Murton Athletics Club was set up in 1977 by John Tinkler. John is still heavily involved as a coach and committee member but the club struggles to recruit volunteers to coach and officiate. John is looking to approach the National Governing Body for athletics for help to overcome this problem. The club is based at a local council athletics track which is facing closure. The facilities have deteriorated over the last five years due to a lack of funding. Training often has to be cancelled in wet weather and the long jump pits have been out of use for over two years. John has produced many successful athletes over the years at the club and his current star is 15 ‑ year ‑ old Lucy. Lucy joined the club when she was eight years old after she attended a summer holiday athletics camp run by John. Last year, Lucy became County 800 m and cross country champion and finished 3rd in the 800 m at the English Schools’ Championships. As a result of this success, John and Lucy have set a target of her becoming the national champion in two years’ time. Lucy is competing at higher level events all around the country, which is proving to be costly for her parents. Lucy currently trains three evenings a week on the track for two hours each session throughout the whole year. When she is not competing at the weekend she also takes part in a local 5 km parkrun as part of her training. Lucy attends Murton Secondary School with some of her close friends from the athletics club and they all represent the school at athletics. The school has a history of sporting success and actively promotes physical activity and healthy lifestyles.

John is hoping to recruit more volunteers to Murton Athletics Club. Describe the qualities needed to be an effective coach (4) Award one mark for stating and one mark for describing why each quality is needed to be an effective coach: Patience/ in order to ensure that skills are acquired and developed appropriately. Empathy/ to understand the needs of the performer. Good communication/ to get his point across clearly. Knowledge/ to improve or analyse performance effectively. Good leadership/ to be able to take the performer forwards. Organised/ to deal with different abilities and situations. Previous experience of the event/ to offer an insight to what is involved. Enthusiastic or motivated or supportive/ to encourage children to do well or take part. Confidence/ so that he can coach effectively without being intimidated. Good listener/ in order to respond to the needs of the performer. Skilful/ to be able to demonstrate correctly. Reliable/ turning up on time. Creativity/ makes coaching interesting so that they don’t get bored or stay focused.

Lucy uses the local sports facilities during the week and at weekends for training purposes. Explain the difference between public sector and private sector provision of sports facilities. (2) Public Council / government funded and run. Not for profit Private Owned by company with intention of making a profit.

Describe physiological differences between males and females and explain how they would affect performance in Lucy’s activities. (4 marks) Females have smaller heart and lungs (1) CV fitness (oxygen capacity) is less than males so performance in 800m/cross country is less (1) Females have less muscle mass (1) Strength is lower for females so speed is less (1) Females have to deal with chemical imbalance during menstruation (1) Unable to perform at peak during important competition (1) DO NOT CREDIT GREATER FLEXIBILITY DUE TO LESS MUSCLE MASS (NOT RELEVANT TO ACTIVITY)

Understanding Components of fitness are very important for Lucy. Describe the 3 most important components of fitness Lucy will need to develop, and explain why they are important. (4) MUST DESCRIBE THE COMPONENT OF FITNESS – DO NOT AWARD MARK FOR NAMING ONLY. CV Endurance - Ability to supply working muscles with oxygen for a prolonged period of time. 800m lasts a couple of minutes so she will be using aerobic respiration. Speed - Ability to move all or part of the body quickly. She will have to have speed to overtake competitors towards the end of the race.

Describe a training method that Lucy could use to develop 1 of the highlighted components and explain in detail how she could also use the principle of overload to improve her fitness. (6) CV Endurance Continuous training – exercising for prolonged period of time at moderate intensity. Frequency – complete more continuous training sessions per week. Intensity – exercise at a slightly higher % MHR by running faster. Time – increase the length of her continuous training sessions. Speed Short interval training – Periods of work up to 15s followed by periods of rest up to 2 minutes. Frequency – complete more interval training sessions per week. Intensity – increase work period and decrease rest period. Time – complete more repetitions to make the sessions longer.

Lucy currently competes as an Amateur, Describe what is meant by an ‘amateur sports performer’. (2) Receives no payment to take part. Takes part alongside other commitments – in spare time.

Using examples, explain how advances in technology could help Lucy to improve her performance (4) Storing data e.g competition results, times, splits for sections of races and training times. Recording performances Video of races to analyse race strategies and technique. GPS Used to track movement and record data. e.g average speed, maximum speed, acceleration, drop off in speed from max speed to finish speed (fatigue) etc. Heart rate monitors Feedback in training and during races to identify intensity/training zone.

As Lucy gets older she will experience physiological changes that will affect her performance in athletics. Describe how age may have an effect on Lucy’s performance. (4) MUST PROVIDE A CHANGE WITH AGE AND EXLPAIN THE EFFECT Aerobic capacity Increases to mid twenties then decrease  peak performance in twenties then decline. Strength Increases to mid twenties then decrease  strength contributes to running speed so peak performance in mid twenties then slower as she ages. Time to recover from training and competing will increase so she won’t be able to participate as frequently  therefore her performance will decline as she’s not training as much.

Lucy’s Athletic club is based at a local council Athletics track which is facing closure. The facilities have deteriorated over the last five years and they need to attract sponsorship for funding. Describe one acceptable type of sponsorship that would be useful to the Athletics club. (2) Sponsorship from any acceptable company (not alcohol, tobacco, gambling etc) which will provide money from sponsor to be spent on facility improvement. Could be in return for logo on kit, advertising boards next to improved facilities, name of company included in stadium name etc.

Lucy is competing at higher level events all around the country, which is proving costly for her parents. State three ways an amateur sports performer could obtain funding. (3) Sponsorship for kit – not having to pay for her kit would allow money to be spent on travel. Sponsorship for expenses – local company (doesn’t have to be related to sport e.g local plumbing business) could provide money for travel and entry fees and improve their company’s image by supporting local talent. Scholarship – amateur athletes in education can receive scholarships to go to specific institutes who then fund their sporting cost in return for being associated with success. Sport England – through Backing the Best initiative.

Many companies sponsor elite performers. Describe the advantages that a local company might gain from sponsoring Lucy (2) Increased advertising Increased sales Association with success Improved company image – goodwill gesture Tax relief – pay less tax by giving some money to athlete.

Lucy main focus in a season is the English School’s Championships. Using your knowledge of periodisation describe how John may structure Lucy’s training (4) Pre-season  Building up to start of season.  Focus on fitness and technique. Performance season  Focus on competing in events building up to peak at the English School’s. Post-season  Recovery period following competition season, while maintaining general fitness.

Diet is an important factor to consider when participating in a physical activity. Explain how Lucy would prepare for a park run through her diet. (4) Carbohydrate loading Consuming high levels of carbohydrate to be stored for later use – 1-3 days Complex carbohydrates – slow release of energy. Starchy foods – e.g pasta. rice, bread etc.

Lucy trains three nights per week. Using your knowledge of the prevention of injury, explain how Lucy can prevent herself from becoming injured (6) Avoid overtraining – allow sufficient rest/recovery  Could cause overuse injuries such as stress fractures. Warm up  Fully prepare her body for every training session through a pulse raiser and stretching - to avoid muscle strains. Cool down  Start her recovery at the end of every session through gentle exercise and stretching – to avoid DOMS. Diet  Consume protein through her diet after training to help repair muscles. Risk assessment  Assess the safety of the training area before training to avoid, for example, uneven surfaces which could lead to ankle sprains.

As an 800m runner Lucy uses Interval training as part of her training programme. Describe ‘Interval training’. Using your knowledge of training zones and the principles of training, explain how Interval training can be used to improve her performance in an 800 metre race. (8) Interval  Intermittent periods of work and rest. Specific training  long intervals – 15s-2min work periods. Aerobic zone  60-80% Maximum Heart Rate. Progression  gradually increasing within aerobic zone (e.g 70-80% MHR). Overload  Frequency – increase from 3 to 4 sessions per week.  Intensity – increase within aerobic zone e.g start at 70%, progress to 80% MHR.  Time – Increase length of sessions from 2 hours to 2.5 hours. Only overload gradually to avoid overtraining and Reversibility. Vary training sessions to maintain motivation and avoid Tedium