TEAM GB TRAINING ACADEMY: Report from Leicester

Report by Steve Mullinder

The first of many cycle speedway Academy Days took place in October at Leicester cycle speedway track.
The day was a great success with 70 riders from age groups consisting of under 14s, juniors, women and senior riders taking part. The day started with the under 14s taking to the track, with qualified Coaches from across the country helping out. Fraser Garnett also took to the track with the young riders to help out with certain techniques and pass on a little track knowledge of his own to them. With a little bit of a struggle getting the under 14s off the track ( as they enjoyed what they were doing ) to move on to the their Nutrition Talk with Kate Mullinder the main group were all ready to split off into their respective groups with Track time, Nutrition Talks and Dance Studio, which consisted of showing all riders different exercises on how to keep their selves fit through the winter months while not on the track. Kate Mullinder also took these sessions with a little music from the sound system that was supplied by the Leisure Centre, ( the women must have thought they was on a night out at the disco ). Back to the track with Stuart Raven putting riders through their paces and with coaches pitching in with advice to help improve techniques with race positioning, gating and a little team riding advice. The gating coaching in my mind was very interesting with many riders listening to advice and acting on this in a positive way, which is what the camp is all about. We all finished a very cold day with a group debrief in the Dance studio just to give a overview of the day, with Alan Busby, Norman Venson and Steve Mullinder giving their feed back. The day seemed to go down well with riders and parents with a lot of positive feed back. There will be at least 3 more Academy days set into the fixtures for 2019 season. We as organisers and coaches have also taken a lot out of just one day, so hopefully can improve the next Academy Days. These days can only be good for our sport, and what we would like to see on any other camps is for more Qualified coaches to get involved to help these riders but also help to improve their own skills. If any coach wants to be involved please contact me , Steve Mullinder so i can fit you into the format of the days.
I would like to say a big thank you to Craig Marchant for arranging the use of the Leisure centre and also the Leicester club and members for opening all their facilities up for us to use through out the long day. My wife Kate Mullinder for helping me put the format of the day together, Nutrition talks and dance studio. Stuart Raven for his in depth knowledge of track skills. Also all the coaches and helpers through the day which without your help we would have struggled to make the day run so smoothly. This was a day when Cycle speedway came together to help each other. This is the only way the sport is going to start to grow again, so lets embrace these next days please and get involved, you’re all welcome to help