Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Tuesday, December 16, 2003 National team goalsSince I've occasionally written about goals for the U.S. Team, I thought I'd write a few words about the goals for Canada's national team.I don't know how the Canadian team is organized, but I think Ted de St. Croix is the national coach and probably had something to do with the goals. Canada has an advantage over the U.S. in that Ted carries a very high level of credibility. Ted knows what it takes to be world class. If Ted says something, you'd better take note. Even if you don't agree, it is worth paying attention to. The U.S. has people who know a lot and have had some really fine performances. But, I don't think anyone has the instant credibility of Ted (Which isn't to say that there aren't people in the U.S. who you should pay attention to). The introduction notes that the goals are "centered around items we have direct control over as opposed to result oriented goals," but the first goal is a results oriented goal! Nothing wrong with that, but I thought it was a bit odd. Canada focuses on the relay. I think that is great. I don't know what the U.S. focus is. When the national team began (early 1980s) the focus was on the relay, but I think it has changed over time. These days I think the focus is more on individuals (with the goal being qualifying for finals?). In any case, I don't think the U.S. has had explicit goals in recent years. Canada's goals could be a template for just about any nation or club. Just search for "Canada" and replace with "Belgium" or "Japan" or "Germany" or whatever. I think Ted is the coach and heavily involved in setting the goals, so reading the goals should give us some insight into how Ted thinks and how he thinks orienteering should be structured. As I wrote above, Ted knows what it takes and he's worth listening to. That said, I don't see anything unusual in the goals. It is standard stuff. If some Canadians read this and I've missed the boat, let me know (use the comment function). posted by Michael | 1:06 PM 
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