The Chronicle 682

55 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Athletic Development By Hamzat Ahmed, Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach

Athletic Development Sessions The guided sessions have gone from strength to strength. The pupils have entered into the programmes and sessions with real enthusiasm and a very strong willingness to learn. The sessions have focused on improving basic movement competencies and overall athletic ability as we look to create the ‘year-round athlete’. Preparing pupils to compete in multiple sports through the year with various physical demands, movement requirements and technical/tactical roles becomes quite complex. The aim of the programmes is to allow the athletes to excel by improving strength, speed, fitness and robustness. The Athletic Development Programme is very much in its infancy, but the enthusiasm shown by pupils and staff so far has been fantastic. The Programme’s key aim is to become part of pupils’ everyday lives, bringing them the many benefits of improved health and fitness. We aim to be accessible to anyone and everyone and hope to instil a lasting passion and drive to develop physically and an understanding of

I was delighted to become Head of the Athletic Development Department in May. Pupils have shown impressive enthusiasm and dedication to maintaining and developing themselves physically. Physical Performance Testing and Profiling Over the past few months, the Athletic Development Department has been working hard to test and profile the physical capacities of over 200 pupils. Using state- of-the-art equipment often only seen at professional sports clubs and university labs, staff have been able to pinpoint areas of strength and areas to develop further in Teddies athletes, with a focus on Sports Awards holders and specific teams as well as other individuals. The purpose of the exercise is to collect data that will indicate whether the athletic programmes are working and to plan improvements. There have been some phenomenal efforts during testing and everyone who has taken part has given their all even during the dreaded ‘yoyo test’.

Hamzat Ahmed and Martha Withers Green

how to achieve this. We want our pupils to be armed with the knowledge necessary to improve their performance, whatever physical challenge they might encounter.

Millie Holme and Lucy Draper

Freddie Walton