Functional Path Training

2023 Retrospective

2023 was an amazing year. So much came together for me in my 54th year of coaching. Two world records for Summer McIntosh and a career defining year for Ellyse Perry in Cricket. Those  highlights did not come out of nowhere. I realize looking back on the year and my career the preparation, learning, networking that resulted in those performances. My tagline for years has been: "Coaching the best to be Better" These two women are the best and they will get better. I learned so much from them about commitment to excellence, the 24 hour athlete and the coach athlete partnership.

So where am I going in 2024? I am looking forward to more collaboration with the GAIN Network. Sharing ideas and growing professionally and personally. We will be moving to San Francisco, moving across country is not something you typically do in your late 70's but it is an opportunity to grow and most importantly be closer to family (Actually across the street). California is home - being home again will be special.

Some thoughts to sum up 2023: 1) Make the preparation be the separation - what you do when no one is watching is the difference make!  2) A quote from Bertrand Russell that really resonated with me: "The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn." 3) Aristotle said "I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think."

Have a Healthy, Happy and Safe New Year

Vern Gambetta, Director of Curiosity, GAIN Network

Fire in Babylon

Last night I watched “Fire in Babylon” an excellent documentary film. To call this a documentary about the great West Indies cricket team of the 1970's and 80's does not do it justice. It is a classic example of sport as metaphor and also a window into society. In the West Indies in the 1960’s the former British colonies where all achieving their independence from Britain, it was a time of social and political ferment, sport, cricket was not isolated from this. The rise of the great Windies (The Windies comprise an all-star team of the best players from all the islands of the West Indies, hence the name Windies) team that eventually went undefeated in international test Cricket for fifteen years from 1980 to 1995 is chronicled in this excellent documentary. The vintage game action footage and the training were excellent. The Windies where were one of the first international squads to actually do conditioning, a fact that gave them a huge edge. I thought the interviews with the players on the team were outstanding. These guys were real class individuals who elevated their region, their race and the game to the status it enjoys today in spite of deep racial prejudice. This is a terrific insight in the culture of the region and the culture of the sport, a sport that is exploding in popularity worldwide. It is good to see them get the recognition they deserve as pioneers in their sport and as agents of social change.