With the Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia just weeks away, Able spoke with newly announced Skip, Aileen Neilson to talk about how the ParalympicsGB Wheelchair Curling team is preparing.
From Able Magazine #109 (January/February 2014)
Congratulations on being named ‘Skip’ (team captain) for Sochi.
Thank you very much, yes, it’s great just to se it in writing but I’ve still got a lot of work to do. I’m very excited and obviously, honoured.
There must be a difference between being one of the team and leading the team.
It is very much a ‘team sport’. I make a lot of the decisions but you’re working with two people down at one end (of the ice) and two at the other so we have a lot of chat and we make a lot of joint decisions – and the other players are all thinking about the game probably as much as I am but ultimately, I’m the one that makes the final decision.
That could come down to a few nail-biting moments.
Having Skipped at the last three ‘Worlds’, I’m building up my experience of making these decisions and I think it’s like anything else: you’re not going to get it right all of the time but you try to go through a process and hopefully you come up with the right choice of shots and then its up to whoever’s playing that shot, to try and make that shot.
The last Paralympics in Vancouver was your first, what do you say to players about to make their Paralympic debut in Sochi?
You should look forward to it and just revel in the atmosphere and the experience – it’s certainly the pinnacle of any athletes carer, to go to the Olympics or Paralympics, but (it should be a case of) I want to enjoy it and I want to do the best that I possibly can.
What about medal hopes?
Obviously, over the last few years we’ve been working really hard. Our coach has introduced a lot of new concepts we really feel have improved our game both technically and tactically, and the four of us dynamic-wise are a really strong unit.
Our first goal is obviously to reach the ‘business end of the week’ and get to the play-offs. Other countries, like ourselves, will have been working hard and they’re all going to hope to come back with a medal. If they play well on the day they’re going to be really tough opposition so we have to bring our ‘A game’.
What kind of lessons do you take when things don’t turn out how you want, such as Vancouver?
I think from any competition you go to and any training session there are things you’ve got to take. I learned a lot and it was such an amazing experience to be at my first Paralympics. Obviously, we would like to have been placed higher and come back with a medal but it wasn’t to be and other teams played better than us. We can certainly hope that we can do better at this Paralympics and continue to work hard over the next couple of months and hopefully be as well prepared as we can.
How have you managed your job during training?
I’m a primary school teacher and I find it very difficult to work full time and train so I’m in a fortunate position that South Lanarkshire Council give up to five year ‘career breaks’ so I’ve taken three years but I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the support of UK Sport, British Curling, Sport Scotland, The British Association of Sport and The Royal Caledonian Curling Club who have given us great support, whether for travel, flights, accommodation, ice fees, entry fees or training and coaching – so obviously these bodies have given us great support and have enabled me to train full time as an athlete and hopefully be the best athlete I can be at Sochi.
