This weeks Athletics Weekly features our very own Bill Murphy.
Bill always takes a very keen interest in what the youngsters are up to - this is a chance for you to learn a little bit more about one of our Founding Fathers!
Thanks to Athletics Weekly for giving their permision for us to reporduce this.
(C) Athletics Weekly

In this post I am going to share with you some of my insights on goal setting. I have found a lot of people struggle with goal setting and in this post I am going to break the topic down for you and share some valuable things I’ve learnt.

Firstly, why set goals?

I believe the ultimate reason to set a goal is not to achieve the end outcome but to grow as a person. Because many times the destination is not all it is lived up to be.

That is just the way it is unfortunately. The most exciting part is before you have achieved the goal and the thought of achieving it is exciting. I have found this part to be more fun than when you actually reach your destination.

I have also had this feedback from many others.

Therefore the important part is that you set yourself goals that make you grow as a person. Goals that actually require you to become a better person to achieve them. That is the ultimate reward.

The reason?

Because that will never be short lived. That won’t fade. You will take that with you and reap the rewards for the rest of your life. There is nothing more powerful than that.

Do your current goals require you to become a better person to achieve them?

Secondly, there is much talk about writing your goals down. This is a MUST. You have to write your goals down and more importantly you have to review them every day just to remind yourself of them. Believe me it is too easy for them to slip your mind OR for you to not pay attention to them because they challenge you and require that you go outside your comfort zone. Don’t avoid this. If you don’t want to go outside your comfort zone – don’t set goals!

There is a statistic circulating in the goal setting industry that only 3% of the population have written goals.

Are you in that 3%?

Whether the statistic is true or not does not matter. Put it this way – it will NOT do you any harm to write down your goals. Only good. Yes it may be a bit scary but scary is great. It means you are growing as a person and that is the destiny of us all, we don’t have a choice in that one but we do have a choice in HOW MUCH we grow.

And finally, keep your goals private. Especially your most precious and personal goals. Maybe share some with close friends/family/partner but still hold some back just for yourself. I have found amazing power in this since I have been doing it.

The World doesn’t need to hear what you are GOING to do, it is waiting for you to SHOW us.

So get your pen and paper and start dreaming. And writing!

Equipping you with the mental strategies for success

Martin Robert Hall

The results for Match 1 in this years Sporthall league are now available and can be downloaded below.
Some very pleasing results!

Results and highlights
u11g - Finished 4th overall, which is very good when you consider how young the team is. Issi came 2nd in the Standing Long Jump

u11b - Finished 4th - again a young team and lots of kids making their debut performance. Josh came 2nd in Soft Javelin and 3rd in the Vertical Jump

u13g - Finished a very close second. Imogene 3rd in 4 lap; Kim 3rd in shot; Stephanie 3rd in Standing Long Jump; Lili 1st Standing Long Jump and 2nd in Standing Triple Jump and Zalika 1st in Standing Triple Jump and 1st in Vertical Jump

u13b - A one man team due to lads missing because of football and half term. However George managed to win the Speedbounce and come 3rd in Standing Long Jump. Lets hope we get a few more u13b showing up next time to give George a bit of support

u15g - Finished 3rd overall. Naomi came 3rd in 4 Lap, Vertical Jump and shot; Chanelle 2nd in Standing Triple Jump and 1st in Vertical Jump. Natalia 1st in 6 Lap.

u15b - Finished 3rd Overall. Will came 3rd in Standing Long Jump; Josiah got 2nd in both 4 Lap and Standing Triple Jump; Rivi - still on the mend from his broken ankle came 1st in Standing Long Jump.

Well done to everyone who competed

Girls Results
Boys Results

I was working with some youths recently who are out of work. The main focus of the training was around taking responsibility (response-ability) for their situation.

There can often be confusion around this statement of taking 100% responsibility for your life.

It does not mean that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life or what happens to you – it just means that you are responsible for how you respond to the event.

Event + Response = Outcome.

Not happy with something? Change it or change how you feel about it.

I talk about this in my book and call this principle Optimal Response. It is not the events in your life that define you or your success – more so it is your responses and decisions about how you react.

The youths got this principle and took responsibility. As a result they took back control of their situations and this can be incredibly empowering. To know that your destiny and your future is decided by your own decisions and responses.

Are you in control of yours?

There will be many disappointments, setbacks and losses during your time in athletics, especially in competitions because everybody wants to do well, everybody loves to win.

So it is important to remember that it is not your results that define you, it is how you respond to defeat that matters. You won't always succeed, especially not straight away, but if you always choose to fight harder, to practise more, to come back better, then there are no limits to the amount of improvement you can make.

Remember this now during the winter training period. This is the time when you lay the groundwork for next season. It is NOW that you stake your place as the winner for next season. This is the time you become a winner, by putting in the hard work now.

So remember, when the cold nights creep in, when its cold and wet, when your body aches and you cannot be bothered because your fitness isn't quite there, just remember that bit by bit you will get stronger, as long as each session you do a little bit more, push yourself a little further, regardless of what level you are at, that is all we can ask of you and all you can control. Forget about the rest, the others, the weather, all those things are outside your control.

With Positivity,

Martin Robert Hall

Over the weekend me and a friend of mine were discussing how in football, the quickest of judgements are made and beliefs are formed about players in an instant.

It got me to thinking about how sometimes we are too quick to judge ourselves. Both in a positive and a negative sense.

We make one mistake and we say “I’m no good at that, it’s not for me”.

Or we do something well a couple of times and we say “I’ve got this handled. I will improve at something else now. Next”.

Both scenarios hold us back without us even realising.

If you judge yourself on the negative too quickly then you never really give anything your full effort. And we know what happens when you do this. You don’t improve.

If you judge yourself on the positive too quickly you don’t try any harder and just remain at a ‘good’ level and good just isn’t good enough. You should be aiming for GREAT!

I seen this happen with some young athletes a few weeks back. They were practising a new drill and in their first attempts they were struggling to get the hang of it. I said to them, don’t judge yourself just yet. Give it 10 tries and then see if you have improved. They did and guess what? They improved and were pleased with themselves.

The lesson?

Don’t always listen to your mind until you have given something enough time to judge it over. We generalize far too quickly and if we are not careful we end up forming negative beliefs about things in our lives that just don’t make sense. Worse still is that these beliefs prevent us from trying in the future.

Do you judge yourself too quickly?

If so give yourself more time to get it right before you are too hard on yourself. This is a problem for many athletes.

You have to learn to be your own coach not your own critic. Encourge yourself, say to yourself "I'll give it one more try", "eventually I will master this", "I am improving bit by bit".

Stay positive and stay persistent!

Martin Robert Hall
Performance Psychologist

The following have been entered to represent Trafford AC in this years Greater Manchester Sportshall League.

Match Dates
                            Sunday 21st October 2012
                            Sunday 18th November 2012
                            Sunday 9th December 2012
Please inform Tom or Andrew if there are any matches for which you are unavailable.

u11b
Ben Turner, Kobe Uzoigwe, Ethan O’Gorman, Jacob Dwan, Kinglsey Nunes, Joshua Grant, Marcus Blake, Sarli Joseph, Seb Patrick, Zak Gardiner

u11g
Alice Pitman, Emily Pemberton, Issy Boon, Issi Boyle, Laila Gardiner, Laura Johnston, Layla Wiseman, Kelechi Dunn, Lily Wray, Orli Edwards, Taylor Gunn

u13b
Jack Taylor, Joseph Tang, Dominic Blake, Dougie Pitman, Joe Kennedy, Kai Gibson, Nelson Bowes, George Hurst

u13g 
Amelia Boon, Georgia Beaumont, Imojene Blackburn-Stennett, Kim Snape, Jameelah Olugududu, Lili Boyle, Molly Larkin, Ngozi Dunn, Stephanie Arkaah, Zalika Williams

u15b
Josh Pemberton, Josiah Davies, Kaleb Marchan, Rivaldo Brown, Ronaldo Brown, William Aldred, 

u15g
Allana Edwards, Chanelle Lauder, Danielle Armstrong, Hayaat Bah-Traore, Emily Nash, Lucy Shaw, Naomi Adigun, Natalia Nunes

Commencing Monday 15th October, circuit training for the Junior Girls squad (those who normally train with Andrew, Derek, Cath, Margaret and David) will take place every Monday evening in the sports hall at

Stretford Grammar School, Granby Road, Stretford Manchester M32 8JB

Subs of £2 will be collected at the sports hall, please do not pay subs to the club reception.

We will meet at the Stadium and jog together through the park to the sports hall, leaving the stadium at shortly after 7pm

We will return to the Stadium for 8:30

Spikes will not be required, but please ensure that your daughter has a drink and something suitable to wear in case it’s raining on the way there or back.

Email sent out today by England Athletics regarding affiliation fees 
(which make up part of your club membership)

(You can also view this information online at www.englandathletics.org/membership2013)

2012 has been a historic year for our sport in England. As well as successes at the London Olympic and Paralympic Games we have seen the number of athletes registered with England Athletics (and holding competition licences) rise to over 121,000 (from 96,000 in 2007/8) and Sport England’s Active People Survey indicating wider participation in athletics and running reached 1.98m, up from 1.3m in 2006/7. As has been well publicised around the Olympic and Paralympic Games the challenge for all sports is now how to maintain and build momentum:

• How do we grow the next generation of athletics champions and support more recreational participants?
• How do we fund the support needed for athletes, their coaches, officials and club volunteers? In particular the essential activities that go on week-in, week-out, usually far away from the spotlight or media attention.

England Athletics has operated a membership scheme of affiliated clubs and registered athletes since its formation in 2006. This has contributed some funding to the upkeep of the sport, such as the provision of insurance, welfare support and other benefits.

Our current membership scheme operates at a low cost. It has not risen since 2008, during which time other Home Country Athletics Federations have raised their fees. As a sport for the 2009-13 period we have been heavily subsidised by funding from Sport England and contributions from other partners including commercial sponsorship. These have provided 92% of our income with affiliation providing 8%.

In the 2009-13 period Government funds have tightened and the economic situation has also changed. Our sport needs to have greater self-sufficiency if we are to face a more certain future where we know we can fund core areas of our sport and build on the provision of services currently available.

With this recognition that we need to take our future into our own hands. England Athletics Affiliation from the year beginning 1st April 2013 is to be restructured. We will introduce packages to encompass different ages and disciplines which, based upon consultation with volunteers throughout the sport, we believe will provide clear rationale and additional incentives to become a member of England Athletics, as well as ensuring key services valued by the sport can be delivered.

The one thing that is most common in holding people back in life is doubt.

Doubt is a form of negative thinking. These negative thoughts stem from past experiences of your own or others you know of, from your analytical brain trying to predict the future and your own belief system.

Doubt is a form of fear and I like to think of FEAR as meaning False Expectations Appearing Real.

We all face doubt every day and most of the time it is running below the surface preventing us from taking the necessary action we are capable of.

It may creep in when you set yourself a new goal or when you do something you have not done before. We face these situations all the time so doubt really does have an active presence in our day to day lives.

Doubt doesn’t like sleep!

So how do the best performers cope with doubt? How do they overcome it?

Here are a couple of things you can do:

Ignore it. Actually listen to what your doubt is telling you and then choose to ignore it’s advice. Say thank you but no thank you. You are the voice of the past and I am creating a new future, you are no use to me any more [volume down].

Once you start ignoring your doubt it will start to get quieter. Think of it like a baby having a tantrum. After a while, they begin to calm once they realise their tantrum is not getting a response.

Doubt is childish in many ways. Treat it that way!

Secondly, you need to first recognise that doubt is actually active and how it is holding you back. You can only do this with valuable reflection time. Take at least 5 minutes each day to think about where doubt held you back today, make a note of it and then decide that in those situations in the future when it pops up, you will be ready for it and you will just smile and simply ignore it.

These two methods work brilliantly together. Put them into practise today and slowly but surely watch your doubt fade away.

Inspiring you to be the BEST you can be,

Martin Robert Hall
'The Performance Specialist'

Mr Tomas Cullen!

Wednesday night was a special night for Trafford AC Young Athletes Section as Tom Cullen was presented with the award of Northwest Development Coach of the Year for 2012.

Springing a surprise presentation at the end of training, Sarah Friday, our local Club & coach Support Officer from England Athletics commented,

 "I am pleased to be able to present the award to Tom in recognition of the work he has done over the last couple of years to develop the junior section of Trafford AC. 

With his commitment the youth section has grown from having next to no coaches and athletes to having very healthy numbers of both. 

The camaraderie within the training groups and between the coaches is excellent, and the relationship with local schools has developed well, with many athletes now making the transition between school sport and athletes at Trafford AC. 
Keep up the good work Tom! "

Tom will now go forward with a chance of winning the national award.