Our fitness person

[HAL]

Oh a rock group. My favourite group is .

[K]

Olympian ('00, '04, '08 ) Lee Troop ('05):

"So as far as them saying they're going to altitude and this is what elite athletes do, it was just a crock. ...
It just bewilders me that people have got more money than sense."

[Ouch...]


P.S. In '09, 12 players were left behind, including Medhurst (ankle injury), Anthony (shoulder surgery), & Fraser (knee management).
In '10, those left behind included Didak (pectoral), Brown (shoulder), McCarthy (hip surgery), Krakouer (visa), & Ceglar.
In '12, those left behind included Maxwell, Toovey, Didak, D. Thomas, & Goldsack.
No info on '11, the assumed study year!

[Albert Parker]

[Albert Parker]

Double post

[K]

This is about the best a quick search revealed. (These figures are a little old.)

Chelsea:

Jose Mourinho Manager £8.37 million
Frank Arnesen Director of Football £2 million
Steve Clarke Assistant Manager £300,000
Baltemar Brito First Team Coach £400,000
Rui Faria Fitness Coach £600,000
Silvinho Louro Goalkeeper Coach £400,000
Andre Villas Scout £250,000
Rainer Bonhoff Scout £100,000

Petr Cech £5 million
Gary Cahill £4 million
Ashley Cole £10 million
John Terry £9 million
Yossi Benayoun £4 million
Michael Essien £4 million
Eden Hazard £9 million
Frank Lampard £7 million
Demba Ba £3.5 million
Fernando Torres £9 million

Total Wages Paid 2010/11 £189.5m

http://www.trophy4toon.co.uk/premier-league-salaries/


"Faria's main remit is still as a fitness coach, tasked with devising ways to maintain the peak condition of players and minimise the risk of injuries. But over time his role has broadened as Mourinho's trust in him has grown, and in recent years he has also regularly advised his manager on tactical and strategic matters both on and off the pitch."

(Liam Twomey, Chelsea correspondent, 8 Jul, 2016)

http://www.espn.co.uk/soccer/club/manchester-united/360/blog/post/2881198/rui-faria-jose-mourinhos-loyal-assistant-fitness-guru-and-attack-dog

[K]

[ctd.]

US college football's highest-paid strength and conditioning coaches (2015):

1. Chris Doyle, Iowa, $515,000
2. Mickey Marotti, Ohio State, $431,558
3. Scott Cochran, Alabama, $420,000
4. Rob Glass, Oklahoma State, $401,166
5. Paul Jackson, Ole Miss, $375,000
6. Ben Herbert, Arkansas $340,000
7. Pat Moorer, Texas, $330,000
8. Tommy Moffitt, LSU, $315,000

http://www.espn.com.au/college-football/story/_/id/14459410/these-highly-paid-strength-conditioning-coaches-carry-plenty-weight-college-football

[K]

Caro, 15 September 2012:

"... the game's chief executive remains concerned at the massive pay commanded by some fitness coaches. ...

High performance managers regularly earn twice the amount paid to assistant coaches. Clubs now spend double what they did on key training personnel compared with just two seasons ago and half of the AFL's 18 clubs pay their key fitness coach more than $300,000 a year.
...

Clubs would argue that sports science is an international industry and that rising costs have come about because they are competing for the best fitness men against American football, European soccer and international Olympic sports. Port Adelaide and Richmond only last month were engaged in a bidding war for Liverpool's fitness chief Darren Burgess, who will command some $350,000 should he cross - as expected - to Port.
...

The money on offer to highly regarded high-performance managers has reached close to $400,000; at the same time the industry is being more closely monitored by the AFL. ..."

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-rails-at-fitness-as-a-growth-industry-20120914-25xxl.html


[But has the soft cap deflated football-department salaries since 2012?]


Loris Bertolacci, 5 September 2012:

"... Guru status often gets bestowed on whoever wins the finals series. Clubs are jostling for the next panacea in Sports Science. I don’t want to comment on the competencies of fitness staff and individual decisions. ... Just the business practices ( or lack of) and often total lack of scrutiny with CV’s etc. Often very smart business people on Boards throw out all their objectivity when involved in sports such as AFL and jump on the percpetion based, panic buying, profile chase to keep fans and media and stakeholders happy for another year. Then hope with fingers crossed that they will make finals!
...

Only as far back as 2003 at Geelong pretty much the fitness budget would have been 140/150,000 tops for all staff. Maybe 10,000 approx for equipment. The odd consultant. Wee bit of sports science money, maybe 10 to 15,000 max…I cannot remember exact amounts but simply not a lot. Anyway that was the key period for the development of the super Geelong Team of 2007 onwards. How did I manage it? Simply paid heaps of part timers small amounts to oversee varied functions. Mark Spivey was F/T but on a low wage and Chris Dennis was very much part time. Tahi Reihana received next to nothing to help with weights and tackling and same with John Minns in the gym. Then I had a yoga teacher come in and varied consultants like Mark Sayers pop in for very lowly paid consultancies. There were a few other small gigs and some work experience students doing odd jobs. OK different era but by 2006 the job was almost done with this team.
...

My model would be to pay a competent quality person a good salary but leave heaps for lots of expertise in the fitness area so that all individual needs can be met. Spread the money. In the end it is the law of diminishing returns. For every extra 100,000 one pays a GURU one gets less and less value. Pay 195,000 a year and get a really really good person and have thousands left over.

Sports Science is critical and costs money, rehab experts and consultants are critical and should be called in on demand. Different periods of the year need different staff. Pay someone 200,000 and have 150,000 left over and wow get some amazing expertise out there. If an assistant deems themelves a guru and wants double then say ciao!

In a micro fashion that was how I operated. Training started at 2pm and at 12 30 all my part timers arrived and had specific gigs. And at 5pm off they went. We are talking elite operators.
...

What is needed is Expertise and access to the amazing amount of varied knowledge that exists now in the Sports Science and Rehab Community. A guru cannot do it all. But a smart manager can access the best minds and then pull together a program but more so cater for the fine tuning needed. A football department now cannot do it all, let alone a guru. The next big thing is simply accessing people on demand. ..."

https://lorisbertolacci.wordpress.com/tag/afl-2/


[But since "2006 turned into the season of discontent, as the Cats whimpered to 10th, amid a dispute with sacked fitness coach Loris Bertolacci", can LB really take credit for the Geelong era? Or did Geelong penny-pinching up until 2006, which surely was out of LB's control, hold them back?]

[K]

"GOLD Coast will head to New Zealand in December for its first pre-season training camp in five years.

The last time the Suns travelled during pre-season was in late 2013 when they spent two weeks in the high-altitude United States city of Flagstaff.

They ventured to the Arizona training hub for three successive years prior to the sacking of inaugural coach Guy McKenna in 2014 and have stayed on the Gold Coast since."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-11-27/pack-your-passports-suns-to-visit-nz-for-preseason-camp

[K]

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

My view is having a specialised fitness program is overrated. You can go back to Len Thompson who did his own individual fitness program over the summer. The best way to get better is the hard slog of repetitive training sessions on the training oval with creative variations from the coaching staff in some of the drills to prevent boredom. We now have an altitude chamber at Holden Centre for injury recovery. No need for expensive trips to the US. No need for military type training camps. Adelaide found that out the hard way.

[K]

Kevin White:

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2018-11-30/preseason-the-story-so-far

[2:24, but no real content.]

[simon tonna]

Thanks for the time you put in to all of that K.
Very interesting reading.

[BazBoy]

With Trav Cloke and Marsh plus Fasolo are players that had “mental “ fitness
hurdles and this form of fitness equally important

Does our club have a specialist for this ??

[Albert Parker]

^Not sure they have a psychologist but have a psychiatrist, Adam Deacon

[K]

AP, do you know how he came to have that role at our club?

It's a little unusual. (I mean the detailed professional background, not the specific individual, is not one you might automatically connect with a football club, and I've been wondering about it since last year.)