EN BREF #5
 
Everything you never knew you needed to know about the World Teams ...

SCOTLAND
Meet Roger Flynn

"The more I learn, the more I realise the less I know" sang Barbra Streisand in Yentl. Well, that’s exactly the feeling that overwhelms me every time I cover a tournament, and discover that I know so little about the world of squash.

For example, did you know that Roger Flynn, Irish origins, born in England, raised in Australia, and Scottish National Coach since October 2006, was Sarah Fitz-Gerald and Anthony Hill's coach?

I didn’t.

Roger used to scare me a bit, as he makes sure his sensitivity  and passion is well hidden behind a very thick shell of feinted detachment and coldness. It did fool me for a while…

The man is bright,  generous, but most of all, passionate.

About life in general. About squash, of course. But most of all, about his players, for whom he just likes finding solutions…
 

"’Team’ is a funny word in Squash. A team doesn’t play, individuals do. So, coaching a team is about managing people and handling interaction. And of course, it’s more difficult when the team is full of rivals." "Former Scottish Coach Paul Frank made sure that the players, from a young age, are taught that winning for Scotland is a priority. A win for yourself is good, a win for Scotland is better. Scotland has always been historically protective, the Romans stopped at Scotland you know! "So it’s a bit the same for sport, there is a real culture about wanting to win for Scotland. And if there is rivalry, it’s to get into the team…."

About detecting young talents…

"When I look at young players, I always look for the usual "speed kills" and other characteristics, but also for the "cute ones" [note for the non UK readers, meaning kids that are a bit cheeky in the sense they are trying different things with the ball, don’t play really by the book]. "But of course, to be gifted is not enough, and as their career advances, discipline and work ethics play a big role at a latter stage."

Multi talented

Although he is thinks he is not that special, that all athletes want to excel in everything they do, and that’s why he likes doing things to the best of his abilities at all times, Roger also does a lot of "little things" like building houses, making furniture, and oh yes, was about to forget, he was initially a systems analyst, where he gets his "lateral thinking" from.

"It’s not so much about solving problems than actually knowing that there is an answer. And it applies to coaching. It’s all about optimising natural abilities. "For example, you have a player, with qualities. let’s compare it to cooking - you have some ingredients, and you try to make the best pie, a perfect pie. Then you have another player, with other ingredients, with whom you are also going to try and make the perfect pie. It will be a different one, but a perfect one too…"

Commitment to carry out the plan

For Roger, it’s all about finding a game plan for his player, and making sure that they trust him enough to apply it.

"It’s about looking in their eye when they get on court, and seeing the face of someone who believes that he can win, because he trusts the game plan you gave him. ‘Trust the plan’… "And it’s that smile they give you when they win, telling you that they were right to trust you. That’s what coaching is all about."

Dealing with defeat

Difficult to deal with the rush of emotions that spread through a player’s veins when defeat strikes.

"Everyone is different in reacting after a defeat, but one common point all the top athletes share is the hatred of losing. People talk about the will to win, that’s rubbish, they just loathe losing. "So, how to come to terms with defeat? First, if you are not prepared to lose, don’t play. But that doesn’t stop you from hating it… "You need to give your player the motivation of not having to deal with it again, and getting him to the point where he can rationalise thing in his mind. The time it takes to get him to that point can vary, of course. "Some players, you can talk to them right after, and look at the points that went wrong, didn’t follow the game plan, not patient enough, etc. And he’ll think, OK, next time, I’ll have to do this, not do that, etc. "Other players, it takes more time for them to get over their emotions. Then you have to find an explanation, you can use statistics, videos, talk, or just draw the answers out of them."

Best and worst about coaching

ENGLAND
David Campion



David is famous in the world as the English Assistant Coach, but he is of course also James Willstrop's half brother, and Malcolm Willstrop's step son.



But.

You, the young generation, were you aware that he was here in 1990, in Paderborn, and that he was the runner up against Simon Parke in the individual Junior finals – that was the last time a nation provided all four semi-finalists (until Egypt in Herentals this year).

Also, he had to play the deciding tie in the final of the Team Event  against John Williams (who was at the time representing Australia, and now still plays for Switzerland at 39).

At the time, Jonah Barrington was coaching the England Team, and a few years back, predicted that a team of Simon Parke, David Campion and Peter Marshall (who unfortunately was two months too old to participate to that event) would bring the World Championship title to England.

On that occasion, Jonah thought it would be in the best interest of David Campion to let Malcolm coach him. And apparently, that was an excellent move.

And the rest is history, of course, as England won the title thanks to Campion’s victory over Williams…

They said...

Paul Assiante (US Coach), watching the Egyptians practising up on the glass court: