Double Gold for OCWK athletes at BUSA Champs
Biggest ever OCWK Camp takes place in Loughborough
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15 athletes selected to join ‘On Camp with Kelly’
2008 Athletes Biographies
OCWK Double at South of England Champs
OCWK Athletes in action at Euro Cross Trials
OCWK Athletes in Cross Country Action
Biggest ever OCWK Camp takes place in Loughborough
The biggest ever ‘On Camp with Kelly’ Educational Camp, supported by Norwich Union, took place in Loughborough from 1 to 10 April 2008. 41 athletes and 24 coaches attended the camp for some or all of the ten days. The camp was split between two venues with excellent sporting and other facilities, Loughborough University and Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College in nearby Woodhouse.
The 15 new girls chosen at the recent OCWK Selection Day attended the full ten day camp which aimed to teach them about all the different aspects they will need to become a world class international athlete.
One of the first challenges they had to face was having their bags taken from them and having to survive with just their hand luggage for up to two days. Their parents were given an insight into what they had achieved on the camp at a special session on the last day.
For the first time ever 11 young male athletes took part in an ‘On Camp with Kelly’ camp, attending for four days from 3 to 6 April. These athletes – Ed Aston, James Brewer, David Forrester, Kris Gauson, Ben Lindsay, Ross Millington, Mark Mitchell, Adam Moore, Andrew Osagie, Chris Smith and Ricky Stevenson – were chosen as a result of their excellent performances over 800m and 1500m over the last two years and benefited from having former GB middle distance international Anthony Whiteman as their camp supervisor.
Kelly with the newly selected OCWK male athletes
While at Welbeck College the 26 new athletes, who were also joined by 16 of the existing ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes for three days, took part in Army Command Tasks, group track and circuit training sessions, media training, a 100% ME drug-free sport workshop and talks on subjects such as nutrition, medical issues, lifestyle management and sports psychology. The athletes were also privileged to meet Kelly’s coach during the final years of her career, Margot Jennings, who flew in from the USA to pass on her knowledge and expertise.
There was also an athlete panel Q&A session where participants were able to learn from the experiences of current and former GB international athletes Karen Harewood, Becky Lyne, Tim Hutchings and Eamonn Martin and watch footage of some of their races.
24 of the athletes’ coaches also attended the camp over the weekend when they took part in a course on injury prevention, learnt about cycles and peaking from Margot Jennings (pictured right) and attended other sessions together with the athletes.
One of the highlights of the camp was the competition simulation event which took place on Saturday 5 April. It was set up as if the athletes were competing at an international event in Poland as the IAAF World Junior Championships take place there later this year, an important target for many of the athletes. The event had electronic timing and was run by UK Athletics graded officials and the athletes went through the same procedures as they would at a major championship, from the call room to the doing media interviews in the mixed zone to simulated drug testing.
The athletes and coaches also of course benefited from the unique opportunity to learn from Kelly’s knowledge and experiences over her successful athletics career.
Click here for full report on competition simulation event
Click here for Camp vtdeo
Click here for more on ‘On Camp with Kelly’ selections 2008 and the selected athletes
The camp in Loughborough and the whole ‘On Camp with Kelly’ programme would not be possible without the generous support of sponsor Norwich Union.
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