional players to demonstrate!!! It was a pleasure to watch coach Fernando Falle, his staff and players in action at the 2002 Summer Camp at Buckmore Park last week.
“It was surprising how simple some of the training techniques were and yet how effective they proved to be”, said Peter Maisey of Southsea, who attended the entire week. “I often sat there thinking to myself “Why didn’t I think of that?”
With two goalkeepers from Club Infante Sagres always on hand to demonstrate and correct, our young goalkeepers received particularly special attention and showed rapid improvement in their skills.
At the beginning of the week players participated in 3 sessions a day, plus other activities, which proved a little too much for most to handle. Perhaps they were not as “hockey” fit as they should be, but at the suggestion of Fernando, the training schedule was altered to reduce the amount of rink time and take advantage of the great facilities at Buckmore Park.
Each day saw everybody have the opportunity to take part in activities such as climbing, caving, shooting, archery, team building exercises, and (in theory) a more relaxing free swim.
Despite a few minor hiccups, which are to be expected when running such a large event for the first time, the week ran smoothly and was a testament to the organisational skills of Keith Allen and the other supporters of the event.
On the final day of the camp, a tournament was conducted that saw a noticeable improvement in the individual skills of the participants, and more importantly a demonstration of much improved teamwork that that can be credited to the what was learnt through out the week.
Our young players have now gone back to their Clubs and Coaches with new ideas and experience of modern training techniques. If those that did not attend the camp listen to them and try out what they tell them there is an opportunity for the sport to massively benefit!
Players and Coaches who missed out this year and those that want to improve further should note that a provisional booking has been made for another camp in July 2003. Those that wish to do more then talk about how they want to improve their skills should ensure they sign up immediately the dates are published.
Congratulations go out to Keith Allen! He has done a marvellous job organising this event.
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Reporter: Kos Galtos
