1. SUPPORTING TRANSITIONAL SQUASH PLAYERS
The Transitional Stage of an Athlete and the Role of a Federation
A Presentation by John Milton
at the WSF Coaching Conference, Stockholm, Sweden
November 2012
Introduction
The purpose of this presentation is to provoke a discussion on whether
federations are using their highly valued funding in the right areas to be able
to produce more sustainable success at senior level. What kind of attitude can
be cultivated at junior level that can lead to both player and federation
enjoying a long and profitable career? What stage of the sport does a
federation have to concentrate on to make sure they get the best value for
money from limited funds and resources? Developing elite players from
juniors through to senior level is a minefield fraught with known and hidden
dangers and challenges. So let’s take a closer look at some of those
challenges.
The Transitional Player
A transitional player is one who is entering the final stage of his/her junior
career and will soon become a senior player. Unlike the different junior stages
where the age difference within a group is a maximum of 2 years, once a
player reaches senior level, they can be playing anyone from their own
immediate peer group or someone with 10-15 years more experience than
them. How can they prepare for this stage to make the transition as smooth
as possible?
Players don't suddenly become transitional players when they reach 19 years
old. The transitional stage should start while they are still juniors. They then
pursue the remainder of their junior career and whilst beginning to learn the
type of training and development they need to become successful at senior
level. They must first learn how to compete at this level before they learn how
to win.
The transitional period is around 6 years. This transition is not just about
developing the player but fundamentally, the person. For most countries,
players who represent their country will be part time or amateur players.
There are only a few nations - like Egypt and England - that can rely on the
vast majority of their top players coming from the full time professional ranks,
and even they may have some who decide to combine university with squash
(Shabana and Selby for example). This generally means that most countries
will be relying on players to make places in their national team competitive
who will take longer to develop and mature. Therefore, they will require
transitional support for longer.
Of course, if you're a player from a major nation but you're not in the top level
of potential players that the federation will support, but you still have a burning

2. desire to become a top level player, then you have to enter the transitional
period independently. But at an age and a stage in your career where you
lack experience and maturity in pretty much everything, how is this possible -
how do you do it?
The Foundation of Success
The most important part of the development of a player to whatever level they
want to reach is their lifestyle. If a player does not develop a suitable lifestyle,
they will never learn to develop their physical, mental, tactical and technical
aspects of their game sufficiently for them to reach their potential.
Fig. 1: The foundation of a successful sporting career is built on a solid lifestyle base.
The roots of a player's lifestyle are formed at an early age. In western society,
by the time a person is 7 years old, they will have received about 20,000
negative commands compared to only 2,000 positive ones. In these initial
formative years, the development of a person is through being told what they
can't do rather than what they can. Over the next 7 years - up to 14 - two
institutional establishments largely influence a child: family and school.
Primarily, the child follows the way of their parents and teachers and what
they tell them to do. Between 14 and 21, they start to question and
sometimes rebel against the conventional view. They start to develop their
own minds and character. They develop independence. It is during this period
that young players start their transition from junior to senior levels.
However, with squash still not accepted as a particularly viable career path by
many parents, young players wishing to take the game seriously still look to
their parents for approval and probably, financial support. It is precisely at this
stage that they need the most guidance and support of a player development
programme. Do they get it?
The Circle of Non-Achievement
Well, largely, no. The majority of players that would like to develop and reach
their potential don't do it because they don't know how to and are not
supported by a suitable programme.
THE*FoundaAon*

3. My personal view is that funding is often given to juniors who have reached a
certain level too easily so that it encourages an attitude of expectation instead
of work and achievement. This has lead to the expectation of funds to
continue when they reach the end of their junior careers and move in to senior
squash. Under this system, transitional players assume that the level of
support they’ve had as a junior will continue when they become senior
players. When it doesn't (usually because so much funding is spent on
juniors) they become disillusioned with the federation and lose motivation.
Results suffer and the federation becomes disillusioned with the players and
cuts back on funding until discontent sets in and funding is withdrawn
completely. At this stage, the federation decides to wipe the slate clean and
start again....by funding a new batch of juniors, hoping that their attitude is
different to the present seniors who, they feel, have let them down. So the
circle of non-achievement is set in place and will continue to frustrate all
efforts until the circle is broken and a new practice is applied instead of the
often tried and failed method.
Fig. 2: The Circle of Non-Achievement
Failure by the federation to have a development programme and a support
scheme in place for transitional players promotes the thought of a player that
there is no encouragement for them to continue to treat their squash
seriously. In the player’s eyes, they are left "high and dry": insufficient support
and no direction provided. So, most players will plan for a career where
squash is not a priority, which further negates the funding investment made by
the federation at junior level.
A junior player's career is approximately 7 years long (12 to 19). A senior
player’s career can be over twice the length of that time (20 to 35-/+). Yet
federations continue to pore the vast amount of their limited budgets into
junior squash whilst severely limiting their investment into a longer term plan.
Of course junior players, when they reach a representational level, should
receive support. Primarily, it should be specialist support in terms of balanced
training programmes, physiotherapy, fitness testing etc. Financial support if
available, should be on a performance related basis. Perform well - get better
financial support. This evokes a different attitude from that of expectation.
Players realise that they have to improve and get results to earn the funding
THE*Circle*of*NonLAchievement*
JUNIORS(
Substan/al(support*
TRANSITIONAL(
Moderate(support*
SENIORS(
Reduced(support*
DISCONTENT(
Withdraw(support*

4. and support they need. This then, immediately makes the transitional period
easier to adapt to when leaving the juniors - the seed has already been sown.
Players, Coaches and Federations
If there is a constructive programme in place with sensible performance
related support, it will encourage a much more positive attitude towards
furthering a squash career by the majority of players. They will have goals that
will ignite enthusiasm, provide direction and allow them to consider their
squash future when making career decisions. Over a period of time, the hope
that is relied upon now that certain players will stay in the sport and develop
as senior players will be replaced by a carefully managed plan that will
develop players responsibly and expose them to the level of competition and
training they will need to become true elite players.
What should the Federation expect from the Players?
• Commitment to reach the required (agreed) level.
• Passion for the sport.
• Discipline.
• Determination.
• Ability to learn.
• Strong character.
• Taking responsibility.
What should the Players expect from the Federation?
• Commitment.
• Programme.
• Direction.
• Belief in the player.
• Specialist support.
• Reward.
• To be able to work with the coach they have confidence in.
The Coach has to set the right example for the player and earn respect in
order to forge a close relationship that will allow a player to develop. The
transitional period of a player's career crosses over from Train to Compete to
Train to Win within a LTAD plan but a transitional programme has to be
individual enough to be different from just following a systematic plan. How
experienced is the coach? Does the coach have the potential to develop the
player? The player’s coach must be experienced enough or open to further
education and training to be able to work within the relevant stages of the
player’s development. A coach developing a player in transitional stage will
gradually become his mentor and therefore responsible for much more than
what they coach the player on court. These coaches need to be mentored as
much as the players. Therefore, coach and player can be mentored together.
Is the coach open to being mentored?

5. Fig. 3: A coach education and development programme is just as important as player development
During juniors, the player is far more institutionalised and federations become
the 3rd institution after family and school. It is easier for the federation to
expect a junior player to adapt to a system. A transitional player becomes an
individual, increasingly independent of institutional thinking. The programme
becomes more and more individualised around what the player's specific
needs are based around their circumstances and the level they are aiming for.
This is when the system must adapt to the player.
Having a plan that is supposedly based on a Long Term Athlete Development
scheme but is only supporting juniors is not a plan at all. It is a hope and a
prayer that it might strike lucky that a player comes along with the desire and
attitude to become an elite player and will do so in spite of any support rather
than because of an overall LTAD. Why throw money at something that has
been tried time and again and comes up with the same result each time – a
consistent lack of long-term success at senior level?
As long as player, coach/mentor and federation understand their
responsibilities in developing the player as a person alongside their
development as a player, the goals that all parties are striving for can be
reached with a carefully constructed and flexible programme that is built
around the needs of the individual player.
Cooperation. Understanding. Experience. Success. It’s the ideal recipe.
John Milton
Squash Prospects
Stockholm, Sweden
November 2012
THE*Coach*
A*coach*cannot*develop*a*player*without*developing*
themselves*
Therefore,*a*fundamental*part*of*a*federaAon’s*plan*to*
develop*an*effecAve*transiAonal*programme*should*be*
to*develop*and*educate*coaches*
A*successful*coach*becomes*a*mentor*to*the*player*
Mentor*the*coach*