Sports Development: A template for amplifying athlete(s) or team(s) performance.
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First and foremost credit of the idea goes to Amazon Prime Series The Test: An Era for Australia’s Team, based on the journey of redemption of the Australian National Cricket team after the ball-tampering scandal in 2018, aka the Sandpapergate scandal. In the very first episode, Pat Cummins talks about the idea of having a template of being an athlete and being a successful team. It was about the gold-plated era (words of Peter Lalor) of Cricket Australia in the 1990s and 2000s.
They were invincible.
In the 1990s, watching the foreign players (especially cricketers) was like watching soldiers going to war for each run or each ball. They would never let the opposition take any lead in any game. And by in-the-game, I mean the batting, bowling and fielding. Some of the players from teams like England, South Africa, New Zealand, and of-course Australia would jump on the ball to stop it, which would make a difference in the overall result and performance even when the fitness components weren’t professional analyzed.
I vividly remember watching a match with my mother in the early 2000s. She watched Australian players throwing themselves to stop the ball or converting it into a run-out chance. Out of shock she said, اهي بال تي ڇو ٿي رهيا آهن؟ in Sindhi, in Hindi it means वो बॉल पे गिर क्यों रहे है? which means, why are they falling (diving) on the ball? Very much similar to observing Carolina Marin, or Ma Long in this high-performance era. We would get upset more often for not getting those extra runs because of the fielding efforts by the International players. It went on until Indian athletes realized the significance of fitness and performing more fielding drills. It seemed necessary for India to stand up to England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, etc.
For me, Cricket has exhibited the magnitude of different traits involved in the ecosystem of sports development & management. It opens doors to learn diverse attributes of different dimensions of various sporting disciplines. This time it is Boxing. I had the honour of speaking to an Olympian to know her side of the story, her journey, and the driving force of playing sport at different levels, both in India and New Zealand.
She is Siona Fernandes. An Indian classical dancer turned professional athlete, who quickly progressed as an international boxer to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games. She goes down in history participating in London 2012, where women were first allowed to participate in Olympic level boxing. Siona completed her Master’s degree in Sport & Exercise Science in New Zealand, after holding a Masters in Psychology in India. Siona is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public health in Australia, given her passion to get more Indians participating in sport, physical activity and exercise. As an Olympic ambassador, she shares her passion to engage the youth in sport.
Let’s take a glimpse of her life for a moment,
During the 45-50mins discussion (usually, sports discussions can go on for hours) we talked about:
1. When & how were you introduced to sport or any form of physical activity?
Siona: I was introduced to basketball, table-tennis, shot-put, discuss, karate at my school, the Our Lady of the Rosary which is an all-girls school in India. After school, recreational activities like classical Indian dance which I took up at age 7 and violin were part of the everyday routine. My involvement in sport and physical activity grew from having many opportunities in school with support from my sports teachers, basketball coach and parents.
2. How has your journey been so far, with sports & without sports acting as a catalyst?
Siona: Sport has been an integral part of my journey. I haven’t had a life without it! Thankfully, sport has been my means of self-expression from very early on in life. Further, shaping various (movement) skills through dance, karate, playing in a team setting like basketball. Sport has allowed me to integrate with people from different countries, communities, cultures. Such experiences have shaped some of my current interests and aspirations like my PhD. Now, staying active is important for my productivity, both physical health, mental and social wellbeing.
3. Is it true, when we say being habituated with an athletic lifestyle, helps us become a personality?
Siona: Oh, this is an area I could dissect at length. The mental side of a sport is huge. The demand for effort in sport transcends into MANY shaping various aspects of individual personality/behaviour. Sport allows you to get to know the ‘truth of yourself’. The journey ‘tests’, and also ‘define’ your limits; like ability to sustain your focus under fatigue, defining your mental attitude towards pain and failure, role and function of positive self-belief, sustained levels of willpower, of course, discipline, and other leadership qualities like self-reflection taking responsibility, goal setting, taking on feedback/criticism. Sport or boxing is therefore a form of self-expression and self-development that lends itself to a deep understanding of capabilities of the mind and the body. In boxing, you need to overcome the fear of being seriously hurt. Although the system celebrates training the physical muscle, in reality, you also mould these mental, and emotional faculties of the athlete. This could serve in positive or negative directions. Either way, the athlete is in tune with who they are on a physical, mental and emotional level. When you operate at this level overtime it defines your sense of being, confidence is one aspect. Not many avenues remain for people to operate at this level of authenticity which sport is a strong source of.
4. Did you ever dream of becoming an Olympian?
Siona: No. I did not dream of doing boxing let alone being an Olympian! For me, it was more an outcome of everyday process met with opportunity. The opportunity being the introduction of boxing for women at the Olympics. By the everyday process, I mean developing the discipline, perseverance, resilience through my early involvement in various sports and dance. Such skills and mental attribute quickly transferred to my boxing career at an elite level.
5. How does it feel having earned the title as an Olympian? Does it have additional responsibilities?
Siona: I am privileged as an Indian migrant woman, to have had the opportunity to represent New Zealand at the Olympic stage. I am responsible to promote the Olympic values among younger/aspiring athletes. As an Olympian supporting people to stay physically active is particularly important for me. I am currently developing area towards getting more Indians participating in sport.
6. How do you feel about the importance of being an ambassador of promoting Olympic values and the responsibilities to work towards inspiring future generations?
Siona: As an ambassador, I have an opportunity to visit schools and share the Olympics values and lessons learned through sport. I share my 5 key steps to setting and accomplishing goals which are vital at the grassroots level. The youth relate to personal stories. In my case, it wasn't about winning but more about how important the process was to refine my thoughts about failures and challenges. I share how my physical and mental qualities shaped early in India, transferred as an Olympic boxer.
7. Is it true that coaching comes naturally to anyone who gets coached correctly? Like they know the drill. They know what it takes to be in that peak performance zone? Does being coached properly helps you share those values in a relatively effective manner?
Siona: Being an athlete and being a coach requires different skillsets. Athletes may have trained in exercises/drills and mastering their own capabilities. Coaching, in my opinion, requires a well-developed skillset towards understanding the temperament of another individual and adopting language/instructions that works for each individual athlete. Personally, good coaches are practitioners who develop sporting skills and shape good values in each athlete.
8. What does it take to be a professional athlete, or an Olympian or a Paralympian?
Siona: It’s more than just the practice of doing the ‘10,000 hours’ to start with. There should be quality in it. For instance, set clear goals, train with purpose, and measure performance. It takes resilience; belief, in oneself surrounded by those around who believe in you; and opportunity, having sporting systems that identify and develop your skills.
9. Your thoughts and experience about having a template of building/having athletes to be champion athletes or a champion team?
Siona: Insight of the athlete’s performance and wellbeing, my template would prioritize:
- Coaching skills around physical and mental development.
- Athletes to focus on and take responsibility for the ‘process’ (over outcome).
- Considering the retirement phase; Plan for life after an athletic career.
- International exchange. e.g., overseas training camps.
- Opportunity- creating sport-for-ALL (women, race, physically challenged).
- Legacy-Share personal experiences with upcoming athletes & groom them.
10. Does this routine carry on after retirement too?
Siona: Retirement is another side of the story and an important one. Not all athletes win gold medals, but all sacrifice the same amount of blood, sweat and time towards their sport. Both the athlete and sports systems need to think of ways to support the retirement-phase or 'after-life' of the athlete's career. support the ‘after-life’ of their career. I am doing this through pursuing higher education in sport, exercise and public health which has been given importance through the Athlete 365 initiative of the International Olympic Committee.
A way forward to developing a conceivable winning template:
From the holistic development, of not just the athletes, but also for the Sports Ecosystem point-of-view, it is critical for everyone working in the system to have an athlete first mentality. I would quote Harsha Bhogle who wishes, “to have a strong foundation to be positioned by the State Associations, or Governing Bodies & Administrators (specific to cricket), because when the state authorities are strong, the National Teams (the elite athletes) are even stronger” (Cricbuzz, 2021).
Why not have a similar ideology for other/every sporting dimensions? which can give us, “more bench strength, no matter if it is an individual sport or a team sport”. Furthermore, this strong foundation at the community, regional & state/province level gives a chance to retired athletes, to always be an athlete. It gives them a purpose to get back to the regime, and the only change is that they are now responsible for sharing & developing the values, skills, tactical regimes with the upcoming generations. (Also read, Boxing Champ Dreams Big)
The brands will come and go, the people, the system will grow & things will change, but one thing which gets hugely impacted is the athlete(s), be it a positive or negative change. It is that stage where we (as a Sporting Nation) further enhance our thoughts and our beliefs. Maybe we can start off by working in the direction of achieving national success and extensive strategic evaluation by saying,
“Nations progress can be judged, by the way, its athletes (abled & specially-abled) are groomed & taken care-of.”
We have to ultimately remind ourselves, No Athletes - No Sports - No Business. Sports Ecosystem is extremely dynamic predominantly because we are dealing with real-time human emotions, at times raw and innocent ones, because of whom the whole system is operational in the first place. A template is even more necessary for that, which acts as schema(s) of the values the team or an athlete portrays in the training, competition, and real-life situation, even while they are away from their respective sporting discipline. The schema, the winning template isn’t just about mastering 2 or 3 aspects, but significantly related to,
- Our (athlete’s) behaviour on-and-off the field, also referred to as the ‘character’.
- Our contribution to educating & knowledge sharing via grassroots development.
- Our ability to believe in Athlete-For-Life notion to further align the long-term objectives.
- Our preparation & approach towards a game, not just before it starts, but also during the contest (especially when things aren’t working out), and after the competition too.
- Our pledge to keep the sport clean to the best of our capabilities.
- Create diverse and inclusive environments - Sport-for-All.
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