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MASTERS ATHLETICS 2014.
pecans and Brazil nuts all provide risk free protection. Mild
amounts of sunshine are good but using sun-tan protection
creams is essential – in men over the age of 60 skin cancers
have increased by 12% in recent years. This is worth
remembering if coaching youngsters, or still out there on the
beach at 35+. Kate Lay reports that eight out of ten heart
attacks could be prevented by healthier living, including regular
exercising every day for about 40 minutes – whether this is
walking, running, cycling and keeping our weight down. Her
research was based on 20,271 Swedish men over 11 years.
Similar results were also reported with regards to ladies by
Professor Agneta Akesson of the Swedish Institute of
Environmental Medicine, in September 2014. Further research
findings from a study which started in 1979 at the University of
Cardiff has been based on following the lives of 2500 young
Welsh men. Peter Elwood – the Research Director report that
those who exercised regularly, stayed slim, ate plenty of
vegetables and drank alcohol in moderation are 60% less likely
to have already died from heart attacks, 60% less likely to have
dementia, 40% less likely less had any form of cancer and
there were 70% fewer cases of diabetes. A group of them,
(now in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s), met government experts on
the 31st of October this year (2014) to discuss the benefits of
their lifestyles.
Similarly in a study at Cardiff University, lasting 35 years so far,
2500 men in South Wales have been followed since 1979.
(Latest report: 31st of October 2014), The ones who are living
the longest, healthiest lives, exercise regularly, eat plenty of
vegetables, don’t smoke, and drink less than two glasses of
wine a day. Peter Elwood, the leader of this research project
points to the 40% who followed none of these simple
behaviours. They hit health problems at a much younger age
than those who did. Julia Ward of The British Heart Foundation
also points out that following the rules “What to do”, is
undertake regular healthy exercise, plus eating a wide range of
vegetables and fruit, significantly reduces the risks of heart
attacks and strokes. Professor John Newton, of Public Health
England points out that being overweight, not exercising, not
eating healthy vegetables but having regular drinking and
smoking habits greatly increases the likelihood of dying early.
SO, healthy living is sensible; but what about not only being
healthily active but also being a competitive master athlete?
Performing well and beating the enemy? How often having a
chat with friends before competing as a veteran helps us to
forget they are our competition enemies? Does it matter if we
don’t do as well as we hoped/expected? Yes it does. We need
to ask ourselves “did we focus on our own total preparation for
the competition we are due to start in only one hour’s time?”
Or, did we meet lots of national or international friends and
have a happy chat?
So, the good news for all those thirty-four year old kids bursting
with excitement because they will soon be master athletes.
According to a new report in the Lancet, researches led by
Professor Andrew Steptoe of University College London show
that you will regain your youthful feelings of well-being by the
time you reach your sixties – if you hold on to your involvement
in physical health activities – such as sport. You will be less
likely to suffer from depression, less likely to suffer from heart
problems caused by increased blood pressure/clots, more
likely to enjoy the social advantages of sporting relationships
and the purpose in life this brings. Additionally, most of us will
live longer than the rest of our age group. So make sure you
join the 60+ athletes who are already out there brimming with
happiness and looking forward to Brian publishing the British
and World records for athletes over 90 and 100 that we are
aiming to break. There’s everything to live for.
7
Importantly: we need to act upon the knowledge sport has
belatedly discovered. We aren’t in track and field athletics
competitions in order to relax; we are there because we want to
do well. We have got to Focus in our training, Focus in our
warm up preparations before our event starts. Focus on
producing that best performance we know are capable of,
provided our minds and bodies remember the golden rule:
Focus
MOCK TRIAL at
Edgbaston Cricket
Ground- Mel James
Representing the Federation, Maurice Doogan and I
attended this “mock trial” in February.
There were over 35 different sports represented
amongst a few hundred attendees.
Although the whole proceeding was condensed to a
morning and afternoon session, a normal claims case
of this type would possibly have taken up to 3 days to
reach a decision.
The witness and claimant roles were performed by
local actors, with the Barristers and QC’s qualified
within their roles as litigation specialists dealing with
the sports injury and negligence section of law.
Although it was a fictitious claim case, the proceedings
were undertaken as authentically as any legal court claim.
The “claimant” was a student that helped out the village
cricket team by grass cutting the outfield for them. His only
remuneration for this was some snacks and drinks. He was
unfortunately struck on the head by a cricket ball, which had
passed through a gap in the training nets. His claim was for
missing a year’s study plus help from his mother and
medications, a total of £13,308.
(During the trial, we were supplied with an electronic voting
hand set that could, with our answers to set questions,
decide what the majority of attendees predicted as the final
outcome of the trial)
The Cricket Club (similarly to many clubs) did not take up the
offer of paying the extra cover of employer’s liability, but the
insurers were confident that the claimant was not employed.
The Cricket Club also failed to inform the insurers that a
claim was imminent between renewals of the old and new
policies. (Every club or organisation is only as proficient as
its weakest link)
The batsman that hit the ball through the net, “Slogger”, had
actually lapsed on his annual membership, but still played for
the team, due to his value as a high run scoring batsman.
Therefore there were lots of anomalies to consider within the
trial.
To begin with, the voting of the “audience/gallery” that the
claim against the club’s negligence would be proven was
75%. After the first session, which involved questioning the
claimant and the bar attendant, the voting percentage of a
successful claim dropped to 58%.
The defence QC began the afternoon session by questioning
“Slogger “plus the head coach, the club captain and the
grounds man. They all agreed that no hole or gap was
visible on net examination during or on the original set up of
the nets. The club also kept a “Net Assessment Log”, with
thorough checks 3 times a year and ad hoc inspections
before and after each session. As the nets were coloured
black and sturdy in construction, it would be easy to notice