Management of Teen Groups

The club has over 50 children in Teens ranging from aged 11 to 17 years old (Secondary School & 6th Form/College) and they are split into groups to allow the club to better manage across a range of abilities and capabilities. Each group rotate around various activities that will challenge them, with parent helpers on hand to maintain a low teen to supervisor ratio and help adjust hurdle spacings, jump box heights, med ball weights etc for varying skill skill levels.

The space available for the Teen Groups across the multiple venues, both indoor & outdoor, helps us reduce the capacity of teens in one area, reducing the risk of accident and unacceptable behaviour, as supervision is easier.

The FIVE GROUPS are:

(…and yes we did name them after NFL teams)

SEAHAWKS

For juniors transitioning to and newest teens

LIONS

For teens with some experience or are 'early developers'

GIANTS

For older teens with strengths aligned to endurance type events (i.e. x-country)

TITANS

For older teens with strengths aligned to more explosive and elasticity based events (i.e. sprints, throws, jumps)

VIKINGS

For older teens with strengths aligned to 'middle-distance' events, or are all-rounders, or their strengths are yet identified for a better fit

The groups are set to align with the following UKA Athlete Development Pathway (ADP), see image below. The Seahawks and Lions are ‘Foundation Groups’, both the Giants and Titans groups are ‘Event Groups’ and Vikings are a cross between a Foundation and Event Group. The Foundation Groups train together in one venue and the Event Groups plus Vikings in the other venue.

Developing Teens & Progressing through Groups

Developing & Progressing Teens

Throughout the development of our Teens, we are increasing the metrics we collect and use to enable us to move towards a Performance Based Approach for progression through groups, as well as taking age and experience into account.

The factors used to assess performance are slightly different between the Seahawks & Lions, and Giants, Titans & Vikings. Head to the next tab to understand more.

Progression is assessed for ALL TEEN GROUPS against the following factors...

TRAINING ATTENDANCE - How frequently do they attend training (demonstrating commitment)?
TRAINING MINDSET - Do they engage appropriately with the activities, the other teens and the supervising adults?
PERSONAL PERFORMANCE - Is their performance improving, for example, are they jumping higher or running faster compared to the last measurement?

...but in addition for GIANTS, TITANS & VIKINGS

The club increasingly look for the teens that take more of an interest in their own development and performance through participation in events, representing the club - depending on the group your teen is in, this could be cross-country or Track & Field Events (or both).

Review & Action

Membership of the groups are reviewed quarterly, based on the performance data gathered against the factors listed. Your teens transition through the groups will be actioned when appropriate.

One of the big challenges with the Teens and their development, is how they go through puberty and this can have profound impacts on their physique, leading to agility and performance challenges. There are ways of determining where children are in this phase, but as a Club, we prefer to monitor the performance metrics and use those to assess their progression. Much research has been done on the perils of specialising in events too early, and so our aim as a Club is to avoid aligning Teens into Event Groups until they have a solid foundation, both physically and technically, often despite the teen’s views! It is for this reason, both the Giants and Titans are currently quite small groups.

If you have any questions regarding the Teen Groups, please get in touch with Head Coach - Dorian Matts

HOW WE MANAGE TEENS GROUPS

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