american coleges

athlete43

Just read on ani twitter page that the rising star of female middle distance running in ireland is off to have a look around the american collegs what a shame another of are good young athletes away to the states ,in my opinion to be burnt out ,a shame on her coach ,athletics ireland and of course the sports council for not doing enough to keep this talent closer to home Does ant body agree are disagree with me I say again this is my opinion ,:(

ecoli

athlete43 wrote: »

Just read on ani twitter page that the rising star of female middle distance running in ireland is off to have a look around the american collegs what a shame another of are good young athletes away to the states ,in my opinion to be burnt out ,a shame on her coach ,athletics ireland and of course the sports council for not doing enough to keep this talent closer to home Does ant body agree are disagree with me I say again this is my opinion ,:(

Would have to disagree. This country just doesnt have the financial backing to support full time athletes. Here an athlete is usually asked to carry college with supporting themselves (partime job) and training.
When you look at the products of Irelands distant talent 95% are american college graduates.

Martin Fagan (providence??)
Mary Cullen (Providence)
Alistair Cragg (Arkansa)
Sonia O Sullivan (Iona)
Vinney Mulvey (Iona)
Sean Conolly (Iona)
Rose Anne Galligan (Tennessee).

Top this with the American Team who have excelled as a result of the American system in recent years.

Lagat (Washington)
Tegenkamp
Ritzenheim
Rupp (Oregon)

I think that as long as the athlete finds a college to suit there training philosophies then it can be a good thing.

athlete43

I think sonia went to villanova, ok take your point but do sports council and athletics ireland not hand out very good grants to Derval ,olive .gillick hession.hefferan,why can.t they give grants to theses young athletes to keep them in ireland,and if you really look at times of the athletes you mention they did.nt really improve until they left the very busy and over raced college system but i see you never mention any of the irish athletes that went to the states and returned home burnt out

ecoli

athlete43 wrote: »

I think sonia went to villanova, ok take your point but do sports council and athletics ireland not hand out very good grants to Derval ,olive .gillick hession.hefferan,why can.t they give grants to theses young athletes to keep them in ireland,and if you really look at times of the athletes you mention they did.nt really improve until they left the very busy and over raced college system but i see you never mention any of the irish athletes that went to the states and returned home burnt out

Apologies you are right on her that was an oversight. In terms of "Very good grants" i would be of the opinion that are contracted athletes (Loughnane Gillick and O Rourke) being ranked or medalist in WC or OG earning 40k a year is not a great grant at all and the likes of Hession earning little over minimum wage equivilant for being classed as "World Class".
In response to your question of "Burnt out athletes" (This is a term which is inaccurate in terms of physical recovery but rather a lack of motivation and other short term effects) here are a few:

Colin Costello
James Grufferty
Tom Gregan

The point i was trying to prove was not comparison of ratio of who made it to who burned out but rather a comparison of the number who made it taking the American route compared to the number who make it with a home based background.

There are a few exceptions of course with the likes of Keneally and Nolan

myflipflops

Each to there own. I'm sure she's not blindly going to the US due to a lack of options in Ireland or the UK. I would guess it's been heavily discussed betwen the athlete, her coach and parents.

There are pros and cons to the States. Most of the time, the pros and outweight the cons for athletes going over.

sideswipe

athlete43 wrote: »

Just read on ani twitter page that the rising star of female middle distance running in ireland is off to have a look around the american collegs what a shame another of are good young athletes away to the states ,in my opinion to be burnt out ,a shame on her coach ,athletics ireland and of course the sports council for not doing enough to keep this talent closer to home Does ant body agree are disagree with me I say again this is my opinion ,:(

Hey OP where did you go to colege/colleg (sic)?;):D:p

thirtyfoot

She is off to have a look, would you turn it down if offered probably a free trip even if you were probably going to stay at home?

Also, if you are good enough you will come out the other side stronger and it will turn you into a real world beater as opposed to 'next great thing' who just didn't fullfill. Obviously you can be a world beater at home (in sprints anyway).

You say shame on ISC, AAI, her coach (who you seem to have had a few posts on recently) when in fact its more than likely a very innocent trip away over the Easter to suss out some options. Maybe shame on you for making something out of nothing;) Whats to be done, deprive a young girl of a great week or so to see some of the greatest running colleges in the world, now that would be shameful. She is a great talent, she is going to be courted.

downthemiddle

athlete43 wrote: »

Just read on ani twitter page that the rising star of female middle distance running in ireland is off to have a look around the american collegs what a shame another of are good young athletes away to the states ,in my opinion to be burnt out ,a shame on her coach ,athletics ireland and of course the sports council for not doing enough to keep this talent closer to home Does ant body agree are disagree with me I say again this is my opinion ,:(

A very talented teenager is exploring the best options for her education and apparently people should be ashamed. What planet are you on?

toomuchdetail

I think that Athletics Ireland or the sports council make a half decent job of supporting any of the athletes that break through/show possible potential or have made a mark , a couple of issue though is that the financial support is terrible but this seems to be based on the resources available -not their fault.
Where there seems to be a huge lack of support is at this underage level , there needs to be an academy or a mentor program with full support (financial/educational etc) for the these athlethes and even their coaches . I am sure we will revist this after the next olympics and again there will be a great plan that will not be followed thru on !

Education here in these times is also very exepensive thanks to the arse the current regime are making of the system, my kids are still in primary school but if at 17 they came to me and I was faced with college fees,accomadation,transport to a coach/track, food, gear etc I think I would want the best for them and with the current set up in this country I think that this would have to be in the US.
If she or any of them got for it great , if not lets support them here.