- 4 Sep 08, 12:34 PM
I spoke out against GB head coach Peter Suk immediately after my quarter-final defeat at the Olympic Games and then retracted it on reflection in my blog later that day.
Since then, I've had more time to reflect and I stand by what I originally said and if a lot of things don't get better, I will pack it in and that's not me being a sore loser.
Concerns need to be raised for the benefit of the whole of GB archery - if we can push on, the funding will get there, if not, the sport goes back to no funding and fewer competitors.
The next three or four years are going to be interesting with London 2012 coming up - we should get more input into what we need to become world and Olympic champions.
I know I'm capable of winning Olympic medals, but I need to have the right support.
This is the first year since I turned senior in 2002 that I've not won a medal in target or field archery despite shooting better than ever.
That has been down to a lack of confidence and the mental side of things and things going on behind the scenes.
This year, everything was wrong in the build-up to the Olympics with the selections for the World Cup circuit.
If we bombed out in the first round of a competition, Peter would say don't worry - but confidence gets knocked if you're not doing well.
We need a do-or-die mentality - put everything in until your fingers bleed.
We weren't prepared properly.
I have no problem with Peter away from archery, but we have different methods within the sport.
Team morale was low at the Team GB holding camp in Macau but Peter said he expected that because of nerves and that it would be alright when we got to Beijing. But it wasn't and it was down to the team to try and lift ourselves when we should have been focusing on competing.
Since my quarter-final defeat at the Olympics, I have not spoken to Peter. He left for Korea straight after the competition; there was no de-brief as we have always had after every other event, which was a bit strange.
I have always worked with my own personal coach at home and things have always gone perfectly - I have always been in charge and every medal I've ever won I've done by learning how to approach different matches mentally.
This year, the confidence has been non-existant and by the time I was knocked out at the Olympics, it was the first time I had lost control in a match situation.
I want to emphasise though that I really enjoyed my first Olympics experience despite the problems.
We've got a meeting in October with all the British archers who competed at the Olympics and Paralympics which will hopefully sort some things out.
Before that I'm off to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace as part of the big parade through London with all the other British Olympians on 16 October, which I'm really looking forward to.
Away from the competition, I had a great time in Beijing, spending time with my mates and going to watch other sports.
The best was watching Beth Tweddle in the gymnastics - we went because we know a few of the gymnasts from training at Lilleshall - I've never been to a gymnasium hall, it was massive and the atmosphere was great, particularly when the Chinese were competing.
Beth was unlucky and, even though we didn't know much about the technical side, we thought her performance deserved third!
The athlete's village is not as mad as everyone makes out - there were a lot of people there who still hadn't competed when we had finished, so there is respect for everyone else.
It's a different story in the city though - the bars were rammed, mainly with Australians! I tended to stick with the archery lads and lasses from Australia, America and Canada as we all know each other through competing across the world - it was a brilliant experience.
Me and Larry Godfrey had a few good days enjoying ourselves but we had the option to come home a day early before the closing ceremony, so we did.
When I got home and saw the closing ceremony and the plane carrying the rest of the team, I thought it would have been nice to be on it, but then it was nice to arrive at Heathrow and slip through unnoticed.
Since I got back to Cumbria, I've had a bit of post-Olympics blues - out in Beijing we were living in a bubble and everything was done for you so we could enjoy ourselves and focus on our event.
But when we got back, nobody told us how hard it is to get back to reality.
I was back a couple of days before I resumed training and my next aim is to qualify for the British field archery team for the World Games next year.
Field archery is extreme archery - there is a course with 24 targets which can be up a cliff, down a cliff, or across a ravine and you shoot three arrows at each target. They are all different sizes and on day one you have to guess how far away they are. On day two, the distances are marked.
I use the same bow as for the target archery, just with lighter arrows - field archery has always been at my heart, I was number one in the world a few years back and I've won many medals including a World Games silver and World Team silver and I was also European junior champion.
I was hoping to be given a wildcard into the British team for the World Games as I used to dominate the sport, but they wouldn't accept me, so I'm training hard and I want to bang in some big scores at the first of two qualifiers next weekend in the north-east and prove a point.
Click here for GB team manager Hilda Gibson's response.
Alan Wills was talking to BBC Sport's Peter Scrivener.
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Comments
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It's my coaches fault...
It's not my coaches fault...
No wait it is my coaches fault...
pathetic.
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He seems a bit bitter about life in general! I wonder was he not given a wildcard for the World games because of inept officials, or because of his attitude?
You'd want to take a look at yourself Alan, it's always difficult to perform well if you don't enjoy your sport and it sounds like you don't enjoy it any more.
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Although a part of me sympathises with Alan on the frustration he feels with the current setup especially if he is not getting the support or encouragement to fulfil his ability, I can't help but think there must be a more productive way to bring criticism about your head-coach than to post it from behind a computer screen on a BBC Blog.
Alan, perhaps taking the issue up with Peter himself may have been a better idea?
With regards to the level of your own performance at the games, the fault surely does not and cannot lie squarly on Peter's shoulders alone?!?
Especially seeing as by your own admission you haven't spoken to him since the Olympics, it might be an idea to speak directly to him rather than going to the public behind his back. It makes you look rather unprofessional.
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This is Archery for goodness sake! Practise makes better. If you didn't win, how on earth can it be the coaches fault. Clearly we weren't good enough and/or there were better archers there. I surprise myself that I care. It's bhardly the rousing blue ribband Olympic event that we crave every 4 years. Just sounds bitter to me....
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If people like you were in and around the camp there's no wonder morale was low!
I find it a bit strange you are waiting for a coach to give you a do or die mentality. You are responsible for your own mentality no-one else. I doubt Sir Steve Redgrave needed a coach to tell him he needed to be ruthless - that is why he is SIR Steve
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I watched Sir Steve after the rowing and he was praising the head of rowing for what a good job he did so obviously the role is important. Perhaps this archery coach isn't very good but the rowers will put their success down to teamwork and maybe, in the archery, both sides need to take a long look at themselves.
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Wow - how embarassing! The coach let me down, I wasn't mentally prepared, everything was done for us in Beijing and it was tough to adjust coming home, I used to be the best but they won't let me in based on past glories.
Take some responsibility man, pull yourself together and stop dwelling on what you used to be.
You are as good as you are in your next competition, not the one you entered a few years back. Your preparation is 90% down to you, 5% the coach and 5% the environment.
Perhaps you have been in denial for a while about your lack of mental strength and lack of self belief. One thing that "needs to change" before 2012 is your attitude. If it doesn't I suggest giving someone else a go.
G_U_F
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A little cheese with that whine sir?
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Sir, you are a disgrace.
Frankly if you have an urge to quit then quit now.
Many people, like Beth Tweddle who you mentioned, took their defeat far more graciously than you.
You are symbolic of all that is wrong in British sport at a time when it has reached a modern day high: hopefully to be beaten in 2012.
I trust you will not be there.
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How can you blame your coach? If your at this sort of level, you should be well past the need for a coach to hold your hand.
As far as archery as a sport is concerned; get back to traditional bows without all these added extra's. That will definetly sort out the field.
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Its pretty clear that everyone needs a swift kick up the backside, there is no use blaming the coach over and over, then changing your mind soon afterwards!
Peter is a smashing coach, there is no questioning that, what needs to be done is to sit down all of the GB archers and get a perspective on what they can achieve, instead of aiming into the clouds like us british people always do
Now im an archer myself, and im aiming at this level for 2012, personally id love to see archery become bigger in britian, but we need to put more into the youth system than we do, not only that, we need to slap the current team about a bit, where is this so called do or die mentality? if you was as true as you say about representing your country, you would have that attitude already, take phillip in the triple jump? not happy with silver? thats a man who wanted to give the best possible for his country
Blaming your coach is NOT the way to dodge the mistakes youve made...
now im not trying to just moan, all im saying is to improve the methods of which youngsters get into archery, as there are plenty of great junior archers in britian, and to seriously hit the current team hard, some may be determined, but some clearly are not, and this example should never happen in a country thats about to host the olympics
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for the record of my last post, the youth system is good already, but could still be far better
more could be done for the less mainstream events for sure
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Firstly Youth Archery system in GB. Have you checked the international results lately or looked at the score level of GB youth archers. Do you honestly think these archers are going to be ready for 2012!
Looking at it from Alan's point of view (instead of constantly blaming the athletes), maybe this is the only way he thinks things will be changed. Maybe he's already tried all possible sensible avenues and had no response. Maybe he is not the only international archer who feels this way. I know Alan and his character and he is very honest and professional. I know there is a very good and honest reason behind his feelings.
It makes me laugh when people are very quick to judge and criticise when they have no idea of the facts. Yet they comment on the bad. Why should he not blame the head coach. I'm sure he takes a lot of blame himself. Who's to say he hasn't tried working in the system and still not performed? Who’s to say that the Head Coach doesn’t control the whole Archery GB system? Open your mind a bit and think out of your small narrow minded box.
Check Archery GB Mens recurve results for 2008, i think you'll be surprised. Surely it's the job of the head coach to get athletes to perform. If it's not why do athletes need him?
For once why can't people look at this as frustration in a possible system that has let all the GB archers down?
When an athlete doesn't perform he is slated and it's the majority of his/hers fault. Yet when an athlete performs well, it's the system and coach that takes the credit. I'm sure Alan is not meaning to just highlight the head coach, but the whole system.
Look to 4 years ago and see the results a 4 archery team put together. Alison Williamson won the bronze medal and Larry Godfrey came 4th. Yet where did these archers finish in Beijing. Especially when they have said they are shooting technically better. Something is obviously wrong with the system for all archers to come away with nothing.
Who controls the system? If it's the head coach then why shouldn't he be to blame?
What happened to the England Football manager when we didn't make the Eurofinals, what's happened to the Athletics coach?
Stop attacking athletes and, maybe for once think is might not be their fault.
In modern day competitions and athlete is only as good as the coach and the system behind them. Anyone who is aspiring to become and international athlete and looking towards 2012 who is not already in the system has got a lot to learn.
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Or should he and the rest of them just shut their mouth carry on and not perform in London 2012.
Oh wait, then you'll be slating them for not trying to do anything about it.
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I think the tone of this blog may distract from the possibility that maybe the coaching could be improved. Afterall, when people say that money could be used to improve the youth system surely they are saying that the current coaching system is not good enough and can be improved?
The blame game is the wrong way to go about anything but this does highlight that there are issues to be addressed if the archery team is to perform as well as the teams from others sports did in China.
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Alan,
Aren't you the same chap that inferred after the team archery that someone may have interfered with your arrows?
I don't want to appear to jump on the bandwagon, but I agree with the majority of commentators on this blog.
I watched an awful lot of the Olympics and went through several emotions. I was frequently proud of our athletes, occasionally disappointed (such is sport!), but only once was I embarrassed. That was watching you blame everyone else for your failure to do well.
I hope that when the dust has settled you're able to learn from this experience.
Regards.
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It's my coaches fault...
It's not my coaches fault...
No wait it is my coaches fault...
pathetic.
Have you ever had a dream... Have you ever trained every day for 8 hours shooting your ass off, have you ever aquired the skill to be chosen to to represent your country to be let down at the last minute mentally by your coach!
Any sport is a mixture of skill, practice, dedication and mental stabilty and although you can achieve much greatness on your own everyone needs a support structure to take them the whole way! If you have ever achieved a higher status without family without friends and without a coach then i take back my words but i can almost guarantee you havent.. you ignorant ass!!
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He seems a bit bitter about life in general! I wonder was he not given a wildcard for the World games because of inept officials, or because of his attitude?
You'd want to take a look at yourself Alan, it's always difficult to perform well if you don't enjoy your sport and it sounds like you don't enjoy it any more.
Alan loves his sport, and although a lover of field primarily to represent your country in the Olympics took him to recerve, Alan saw himself as a wildcard as he has not been doing recerve his whole life, he was honoured to represent Great Britian and deserved it too. Without Alan Gb would have not had a team to send as no one even comes close. Alan has the skills to win medals and we have all seen that with his previous shooting at the worlds - before his team mates supported him and he did well, this time he relyed on his coach as he has built trust in him and nobody likes to be negative but this time his coach let him down!
Watch his confidence build with a new coach... we will be bringing back medals from London!
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Although a part of me sympathises with Alan on the frustration he feels with the current setup especially if he is not getting the support or encouragement to fulfil his ability, I can't help but think there must be a more productive way to bring criticism about your head-coach than to post it from behind a computer screen on a BBC Blog.
Alan, perhaps taking the issue up with Peter himself may have been a better idea?
With regards to the level of your own performance at the games, the fault surely does not and cannot lie squarly on Peter's shoulders alone?!?
Especially seeing as by your own admission you haven't spoken to him since the Olympics, it might be an idea to speak directly to him rather than going to the public behind his back. It makes you look rather unprofessional
I know for sure that Alan has tried to talk to Peter on several occasions over the last 3 - 6 years, Unfortunately its not as easy as that, Peter is Koren and he speaks extremeky broken English - If you ask for Peters assistance in anyway his reply is always ' God will be with you' I do not believe Alan needs to hear this he needs to hear ' Well done' you are brilliwnt or be given technical tips! I do believe Alan has tried ever other avenue before he has tried this one - I feel for jim, Alan is not a stupid man and he has tried approaching thre powers thst be but they have constantly let him down! This is his only chance at the moment to get his voice heard!
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I read all these comments about Alan and wonder how many of these people actually know him? How many of you know what he has put himself through to get where he is? What it's actually like to work towards the biggest gold of all - the olympics? How many of you have actually competed at international level in any sport and know all about the "mental" perparation and what it is that makes you perform to your full potential? I would think that the majority of these comments come from "armchair" sportsmen/women who obviously just think Alan is whinging because he lost. Maybe you should put yourself through the same kind of training and preparation then maybe your attitude would change. How would you react when your confidence is knocked from under your feet by your coach at the Olympics? Would you be able to compete to your full potential?
Anyone who knows Alan will understand what he's trying to say. He has every right to say what he thinks and if he felt he wasn't properly supported by Peter Suk and didn't agree with his psychological tactics, then why shouldn't he say so. I agree with one comment that Beth Tweedle took her "defeat" without commenting but maybe her coach was more supportive and knew how she coped with the mental side of it without trying to out wit her with phychological games?
Peter Suk has somewhat of a reputation for "reverse psychology" tactics with GB squad archers and whilst this may be suitable for some archers, it won't necessarily be the right approach for others. Alan shoots best when he is raring to go and fired up (excuse the pun!) and Peter should know him well enough to get his mindset right for the match. If Alan felt let down by Peter's coaching technique, then that's fine by me. And if he feels he's been let down before and not had any support for it, then I agree that airing his views could be his way of getting the point across. The bubble of frustration has burst and maybe its time for Archery GB to have a re-think?
I know from experience of competing at international level that you can come away from an event and either be on a high from the experience which boosts your confidence or a low, because you know you could have done better. There is no higher goal to achieve than the Olympic gold and when you've done the hard work to get there and know you have a real chance, its a long way to fall when things haven't gone right.
I know Alan will pick up the pieces and will be back on track for 2012. It's in his nature to come back fighting!
So, we want to see him back on the field team again next year and back on track for London. I know he will reflect on his time in Beijing and learn a great deal from the experience, but I also know he will come back a stronger athlete for all of this and I hope that Archery GB will listen carefully to his side as well as Peter's when they have the olympic review. GB cannot afford to lose archers of such talent.
So watch out for "the most dangerous man in archery". He'll be back!
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If archery is an Olympic sport why not darts or snooker? What is the aim (sic) of the sport? To hit the same part of an identical target every time. The only thing that changes is the weather. You don't have to react to what your opponent does. You try to do the same thing every time. It's simply "hit the middle of that identical target which is always the same distance away". At least in darts your target varies depending upon you previous scores, and snooker leaves you having to react to what your opponent has done. Stop the complaining and just get a decent psychologist who can rid you of your nerves. Bingo. Bull every time! Better still take the "sport" out of the Olympics.
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Agreed this is a big whine. Fact of the matter is that the British public really wont care about Archery from now until the day of the event in 2012.
It's a disgrace that archery is in the Olympics ahead of a far more international and higher participation sport like darts! Nevertheless, I guess that moaning like this will serve to raise the sport's profile in the short term whilst Beijing is relatively refresh in the mind.
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I agree with everyone on this forum.
Please learn from your mistakes for the future and keep your opinions between yourself and Mr Suk only, without blabbing off to the press. You handled it as subtly as a flying brick. People like you are role models for future generations of archers (and athletes in general). If you had issues with the whole setup before the start of the games, you should have forfeited your place and let a more grateful individual go to Beijing instead (perhaps the morale may have been better without you!)
You should be grateful for what you've achieved! Remember when you finished right at the back of the field at the 1995 junior nationals in Swansea. You have come a long way since then and achieved a lot, don't let yourself down again or you will becore extremely unpopular and NO coach will want to work with you.
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When darts players do it outside with darts that aren's so heavily weighted towards the point and without having had a few pints inside them to calm their nerves I'll be go some way to being convinced.
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Alan,
First up, congratulations on making it to Beijing - it's a fantastic achievement, don't let anyone take that away from you.
I have to say though, despite EVERYTHING I have read on these BBC Olympic blogs (which have been of varying quality, to say the least), this is the first I have felt the need to respond to.
If it was genuinely the psychological factors that were holding you back from performing at Beijing, perhaps all that indicates is that is that there is yet another sport we are behind in with respect to Australia's understanding of the mental factors at play. And if that is the case, then fair enough - but I have to say, as a non-(sports?) psychologist, I do believe that it's ultimately the individual who decides (purposefully or not) how well they perform at a given task.
Not wishing to make brash generalisations, but Australian sportspeople (and their entire system) do seem to have a knack for not letting psychological factors be so much of an issue. Is this really something the coach is there for, is it down to the athletes, or is it some sort of "chicken and egg" situation where some sort of positive feedback is required for anything (athletes, coahces) to work? If it is the latter, I'm not sure blog entries like this will help, but hey, I'm no expert.
I mean, can you give us some examples of what he did wrong in the build up, or what you would have wanted? I mean like having Peter say, "well done Alan, that was a good shot", after every shot you made in the competitions leading up the Olympics? Or not being really derogatory when you didn't play so well? Perhaps you could give some constructive criticism for Peter on your actual blog entry, as opposed to generically criticising him for "not prepraring you properly" - you know, if this genuinely the only way you can contact him...
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sounds like a whinger to me, maybe he needs an italian coach.
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All Alan is doing is telling us about his experience, feelings and problems, we should be supporting him for telling us how it is, not criticising him. For all he wants to do is raise these issues so they can be addressed, so it can make the archery team stronger and better for 2012.
I agree with alan, Suk did not seem to be motivating or encouraging. For eg, in his match aganist the Cuban you could see the difference between the 2 coaches. The Cuban coach was going up to Stevens and giving him feedback, whereas Suk just stood in his square smiling. To me this is not being a coach this is being a observer.
We should be supporting Alan, after all he is one of our best archers.
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So there seem to be a number of people who have a decent inside knowledge of the workings of the world of Archery and the limitations of the current coaching setup. Thanks for all your posts - it does help to underline some of Alan's issues at the olympics.
Alan does seem to have a broader lack of personal responsibility for his results. His "post traumatic stress" at having to do things for himself when getting home, his lack of a wild card.... He is focussed entirely on what he does not have and what he did not get and the support he did not receive. I am sure that someone who knows Alan will confirm that he has complained about Archery "not getting enough lottery funding". I have no evidence that he has ever said this, it just seems the kind of thing he would say.
You should focus on what you do have and what you have in your future not what you don't have. Your sport is in the Olympics whereas other more likely sports such as Squash are not. You have talent, you can find another coach, you are young enough.
There is only 1 person responsible for your success or failure - YOU!
G_U_F
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Having retracted his initial statement perhaps Alan would have been better leaving his comments to the October debrief.
It is interesting to note that both Italy and Australia seem to have suffered in this Olympics through the loss of Suk and Lee, but GB and USA have not reaped any dividend. Is there a culture clash here - in the narrow sense of a sporting culture?
There is little doubt in my mind that the GB archers are shooting better technically than before - look at the ranking rounds. But there does seem a problem with how they approach the head-to-head rounds. I think Simon Terry said he was struggling to get used to that aspect.
This seemed evident from the nature of the exits of Burgess, Folkard and Wills. In the main the most impressive performances in the head-to-heads came when they did not have a long wait between rounds.
In such an individual-based and personal sport I can only think that having the inputs from people who you want around you can be a real boon to keep you from dwelling on things that are concerning and don't feel right. The brain is a treacherous organ and will go off at tangents at the most inconvenient of times. I couldn't image a top tennis player having a coach he didn't want.
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I am an archer, and I am disgusted at the lack of professionalism shown here. A paid athlete given to the opportunity to represent their country should keep complaints on a non-public level. Many people watch the countries top athletes and they look up to them and in some cases idolize them. Athletes should act accordingly, and all Alan has shown to all those people out there is a complainer. Even if the problems were genuine, nothing either vindicates or justifies his actions in the eye of the public.
As for quitting, GET LOST there are literally droves of archers waiting in a line who would be bloody eager to take your place.
An archer at that level should consider themselves privileged and lucky to be able to compete for Great Britain, as so many would wish to, and not give off a portrayal like they have the bad end of the stick and make threats about quitting. I think the fact that him going through all the work for selection is his way of asking the country if he may shoot for GB, rather than all that being this country's way of asking him if he will shoot for us... as though we need him so desperately or something...
The only thing I agree with Alan in this blog about at all is that a do or die approach is needed.
As a funded and paid representative of this country Alan now seems to believe he can hold it to ransom with his threat to quit, and in the spirit of "do or die" I really hope they tell him to sod off and never darken the doorstep again before he gets a chance to throw the teddy out of the pram and pack it in himself, because this lack of professionalism in an athlete deserves it.
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Well what can I say.....I am surprised at the amount of people willing to make nasty comments about Alan's valid comments about the performance of the GB archery team. I may not have been competing at international level, however, I am experienced enough to have seen that every GB archer was not shooting at all like they should have been......QUIT BASHING ALAN. Listen to what he has to say there is a problem within the GB archery team what it is I'm not sure but it is clearly not the archers fault or else why did Alison not acchieve more? they all failed to acchieve and these guys and girls are the best in the UK and in amongst the top archers in the world.
Goalie up front said 'Your preparation is 90% down to you, 5% the coach and 5% the environment.' at this level that 5% for the coach is all the difference between getting a medal and not. Both the womens and mens team scores were only 10 points or so out of getting a bronze which is funnily enough around 5% so when put like that you can see he should not be slammed for having the kahunas to stand up and shout about it. Archery is not given the right amount of support as it isn't really a spectator event and so get little coverage compared with athletics and so has a massive uphill struggle to gain the support needed.
As for darts as an olympic sport why not? however DO NOT KNOCK ARCHERY.....looooooong before football or rugby or the majority of sports Britain led the world in archery.......mainly cus it was a weapon of war but still it is our heritage and we should be proud and bring it back to THE TOP WHERE IT BELONGS AGAIN!!!!
I thank you :) job done...gonna watch the paralympic opening ceremony now so tata!!
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I'd personally like to clarify my comment. I have no doubt there are problems with the way things currently are for the team, and my personal view is that the coach should go! He does not work well with the team, and coaching is a two way relationship - a team should have a choice over their own coach.
Secondly, just because I think this doesn't make what Alan has done right either. Its not what he's said, it's when, where, and who he's said it to that I disagree with. His complain has been publicized, and the majority of people reading it have never touched a bow in their life and have no clue what they are talking about. Its extremely unprofessional for an athlete (any athlete) to publicly slate a coach as he has done, and even if the concerns are genuine (which they are) it doesn't make it right at all.
Imagine if it was reversed, and the reporters went to the coach right after his match and ask the coach for an interview instead. Imagine now that the coach went and slagged Alan publicly. It would be a disgrace, and totally out of order. So why is it acceptable for Alan to do the same to his coach? They are both professionals, and in positions with responsibilities. Alan has totally disregarded that position and clearly has no respect for his status and how people will have been looking up to him. As a role model all they will have received is how to complain and how to find fault in the system.
Again, his concern might be totally valid, and hearing much about it from people I trust within this sport totally, I think I am on Alan's side in terms of the argument, but I still think his behaviour in this respect has been disgraceful.
It would have shown a much bigger more responsible man to have handled this with more respect and more subtlety. But then again, I guess that's the difference between an athlete with class and one with none at all, as has already been pointed out by other posters Beth Tweddle was a great example. As it is he has come off very childish, and its not something I would personally have expected to witness from one of our top shooters. Its quite disappointing to be honest.
I'm no supporter of Suk, in fact I would like to see him gone, but this shouldn't have happened and the complaint should have been purely directed to whom it concerns. That's what a true professional would have done.
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I am dissapointed with the negative remarks aimed at Alan, which seem to come from the uninformed. I have shot for GB a number of times with with and without coaches present. The right person behind an athlete, can make a huge difference. No matter what preperation you have done, if you do not trust the coach to support you then it will affect you confidence. I believe in Alan's shooting ability, he wants to win medals, I would also love to see the team winning them, but it takes a team that works together and trusts each other to win, and he is very concerned that left as it is, the current coach is not the one to make this happen.
It takes a brave man to stand for what he believes, and I think that he is correct in all that he says.
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Mr Wills, when you eventually work out what you think, please bear in mind that no one else has any interest in your opinion. Have you considered getting a proper job and making a contribution to society?
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^ You
Ever done any sport?
I think you will find a great many people in this country DO care about it, sport is fairly popular... and seeing as Alan is one of this countries best shooters, I think his opinion counts for quite a lot when it comes to archery...
And if you don't care about archery, why post on a blog about archery...?
As for contribution to society, what have you achieved that's so great in your life that qualifies you to knock Alan for being an athlete that represents his country? I think sacrificing many comforts of standard living to spend every waking hour training to do so, is fairly commendable. clearly you have absolutely no clue whatsoever as to the level of work and sacrifice put in by an archer (or any athlete) competing at Alan's level.
If you are gonna knock him, at least know what it is you are even knocking him for.
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Hello 98sperkins: I don't care what you think either. I have no clue what it takes to be an archer. I have no clue what it takes to get good at shooting a catapult or a pea shooter either. The point is that this man could have made the sacrifices he's made to get good at road building, cooking pizzas or a great many other things that would actually have made a difference to other people. If he's made a difference to your life by being good at shooting arrows at a target, then I'm glad for you, but would suggest that you search a little harder for meaning in your life.
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Lol, fair enough. Each to their own I guess.
But to be fair, the same could be said for ANY sport...
And that's a whole lotta' people...
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Point taken. Let's agree to disagree! Cheers!
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Dear Mr MartinDferry, regarding your point about 'getting a proper job'.
To get to the olympics Alan worked very hard. He used to get up at 4.30am to go to work as he is a joiner, then from work go shooting, then go to the gym and get home at 10.00pm. He done this 6 days a week! This shows dedication, commitment and williness to suceed.
Since returning from the olympics he has gone back to work a few days a week.
So your comment was totally unjustified!!!!!!
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I am not quite sure whether to be amused or very disturbed.
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I have read all the comments here. The fact is.... if you REALLY want something bad enough and you're hungry enough you can get it.
End of story.
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