Recent research into the effects of long term educational mentoring of athletes has found that it makes a considerable difference to their athletic performance. The first ever study was presented by the Aviva sponsored ‘On Camp with Kelly’ initiative, which has revealed that 80% of the athletes that were mentored by Dame Kelly Holmes had better performance results than their counterparts.
‘On Camp with Kelly’ was founded by double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes and aims to assist young, female middle distance athletes in their transition of junior to the senior ranks. This is achieved by providing them with an educational development programme so that they gain life experiences, as well as learn what it takes to become a world class athlete. With the committed support and sponsorship from Aviva, the initiative has grown from strength to strength, with over 60 athletes having been involved with the initiative since it began in January 2004. Dame Kelly Holmes said,
“Developing athletes of the future, with Aviva’s support, is a passion of mine. Through a long term successful mentoring programme we can develop the kind of talent in the UK that can compete with and beat the best in the world.”
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Furthermore, leading sport psychologist Dr Anna Waters has also revealed six important ways in which the initiative has been supporting athletes and contributing to their success. Through qualitative research, Dr Waters recognized a six step mentoring model that has a direct impact on athlete performance. The model includes one-to-one mentoring from Dame Kelly, support, preparation, education, long term regular contact and injury management which leads to improvements in athletes’ confidence, self-belief, race knowledge, motivation, concentration, persistence and competitiveness, which as a result leads to an improved overall performance. Dame Kelly says,
“Effective mentoring can open up new ideas and bring the best out of people. Everyone has obstacles to overcome at some point in life, whether they be sports orientated or personal, and one way of achieving this is through this mentoring model.”
The benefits of this six step mentoring process have been demonstrated by the recent success of ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athlete Hannah England, who won a silver medal in the 1500m at the 2011 IAAF World Championships.
Hannah said, “The support and education I have received from the Aviva-sponsored ‘On Camp with Kelly’ initiative has been crucial in helping me to achieve success in senior competition. For a mentor to be effective you need to know them well and I have developed that relationship with Kelly over the last seven years. The support of Kelly and ‘On Camp with Kelly’ will be crucial in the build-up to London 2012. Kelly has been there and done it herself and she knows exactly what you need to hear.”
Gerri Carr, Senior Sponsorship Manager, Aviva UK, said, “It’s great to see how our investment in ‘On Camp with Kelly’ is helping pave the way for potential champions on the world stage. It is clear that Kelly’s mentoring model is working, providing an essential part of athletes’ development and making a difference to performances. We have been dedicated to supporting British athletes through our longstanding partnership with UK Athletics and we are proud to see success as the ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes progress through the Aviva GB&NI Team.”
The success of the initiative could provide a template for future sports mentoring programmes and a legacy, post London 2012.
More info: www.oncampwithkelly.co.uk
Lizzie Flint, Sportsister
The Women’s Sport Magazine
