The formation of England’s Cadet & Junior ‘A’ Squad

Selecting

With the selection process over for the Cadet & Junior World Championships, a process which has taken over three months, we have filtered and narrowed down a multitude of athletes to produced a group of athletes that have now formed a stable core of group of fighters to nurture and develop.

As with all selections, there will always be those that leave disappointed, and for the lucky ones, an opportunity to fulfil their dreams and goals and represent their country at a major championships. However, for those that made it to the final selections but, were unfortunate to get selected for the championships, their contribution can still be very valuable and as such their efforts should not go unnoticed or unrewarded.

The difference

As the national coach of karate in England, one of my goals is to have a strong core and depth of fighters that I can pull from and thus ensure that we don’t just have quality fighters for a short period of time, but have a system that produces quality athletes for years to come. I believe in order to produce this, there has to be some kind of difference between those that attend open squad training to select, and those athletes that have proven themselves to be of an exceptional ability.

Moving forward

In the future I see the open squads as a tool to introduce potential sport karate athletes to the national squad. The open squads will have a selection process with which the best from these selections will be invited to train and select in the newly formed England Karate A Squad. If these individuals do not make the grade and fail to impress, they will be put back into the open squads until their abilities improve. Improvement for these individuals can be gained via the regional kumite classes, and additional training given by their instructors and advice from the National and assistant coaches.

On the Squad

For the athletes that have been selected for the newly form England Karate A Squad, their training will be of a much more specific nature with regards to fighting strategies and tactics, more Intense training sessions and from the athletes an increased level of commitment to training and the national squad. Athletes that make up the A squad will be subjected to a review of their position on the squad every 2 years.

Considerations such as fitness, attendance, and results at domestic and international tournaments will all be reviewed and monitored. Training diaries will be reviewed on a regular basis and all aspects of the athletes training shall be noted in these diaries and be ready to be inspected at any moments notice. In addition, all athletes will have specific tasks and homework for them to perform and drills to work on, specifically to them.

Athletes who are current members of the England A squad will be recognised by the Yellow jersey which must be worn by all members of the squad when attending any kind of EKF Squad training. Ideally each category within the A squad should have a minimum of 2 persons in each category, but only a maximum of 4 person within each category. In future all athletes, selecting for major championships, will have to make the grade for the A squad and thus from this only athletes who are members of this squad can represent their country at major championships such as the European and Worlds.

Athletes becoming of age and moving from the Cadet & Junior England A squad will automatically progress to the Senior England A squad. Once there, the athlete’s position will be reviewed at the 2 year period just as they would have experienced in the cadet and junior squad. Life for athletes on the A squad will be one of hard work, pressure, dedication, commitment and sacrifice, all of these things will be needed if we are to succeed.

I know the proposal I have put forward is a structure that can work, athletes on the squad will get value for money, prestige amongst their peers and more importantly we all will have a stable structure that we can build and develop our future champions. We have Martial Arts centres up and down the country that are sympathetic to our cause and are only too willing and able to help.

We have an excellent group of athletes, all of which have the potential to become World and European Champions. In addition to all what I have mentioned I believe we have the best coaching staff, admin staff and dare I say it Governing Body (EKF) to make this a reality. To all athletes and everyone that is involved in this great sport, now is the time and it’s our time, either “Step Up or Step Out” the choice is yours. Let’s rise to the challenge and make it happen.

Article prepared by Wayne Otto OBE, England National Coach.