UK Sport

• You are here:
• Media Centre
• News

Coaching Conference hears from Collina

Subscribe

Matthew Crawcour 22 November 2005

Pierluigi Collina - the world's most instantly recognizable football referee - made a keynote address to UK Sport's 2005 World Class Coaching Conference at the Belfry today. The speech took place a day later than planned after the Italian's plane had been grounded by fog yesterday.

The man who refereed the 2002 World Cup Final in Japan, revealed that detailed planning had been the secret of his success. Collina would routinely undertake detailed video analysis of the teams he was due to referee in order to anticipate their tactics on the pitch and in set pieces, so that he could always be in the right place at the right time.

Whilst renowned for his ability to stare down even the games most aggressive exponents, Collina explained that his ability to deflate tense situations with a smile was equally important:

"I only ever had a few seconds to resolve a situation and therefore using the right body language was essential. You just have to use the appropriate behaviour for the moment - it could be a smile, or I could be much firmer, depending on the situation."

Learning from mistakes, but resisting the urge to compensate for them was another important part of the Collina creed. "You must understand what you do wrong and find solutions to avoid repeating mistakes. Then forget it and move on."

With adequate preparation, Collina estimated that 50% of his job was done before a ball had been kicked - a message that was familiar to the 200 strong audience of Olympic and Paralympic coaches packing the conference hall at the Belfry. The coaches heard from Collina in between a series of other seminars ranging from 'The Challenges of Continuous Improvement', to the importance of environmental and nutritional factors.

Dame Stella Rimington will follow in Collina's steps by delivering a keynote address to the Conference tomorrow. As the first woman to head the nation's security services and the first publicly named head of MI5, Dame Stella is used to breaking the mould. She will also speak on the area of decision making under pressure and use her experience to make high profile career comparisons.

Other key speakers who will be running workshops over the four day event include: Dr Ric Charlesworth, one of Australian sport's most accomplished coaches; Jim Page who was the architect of the USA's most successful Winter Olympic campaign in 2002; and Dr David Flower, one of the world's foremost experts in the problems posed by travel and jetlag.

UK Sport's World Class Coaching Conference runs until Thursday. The theme for this year's event - which is attended by leading coaching figures from Olympic, Paralympic and professional sport - is 'Innovation' - encouraging individuals and teams to develop new ideas and insight, as well as learning new skills.

Back to news listing

Most Viewed