After a busy summer getting our performance sports clubs prepared for the upcoming BUCS season, our Head of Strength and Conditioning Coach Calum Conway discusses how the University’s Strength and Conditioning team are also supporting our youth programmes.
Pre-season was an incredible opportunity to welcome our performance sports back to Coombe Dingle Sports Complex and provide four weeks of preparation ahead of the 2024/24 BUCS season. However, the Strength and Conditioning (S&C) department were also hard at work preparing a number of other clubs this summer, making use of the facilities and expertise on campus.
England Hockey Talent Academy
The University of Bristol is a proud England Hockey Talent Academy. The programme provides training for some of the West Country’s brightest hockey talents. For the first time, the University also provided S&C support in the gym. The aim of the support was to educate players on the basic movement patterns that can be performed throughout the year, to both limit the risk of injury and to improve physical outputs. Having run a successful block over the summer, the programme has committed to more sessions throughout the entire year that will continue to educate and provide support.
Junior Performance Tennis
Coombe Dingle is also home to our Junior Performance Tennis programme, for children who are representing the County or on the pathway to County representation. Introducing S&C sessions for this group provides a slightly different challenge. Due to the training age of the players, the delivery looked vastly different to a conventional S&C session. Use of games, races and problem solving tasks provides an environment where younger players can practise athletic movement patterns in a fun way that encourages them to explore and find solutions to movement problems. Again, these sessions will continue into the year where we plan to increase the complexity of training whilst keeping the sessions fun!
Bryanston School
Finally, in the last week of pre-season, we welcomed Bryanston School to use our facilities, including the Coombe Dingle pitches, gyms, ice bath, and hospitality supplied by Source for pre-season. Creating connections with schools around the country means we can create a community focused on supporting youth athletes and help recruit talented prospective students ahead of the next academic year. The three-day programme included in a session of padel and a training session, before heading back down to Dorset.
Whilst the University performance teams remain the priority for the S&C department, the connections we make through coaching can prove useful in the University’s wider strategy – improving health and wellbeing, supporting players to thrive and developing belonging at the University of Bristol.