Bringing together a group of young men and demanding their best week in and week out can be a daunting task. Each player begins preseason from a different athletic baseline, influenced by their previous environments, education, daily habits, and expectations. Success at the next level isn't guaranteed for everyone, but what plays a pivotal role in determining who will make that leap to the next level is actually quite straightforward.
As the strength and conditioning coach for the Warriors' Harold Mathews Championship team, I want to acknowledge the exceptional coaching staff. Their progressive approach to teaching fundamental skills was crucial in enabling the boys to perform under pressure. The evolving tactics throughout the season perfectly matched our group's skill level, and team selection was based on what was best for the team, not just who the best individual players were. This approach was vital to our success. So, I extend my gratitude to TJ Ashford, Tony Iro, Paul Clarke, and Sefo Fuimaono.
In this blog, I share my top five keys to being a successful youth athlete, principles I prioritised from day one of taking over the Warriors academy in 2023. These ideas have evolved with my time spent with this group, and they were crucial to our team's ability to handle pressure, adversity, and expectations. Not only did we make the top six, but we also defeated three undefeated teams in the finals series to win the Harold Mathews Competition. We made history as the first team to enter the competition and win it in their debut year, a competition that dates back to 1970.
Five Keys to Being a Successful Youth Athlete
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Stand Up Straight with Your Shoulders Back
All animals, including humans, are governed by dominance hierarchies and involuntary biochemical responses. Jordan Peterson introduces this idea using lobsters as an example, where dominant lobsters, with higher serotonin levels, project greater confidence and typically win confrontations without even having to have physical fights. This concept applies to humans too.
People with strong self-esteem transmit a sense of security and confidence, making them more attractive and respected. This improves their productivity and well-being, reinforcing a positive feedback loop. Standing up straight, pushing your shoulders back, speaking up, and making eye contact signals confidence to yourself and others. This virtuous cycle helps you face reality and take responsibility, allowing you to become all you can be.
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Get Your House in Order Before Criticising Others
The "house" metaphor often refers to you. The solution to most problems is not "out there" but "in here" – in your actions, habits, attitudes, and attention. Before being an athlete, you are a human, and your consistent actions and attitudes determine your success. Being the first to arrive and the last to leave indicates commitment. Conversely, arriving late and making excuses sets you up for long-term failure.
As an S&C coach, I noticed that athletes who consistently arrived early spent more time preparing, doing video analysis, and connecting with coaches and players. These athletes often had more successful seasons, spent less time in the medical room and showed better performance and improvement throughout.
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Isolation, Integration, Improvisation
The body is an intricate system, and movement is crucial for health and development. Strength enhances movement capacity, allowing you to own every position. This concept from Ido Portal formed the foundation of our athlete development principles.
- Isolation: Building strength with movement patterns like squats, hinges, and push/pull exercises, combining traditional strength training with body-weight exercises.
- Integration: Forming movement sentences from isolated exercises. A squat becomes a stepping stone to other movements, evolving into a seamless flow.
- Improvisation: Combining isolation and integration to create improvised movement flows. This level of mastery takes years of dedicated practice, highlighting the importance of a strong foundation at the academy level.
It's easy to overlook the fact that team sport athletes are fundamentally "movers." Instead, we tend to categorise them as strength or power dominant athletes. This misconception can result in injuries or hinder an athlete's ability to reach their full potential. Prioritising the journey from isolation to improvisation is the pathway to mastering movement and can significantly impact all athletes.
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It's Easy to Improve a Bronco Time - But Are You Game Fit?
Your aerobic capacity serves as the foundation for all other athletic traits. The higher your aerobic capacity, the better you'll be at repeating maximum efforts, making decisions under pressure, reducing errors, and performing at your peak abilities at the highest level. Think of it as the engine that powers your performance; the more powerful the engine, the more efficiently you can handle the demands of intense competition. This translates to sustained high performance, whether it's maintaining speed throughout a game or staying sharp mentally when it matters most.
Team sport athletes must possess a range of physical, tactical, and technical skills. Aerobic fitness is usually honed during preseason, with High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) proving to be the most efficient method. HIIT enhances aerobic fitness while occasionally triggering anaerobic responses. Incorporating a blend of Long HIIT, COD (Change of Direction) HIIT, and Anaerobic HIIT over a period not only notably decreased individual Bronco times but also enabled our players to meet the rigorous demands of Rugby League and excel in their respective positions - for the entire game.
Why Small-Sided Games Early in Preseason Are Not Effective
Using technical sport training exclusively can result in inconsistent conditioning stimuli. Athletes may either lack engagement or be forced to perform at the level of the lowest common denominator, resulting in inadequate conditioning. Additionally, balancing technical and conditioning requirements often leaves both sides unsatisfied. Objective, prescribed running conditioning is more consistent and effective in building the necessary fitness levels. In a con-game model, athletes are shortchanged regarding the conditioning demands needed to meet the head coach’s technical model. This mismatch often leads to the downfall of many teams and individuals in elite competitions. -
Don't Forget to Be a Kid
It's easy to get caught up in results, standards, and expectations and forget that you're still a kid. Not everyone aspires to be an NRL player, and that's okay. However, if you want to succeed, it's crucial to surround yourself with people who want the best for you. Too often, talented kids associate with individuals displaying poor character traits, negatively impacting them. Less than 1% of aspiring athletes will make it, so sacrifices are a given. You need to embrace being different, enjoy the grind, and if your circle doesn't inspire you, it's a cage, not a circle.
Not every child will reach the NRL, no matter how meticulously they demonstrate these five key points. Nothing is guaranteed. However, in my experience, progressing through the ranks from academy to Harold Mathews, to SG Ball is as much about the attitudes and behaviors you exhibit daily as it is about your skills as a player. Standing up straight with your shoulders back can open many doors, but it's what you do once you're inside that determines how far you'll go in your athletic career.