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Neftyanik Hockey Training Center holds a training camp for boys born in 2004-2005 representing hockey schools of Neftyanik and Ak Bars. Young sportsmen at the same time complete unique medical and sports test. Elena Romanovna Iashina Doctor of Medical Sciences, Sports Advisor of Director General of Tatneft PJSC, told about it to Press Office of Neftyanik Club.
- Now Neftyanik Hockey Training Center holds a training camp for team of Ak Bars Hockey Academy, that includes hockey players of Neftyanik and Ak Bars Sports Schools for Children and Youth. These teams were chosen because they are the Academy members and are related to the teenage years. In terms of sport this age is a period, when it can be determined with a high degree of certainty, if the sportsman has a way to top-class sports, if he has a future in sport, or not. Large international tournaments start from this age, and the best boys in the end of the year shall participate in the 41st annual international hockey tournament MAC’S «THE WORLD INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OF MIDGET “AAA” HOCKEY» for age groups (U15-U17), that will be held from December 26, 2019 to January 1, 2020 in Calgary, Canada.
What is the difference between the training camp of the united team from those that are held at schools of Almetyevsk and Kazan, and, let’s be honest, the fact of overwhelming majority of all Sports Schools for Children and Youth of the country? The point is that such comprehensive medical and pedagogical tests are commonly not carried out for teenagers and are provided only for adult teams of the country. Therefore, we have a luxurious conditions. There are no such conditions in the country, we provide complete medical and biological and scientific methodological support for the hockey players and, therefore, we will have a modern system of medical and pedagogical control.
The point is that for training of teenage sportsmen, when their potential as of future professional sportsmen becomes clear, there is a system of training process control. It was developed during a Soviet period that stipulated success of our sportsmen of that time on the Olympic arenas. This was a well-organized system of medical and pedagogical control allowing to avoid overwhelming load for juvenile organism during a transition period and to prevent injuries and diseases preserving the sports future of the boys. These two elements were inseparable for sportsmen.
Here is the example: if two sportsmen have equal skills, but one of them is not healthy, the more successful will be the one who is fit and healthy. The other well-known fact is that organs and system during a period of active growing do not develop simultaneously. Therefore, sometimes bones and muscles have grown, while heart, stomach or even the brain have not, in this case it is necessary to hold the load and intensity for the sportsman in order to preserve him for top-class future in sport. As far as every kind of sport provides for achievement of the limit of physical abilities, it is very important not to harm a teenage sportsman. This is because human actively grows during this particular period and grows unevenly – bones and muscles grow faster than cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract. This misbalance may lead to loss of the sportsman not due to his improper physical preparation, but due to his active growth.
To be honest all leading specialists in sports medicine in 90-s went abroad. Today we have medical physical training dispensaries where work not sports physicians but pediatricians who do not know the specifics of sport. Just for reference: in Soviet period in country there were about eight hundred specialized sports dispensaries also for children and teenagers. Now there are only sixty of them. At that, there is a lack of modern equipment and no comprehensive specialized examination is carried out. For example, vision acuity is examined in course of common examination. While hockey play should have both good vision acuity and field of view. It is not usually checked in general ophthalmology because it is not included into examination standard, unless there are special indications. But this is extremely important for the sportsman to see the rival, puck or ball coming from the flank etc.
Therefore, we carry out comprehensive medical examination for boys of the training camp. This work is sponsored by Tatneft. These examinations allow to reveal not only individual but also system deviations requiring for treatment or timely control or timely and correct prescription of pharmacological correction and specialized sports nutrition.
For example, system dental deviations were revealed. This is just a result caused by deficiency of vitamin D, and organism lacks microelements necessary for Calcium cycling.
The example of teeth reveals one more problem. Aching tooth is a pain, infection, poorly chewed and incompletely adsorbed food. All of this will lead to stomach problems and poor adsorption of food from which we obtain energy for life, motion, plastic material for muscles and the immune system.
We should know about weak points of every sportsman health. And today this is achieved. The boys shall be provided with necessary recommendations, we inform of them coaches, parents and the young hockey players in an adequate form.
In the second part of testing we pay attention to principal properties determining success in sport: endurance, power, speediness, coordination etc. These values are assessed in a quantitative manner. The boys shall complete a number of sports tests. In order to improve something, it is necessary to measure it first. Here in hockey training center there is a goal area allowing to asses the puck velocity, goal accuracy. There is a field with artificial ice for assessment of the push strength, amount and power of the work performed, motion biomechanics. All of it allows to assess the required sports values of the hockey player but also to customize the training process and to compare the boys and make an unbiased choice during formation of the team. There is no such equipment in Tatarstan and in the whole Volga Region, only leading World Hockey Academies have it. For example, RedBull Hockey Academy (Austria, Salzburg) uses such equipment both for testing and training process.
Uniqueness of this training camp that we have chosen such specialized sports tests that are required only for hockey. We studied experience of such tests in Europe and Canada. By the way Canadian specialists shall come to Almetyevsk soon for testing the ice and joint data processing.
The boys also have theoretical classes, professional coaches work with them, they discuss the game methodology, issues related to training process design. They have special classes for sports hygiene and nutrition. Sports future requires thoughtful attitude to sports training.
This is a system basis establishing that allows the boys to become successful both in sport and in life.
On the one side the training camp last for a short period, on the other, it is highly intensive. Managers, coaches who carry out this training camp do a great methodological work. This camp program for teenagers is unique. I have worked in many teams, I’ve been a head of the Federal Institute of Physical Education and Sport (All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Physical Education), I’ve been a supervisor of scientific theses for development of approaches to training for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Pyeongchang-gun. I can assure that even in course of training to the Olympic Games we did not have such opportunities related to modern technologies application. It is not only worth much, but requires specialists to interpret the results obtained. Tatneft management today has created all the conditions to obtain sustainable competitive strength.
Material is prepared by Press Office of Neftyanik Almetyevsk Hockey Club