Bayley Cartmell recently attended the Youth Sport Trust National Talent Camp having been selected and put forward by the Tennis Foundation. The aim of the Camp was to bring together 350 of the most talented young athletes, coaches and officials from across England.
The residential Camp was held at Loughborough University over a period of 4 action packed days of practical and theory work to improve the ideals and abilities of coaches, athletes and officials alike.
On the first day participants registered and were split into 13 groups with 2 team leaders and a young mentor each. Each group consisted of young people from a wide range of sports such as basketball, swimming, tennis, gymnastics, wheelchair basketball, bochia, volleyball and football encouraging individuals from different sports to socialise and learn about different ways in which they can improve their coaching, playing and officiating.
The day began with introductions and an opening ceremony where previous participants talked about their experience at the camp and how they got the most out of it. The second day started early with some yoga, which helped relax everyone before participants were taught about how to control their emotions in a highly entertaining talk on inner chimps and how people react in a primitive way if they don't think things through. The group also focused on the importance of a moral compass in sport and how certain decisions are made might be viewed differently by different people.
One of the tasks the attendees were asked to perform was to think about the qualities that make up the perfect tennis coach. Bayley was able to draw on his own experiences as both a player and assistant coach. He used this to compile an interesting profile!
On day 3 they were introduced to the application of technology in sport and how different levels of coaching, playing and officiating can vary. It also made the group think about the transferable skills that different sports have in common. By the third day many of participants in Group 6 had become close friends in between activities focusing on how to apply their newly learned skills into sessions at their individual clubs.
On one of the days the group were given talks by former professional tennis players Anna Fitzpatrick and Jade Windley, which enabled them to see how they could develop their our skills into a career. They even managed do a mannequin challenge which was a lot of fun!
On the final day the 350 participants were treated to a Christmas lunch, before taking part in the closing ceremony. Bayley, who lives in Newcastle and plays and coaches tennis at David Lloyd Newcastle highlighted what he had got out of the National Camp,
“I really enjoyed my time on the camp, have made some great new friends and been inspired to try new and different things when I'm coaching on court. I'm looking forward to meeting up with my group again in the follow up sessions throughout this year. I would encourage any young person to apply as it is an amazing experience, one that I won't forget.”
