Head of Physical Performance, Medicine & Nutrition at The FA, Bryce Cavanagh, delves into the FA performance team structure, recruiting staff, and utilizing generalists with specialisms. He shares insights on the staffing structure, specialisms within the group, and the pick, train, play philosophy.
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Quick takeaways
Recruitment strategy emphasizes hiring T-shaped employees with broad skills and specialized expertise.
Utilizing consultants and embedded specialists enhances team capabilities in specific areas like sleep, nutrition, and data analytics.
Establishing a 'Pick Train Play' philosophy focuses on preparing players for international football challenges with tailored support.
Deep dives
Recruitment Strategy Emphasizing Generalists with Specialisms
The recruitment strategy at the Football Association focuses on hiring generalists with specialisms. Specifically looking for T-shaped employees who possess a broad range of skills while also excelling in a particular area. This approach allows individuals to handle different tasks on and off-camp, promoting a multi-disciplinary approach. By recruiting based on competence and character, the FA aims to build a diverse team that can adapt to various challenges and effectively contribute to different aspects of performance.
Utilizing Consultant and Embedded Specialist Roles
To address specific specialisms that cannot be fully covered within the core team, the FA employs consultants and embedded specialists. Consultants like Luke Gupta and Jonathan Leeder focus on areas such as sleep, nutrition, and recovery, providing targeted expertise for projects. Additionally, collaborating with external entities such as Statsports and employing embedded PhD students helps enhance the team's capabilities in areas requiring specialized knowledge and long-term research.
Diverse Team Specialisms and Contextual Adaptability
The FA team comprises individuals with diverse backgrounds and specialisms, contributing unique expertise to different areas. For example, Rich Aiken brings data analytics proficiency, while Ben Rosenblatt and Marm Evans offer insights from cycling and hockey backgrounds. Ruth Wagstaff's track and field experience adds coaching depth to the group. This mix of specialisms enables the team to adapt contextually and address a wide range of performance-related challenges effectively.
The Transition from Specialist to Leader
Shifting from a specialist to a leader role posed challenges of stepping back and entrusting specialists, highlighting the importance of filling gaps with the right people. Reflecting on personal growth, adapting to a more generalist position required balancing roles and embracing leadership responsibilities over technical expertise. Organizations like McDonald's faced challenges with internal promotions resulting in employees reverting to previous tasks, prompting a shift towards coaching and leadership development rather than technical skills training.
Implementing the 'Pick Train Play' Philosophy
Establishing a departmental philosophy focused on 'Pick Train Play' emphasized enhancing players' capabilities for international football challenges. The 'Peak' phase concentrated on chronic adaptations, aiming to bridge the gap between club and international football demands. 'Train' addressed varied periodization models and individual player needs from different clubs, requiring tailored preparation for multiple games within short periods. 'Play' extended beyond on-field performance to include off-field aspects like nutrition, recovery, and sleep, comprehensively supporting players through a holistic approach.
In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, I am speaking to Head of Physical Performance, Medicine and Nutrition at the Football Association, Bryce Cavanagh. I am absolutely delighted to get Bryce onto this episode to chat about the inner workings at The FA. This is an in-depth look into how Bryce has structured the performance team to look after numerous age groups and hundreds of the most talented football players in the country. We can a look under the bonnet of what Bryce looks for in a performance coach and how they use generalists with a specialism as a way of providing his players with the best possible care.
This episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast is sponsored by Output Sports – a Swiss Army Knife for optimising off field performance. Output Sports have developed a one-stop portable tool for comprehensive, valid and reliable athlete assessment. You can learn more about Output on outputsports.com or follow them on social media on @OutputSports where you can schedule a demo.
This episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast is sponsored by Hawkin Dynamics, the team behind the world's only wireless force plate system. Hawkin Dynamics can be found at hawkindynamics.com and you can follow them on Twitter @hawkindynamics
This episode is also sponsored by IMeasureU. IMeasureU are a world leading inertial platform to precisely quantify body movement and workload metrics in the field. IMeasureU can be found at imeasureu.com and you can follow them on Twitter @imeasureu.
This episode is also sponsored by Omegawave, the only non-invasive readiness technology to assess both brain and heart. Omegawave can be found at omegawave.com and you can follow them on Twitter @omegawave.
This episode is also sponsored by Athlete Monitoring the world’s most comprehensive, versatile and cost-effective Athlete Health & Performance Management platform for elite sports. You can find their website at athletemonitoring.com or on Twitter @athletemonitor