Our second training weekend of 2026 was arranged solely for the +50s FIMBA GB women’s squad to allow them to
continue to work on the team’s philosophies as well as improve on the player’s strengths of their
individual games.
On Saturday, Matt and I were joined on the side-lines by our newly appointed Mental Performance
Coach, Neil Edge. Neil works with elite-level triathletes and endurance athletes, specialising in helping
competitors perform with resilience, confidence, and composure under pressure. His methods translate
directly into team sports, where decision-making, focus, and emotional control determine performance
in high-pressure moments. Neil had previously produced a Mental Performance Assessment for the
players and following completion of these documents, he was able to create player profiles which will
prove invaluable as reference tools throughout the season.
The players had requested an additional hour of training on the Saturday to allow us to work on the
finer points of the team’s set plays in some detail. Following a thorough warm up, we went straight into
playing 5v5 games against a man-to-man defence. This gave Matt and I the opportunity to see what
parts of the players games needed to be worked on both individually and within a team set up. All
players reacted tremendously well to the direction provided by the coaches following a detailed review
of our “Man Plays”, and our team Captains’ contributions throughout the session clearly paid dividends
when we applied the learnings in further hard-fought game situations. Our “Man” defensive strategies
and Fast Break philosophies were also worked through in fine detail and put in to play in various high
energy scenarios.
Zone Offensive and Defensive strategies were the order of the day on Sunday following running
passing and shooting drills, together with plays looking at gaining the advantage in various 3 on 2 and 2
on 1 situations. Most pleasing in the first half of the session were the results of a high-pressure foul
shot drill. It was obvious to all that the team had been working hard on this facet of their game with a
very high shooting percentage from both teams.
Once again, the squad was split into “talls and smalls” to continue the work with the players in key
areas of the court before running through our team Zone plays. Matt and I took part in the game
situations to allow 5 on 5 games to take place. We were both extremely pleased with the results of the
highly competitive games but hope that we will be able to leave it to the squad and view the games
from the side of the court next time!
Another thoroughly rewarding weekend thanks Team, and I look forward our next training session over
the weekend of March 21st and 22nd, again at the Countersthorpe Academy. Prior to this, a number of
our players will be participating in the Strathclyde Masters on March 14th/15th where I’m sure they will
do themselves proud once again.
