Holmes - Helping the next generation

At a time when Kelly Holmes could be enjoying the fruits of success at home, the double Olympic champion is putting something back into the sport in the university town of Potchefstroom in South Africa.

Britain's youth and in future the townships

Holmes has taken eight of Britain's finest young female middle distance runners to the town, 75 miles south-west of Johannesburg, where she has trained every winter since 1997.

In a month-long training camp where everything is organised and controlled by Holmes, the British women have been joined by a contingent of young athletes from South Africa.

Indeed next year the 'On Camp with Kelly' initiative is set to be extended to help children from South Africa's townships. Click here for related story.

Among the British runners selected by Holmes at a special training day, in Birmingham in July, are 17 year-old, Charlotte Browning, the winner of four consecutive AAA 1500m titles between 2000 and 2003 and 16 year-old Danielle Christmas, who next month competes in the 800m at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Melbourne.

Holmes came up with the idea of a training camp as long ago as January and it would have been no surprise if she had restricted her involvement with the project after her double triumph in Athens.

A commitment to the sport's future

But Holmes, 34, is totally committed to the camp and passing on the lessons she has learned over her 11 years as an international athlete. "I feel very passionate about passing on my experiences - both good and bad - to another generation of athletes,” confirmed Holmes. “I don't think you ever stop learning in this sport and I've had to learn the hard way. I'm trying to give these young ladies as much information as I can and even if they pick up on only one or two aspects of the camp, it will have been important."

Sponsored by Norwich Union and supported by the South African tourist board, the camp offers the athletes an array of information, with talks and lectures on preventative physiotherapy, nutrition and eating disorders, doping and the dangers of using supplements and how to develop the right mental attitude for racing and training.

Feeling uncomfortable and living out of a suitcase 

There are practical lessons on developing core stability, warm-up techniques and motivation. In addition, Holmes has adapted her experience as a sergeant and PT instructor with the British Army to instil a sense of discipline into the athletes' approach to their sport.

Her addresses to the troops are eloquent and engaging and, in the style of an army exercise, she controls all the information given out. She even has the athletes on a constant state of alert for any number of new challenges.

There is, for example, the ongoing tuition in getting used to new surroundings. The 20 young women at the camp sleep in four rooms in two rented houses. The rooms have been named USA, Wales, China and Russia and each has different characteristics.

At a moment's notice, Holmes has directed the women to pack their bags and change rooms. "It's about teaching them to get used to feeling uncomfortable and having to live out of a suitcase, which is what happens on the athletics circuit. You constantly have to share rooms with strangers and not let it affect your performance."

It's all part of giving the youngsters an insight into what life will be like if they succeed in becoming international athletes. "It can be very lonely because, most of the time, you are on your own. Even this year, I was on my own a lot. But I had a purpose. I wanted to achieve something and nothing was going to distract me, no matter what. The fact that I had been in the army probably helped me. It's where I think I have an advantage over these girls because I was in there from when I was 17 and I had to learn a lot about myself and grow up very quickly.”

Long term planning

"I've been honest and told the girls that not all of them will make it. But I'm not a coach, just a supporting pathway and I'll have no impact on whether they will go on and win gold in Beijing or, hopefully, London in 2012. While I am trying to instil in them what it takes to become a good athlete, it is no good them having the drive to win, say, the world juniors next year and then think they have made it.”
 
"I am 34 and I have just achieved my goal. I am trying to tell them that if they decide their career is going to be a long one, as in 10, 12 or 15 years, it's important that they believe in their long-term plans.”

The camp closes this week but not before the athletes have been put through their paces in an exercise designed to replicate a major meeting. Holmes will be on the sidelines to check their arrival time, warm-up, attitude and race plan. Christmas's performance at the Commonwealth Youth Championships in Melbourne will be the first test of Holmes' power to motivate.

Danielle said: "I've taken so many things out of this experience. It's given us all a lot of motivation. It's been such an amazing opportunity and we've learned so much about ourselves."

Tom Knight (The Daily Telegraph) for the IAAF

Note - The other British athletes on the camp are: Joanne Finch (City of Glasgow), Laura Finucane (Pendle AC), Jo Harper (Cannock and Staffs AC), Non Stanford (Swansea Harriers), Rachael Thompson (Liverpool Harriers) and Danielle Walker (Royal Sutton Coldfield).