Eighth Indian Ocean Island Games preparation-Training is the key to success |03 September 2010
Having committed itself to host the Games from August 5-14, 2011, Seychelles will definitely honour its engagement, but what remains to be seen is whether the athletes will perform to the best of their abilities to win medals – especially those of the gold hue – for their country.
Sportsmen and women have to understand that success develops self-confidence, especially in terms of their performance, but they need to develop a resilient degree of self-confidence.
Right now, some sportsmen and women have been complaining of not getting this and that – most of the time these are simple things that won’t make a big difference to their lives or to them achieving good results.
What they need to do is to focus on positive information, although positive information is hard to find at times.
To be successful, sportsmen and women need to introspect and call on inner reserves to maintain self-confidence during training sessions and matches.
Studies have shown that successful athletes usually report high levels of self-confidence, low anxiety, and are able to control emotions before competition using adaptive coping skills.
This is what is lacking in most Seychellois sportsmen and women.
Most of the time, they try to divert their attention towards issues that don’t necessarily concern them.
It is true that the situation is not the same as in 1993 when Seychelles hosted the fourth IOIG.
With a smaller budget and the government calling on its partners to join forces to make the Games a success, it is important that athletes, coaches and management teams understand what their objectives are. Once they have identified those objectives, they should work towards achieving them.
Not getting enough water at a training session, the transport being late to take them home, and so on, should not distract the athletes from their preparation.
Instead, they should use these same soi-disant setbacks to become stronger mentally, and this will serve them well at critical moments – for example during the dying seconds of a football match with the Seychelles team holding on to a slender 1-0 lead despite the onslaughts of the opposing team.
To become successful, sportsmen and women must explore their general self-confidence about playing their chosen sports and how they value themselves as a person and as a Seychelles international.
Do all Seychellois feel good when they wear the country’s colours and do they defend them with vigour?
The answer is no, and we just have to read from past issues of this same paper in which bad behaviour by many athletes during international competitions has been reported.
Representing your country is an honour, and not all of us have the opportunity to do so.
When someone is chosen to represent his/her country, it means that he/she is fit to do so. But sometimes athletes lose focus and venture into unwanted territory.
Athletes must be able to deal with distractions – both external and internal – if they want to be successful.
Getting the best training facility, best equipment etc, does not always help athletes get good results.
It’s only through hard work, devotion and love for what they do that they will succeed.
Success is something great – we are all happy when Seychellois athletes achieve great things and we all share their happiness.
Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vincent Meriton and his team have this week started meeting athletes from the 12 sports that will feature in next year’s IOIG. His visits will, in some ways, help motivate the sportsmen and women to stay focused and train hard to achieve good results – making themselves and their country proud.
Remember, hard work pays off in the end.
G. G.