Hi all. I (Fraser Harban) Just returned form a quality convention and trade show – the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in Baltimore. Really impressed with many things – not least – boy do they know how to put on a great event and I now have a rather large selection of NSCAA branded goods!

So what really struck me the most was the knowledge, dedication and passion of the coaches on the ground. Every single one who visited the stand (quite a few I can tell you) really wanted to see what the HotSpot had to offer and how it could help their sessions and ultimately their teams.

Here is a link to the Peak Performance Magazine that features hotspot on page 11.

http://www.gameseducation.co.uk/images/webgraphics/295.pdf

Make it Count – Team Hotspot

The Hotspot PRO system is the latest addition to the Hotspot PRO family and is the most complete training system available.  Coming in at just £350 + VAT the system offers a complete training system for developing movement abilities.

VIDEO OF PRO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiew5hIjri4

It builds on the Hotspot concept of providing a system that is affordable yet versatile enough to fit into any training program for any sport.  The wireless “hotspots” offer  a simple way to create movement patterns and drills for your training program whilst offering an easy way to be flexible adhering to the needs of your athletes.

Hello again,  this will be a short post (maybe) about yet again a difficult question.  Just to give some background there are stages of tennis development (red/orange/green) and age groups associated with them.  Also in the mix is mini ratings that are competition based that suggest how a player is developing within the stage.  Just to really complicate things take the varying degrees that children develop and you are now in a pickle! Now to the question…when should children move up to the next stage?

The obvious answer is that it is at the discretion of the coach when he/she feels it is appropriate and that the child is demonstrating the relevant skill set.  Of course this differs from coach to coach so is there an answer?

Hi all.  This is a very interesting question about the importance of winning and it extends further into the relevance and purpose of competition at a young age.

Very young players are very much learning the game and in fact learning to play the game in a way that their coach wants them to.  What I mean is that if a coach is teaching hitting for depth then the coach would like to see this within matchplay at the expense of winning, right?  This past week my focus in training (mini red) has been using the forehand as a weapon in particular the run around or inside out forehand.  To my great pleasure my players tried to do this in their matches but with varying degrees of success sometimes resulting in losing.  Is this bad?

Hello, Fraser here with my first blog…
Just felt inspired to write about something that I did yesterday with some young kids from social housing locally to here – no great sainthood on the horizon but very humbling and highlights a few points….

The background to this is the fundamental core of Games Education as a company – the one thing that led Mike and I to set it up. Not making huge sums of money (although maybe one day it would be nice to pay off all the loans!) but the strong belief and desire that every child playing sport and exercise should be able to use techniques and equipment similar to the professionals…

ok..so sometime has passed since the last post and that doesn’t mean nothing has been going on in the world of Hotspot.  Recently we have been at a variety of Premiership football clubs and spent sometime abroad in New York and Qatar.

It is a wonderful time to be involved in sport however there does seem to be some major differences in approach in the UK and abroad.  Standing at the side of a high school football game with 2000 people was a bit odd since it is unheard of in the UK.  The approach that testing and measurements are key and that each individual strives to be the best they can be regardless of stature are stark contrast to my experience in the UK  particularly in schools.  On more than one occasion I have been told that scores and times encourage elitism and leave the weaker behind.  Is this not the case in the real world?

Funnily enough our local MP when asked about a multi million pound sports village to be built in rural Worcester had a similar opinion in that it would not benefit the community.  In aspects of understanding British culture he may well be correct as are we actually motivated to achieve or mollycoddled into a sense of averageness?

The can  do attitude of the American people could do us all a favour in the UK in times of difficulty.  Do we simply look for someone to blame or find the solution?  Hotspot and Games Education are in the mind set of striving to be the best when it comes to our sport and training.  If you want to achieve in sport whether it is getting fitter, playing pro or in my case getting a free education in the states on a scholarship you have to put the time and effort in from a young age..like it or not!  Going back to the sports village what better way to motivate the local community to achieve than providing an opportunity to succeed?  Ok, so I have a had a little rant and in all honesty it is a free following dialogue that is just putting some thoughts out there.  I would love to hear back from anyone who reads this with there opinions on things raised in this rant and check back for more thoughts and feelings.

hope all is good…and make it count!