The OSIC News

Volume 1, Issue 3 www.oceaniasport.info August 2003 The Judoka's proved if "there's a will there's a way ", by performing extremely well during the Oceania Welcome to the third issue Championships. of the OSIC News. At the end of August a selected number of Track & Field From the OSIC desk athletes will have their opportunity to again show case their

We apologize for the late publication of the 2nd issue of the talents at the World Athletics Championships in Paris,

rd France. Many will find the going a little tough but at least they OSIC News which most of you will receive with the 3 issue. I would like to congratulate everyone who took part in the will get an opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the best South . Despite the weather I am sure athletes from around the world. Full results of the World everyone had a wonderful experience and already planning Championships are available at www.iaaf.org/WCH03. for the in . OSIC during the South Pacific Games "SPG Blues" While still on the SPG, OSIC proved to be a popular stop over for coaches and officials who stayed at USP during the Now that the South Pacific Games are over, athletes and Games. We had organized special opening hours from 8:00am - 8:00pm throughout the duration of the Games and coaches are probably trying to find ways to keep themselves provided a number of services. OSIC with the assistance of busy. I know some athletes had spent the last 2 years the USP library provided the following services during the preparing for the SPG and now experiencing the post-games SPG - Internet access, reading and browsing facilities, videotape viewing, live TV coverage and photocopying. Blues. Athletes and coaches are probably trying to figure out what to do with all the free time they now have? For example Many thanks to the USP library staff who worked shifts at OSIC in order to keep it open after the normal opening hours some of my athletes are already calling me up to see when of the library. Opening the emergency exit door facing the training was going to start again? pool, made it very convenient for those wanting to visit OSIC. This is definitely food for thought if we want OSIC Some athletes were fortunate to have made it to other to be more accessible to the general public. international competitions. For example had the Oceania Judo Championships in immediately after the Statistics taken showed a substantial number of coach's (21), SPG. I take my hat off to these athletes since it's not easy to Managers (7), Doctors (4), and 3 athletes visited OSIC. Further analysis of the statistics showed the following bounce back from something like the South Pacific Games. breakdown by country for coaches - (5), (4), (4), FSM (2), PNG (1), (2), Cook Is (2), Solomon Is (1). Sports Managers - PNG (1), Cook Is (2), FSM (1), Kiribati (1), Tuvalu (1), Tokelau (1). Doctors - PNG I NSIDE T HIS I SSUE (2), Cook Is (1), Marshall Is (1). Analyzing the 2003 South Pacific Games It is unfortunate that countries look at their success at the SPG based on the number of medals they won. We tend to South Pacific Games Blues neglect all the other intrinsic rewards that each individual 1 gains from participating in such an event. The value of the personal experience gained from participating in the Games OSIC during the SPG 1 would definitely out weigh the cost associated with winning a medal. 1 Analyzing the 2003 SPG once again proved to be the major 2 Sports Websites powerhouse in regional sports by winning the most number of medals. Although New Caledonia won the overall medal 2 New Books tally, their dominance was not so obvious as in past Games. 2 Regional Sports Education Program It was encouraging to see how other countries were continued on page 2

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Regional Sports Education Program

progressing in some of the minor sports, such as , table A working group from ONOC, Sports Council, OSIC and , tennis, and martial arts. the Australian Sports Commission have had several meetings in the past six months to discuss plans for The Fiji badminton team showed that it was possible to unseed New introducing a regional sports education program. This idea Caledonia by winning the most number of medals to take out the has been floating around for a number of years and this is badminton crown. The win did not come easy for the Fiji badminton the first time that a working group has been formed to team since they had put in a lot of hard work over the past 2 years to seriously look into the development of the proposed program. improve the standard of the game in Fiji. According to Team The working group is hopeful that the program will start in Manager Barry Whiteside, the secret to their success was hard work 2005. and that his team had been training 5 - 6 times a week in the 3 months leading up to the Games (SPG Update, SPGOC July 10). Kiribati - Newest IOC Member

To topple New Caledonia from their domination in the SPG will take Congratulations to Kiribati for becoming the newest member a concerted effort from the other countries in the region. It is of the IOC. The membership entitles the Kiribati National unfortunate that most countries in the South Pacific do not have the Olympic Committee all the financial support that all members finance or the resources to compete with New Caledonia. One of the receive from the Olympic Solidarity Programs. other major reasons is that they do not have the proper development and competition program for most minor sports. Kiribati for the last several years has been working hard to fulfill all the requirements stipulated by the IOC before they Countries in the region have to develop its own coaching resources could be accepted as a member of the Olympic family. Credit and competition infrastructures that would sustain and support a should also be given to the support that the Kiribati NOC long term development plan in the sports that have been dominated received from ONOC, which had also been instrumental in by New Caledonia. the establishment of the East Timor National Olympic Committee. East Timor was also given full membership to the The onus is now on the other regional countries to take up the IOC this year. challenge at the next SPG, which will be held in Samoa in 2007. Preparations and planning must start now if a serious challenge to New Caledonia is to materialize. Coaches Corner Sports Websites After the SPG coaches are now slowly gearing up for the • www.pponline.co.uk - Peak Performance is one of the leading resources for modern coaching methods, which are very local competition season. Coaches should be concentrating practical and informative. on compiling and planning off-season training programs. • www.advantageathletics.com - A very useful resource for There are many resources available either on the Internet or athletic coaches with excellent illustrations. books that could be used as guidelines for preparing off- • www.ausports.gov.au - Australian Sports Commission website. season training programs. One such resource is the Peak • www.oceaniasport.com - This site was created during the SPG and provides information on all sporting federations in the Performance Coaching Newsletter (www.pponline.co.uk), Oceania region. which is available online for a small fee. This coaching New Resources newsletter has some very practical and innovative Here are some of the new additions to the OSIC collection, which approaches to coaching. are available at the USP Library. • "The Coaching Bible" by Don Shondell & Cecille It is important, as coaches to move away from the same old Reynaud. - 2002 coaching methods and training programs that most of us • "Complete Conditioning for Martial Arts" by Sean Cochran - have used in the past. Try out new ideas and explore more 2001 exciting ways of coaching your athletes that will give more • "Rugby Tough" by Bruce Hale & David Collins - 2002 zest to their training. Just remember that the same old • "Athletics ABS" - Maximum core fitness training by Scott Cole & Tom Seabourne - 2003 training programs could be very boring for athletes. Bored • "Yogafit" by Beth Shaw - 2001 athletes will quickly disappear and look for something more • "Sports Coaching Concepts" - A frame work for coaches challenging and exciting. behavior, by John Lyle -2003 Contact us for more information on coaching resources. • "Complete Conditioning for Volleyball", by Al Scates & Mike Linn. Fax: 679 - 330-0830. Email: [email protected] or • "Physiological Aspects of Training and [email protected]. Phone: 679 - 321 - 2395 Performance", by Jay Hoffman - 2002