Unsung

Alexis James

Description

Unsung offers a fascinating and illuminating insight behind the scenes of professional sports, meeting the unheralded heroes without whom this industry would not be what it is today. A sporting compendium of the unheard, the unsaid, and the unusual, Unsung shines a rare spotlight on the integral people in the shadows, interwoven into the fabric of sport. Find out how an F1 pit crew condenses years of training into three seconds of race-day precision. Hear from the top boxing referees whose judgement calls prove the difference between crowning a champion and calling an ambulance. Meet the trigger-happy athletics starters who can break as many dreams as they make. And learn how snowmaking scientists go to war with Mother Nature at every Winter Olympics. Away from the headlines generated by sport''s biggest stars, these previously uncelebrated characters share previously untold tales of intrigue, ambition and dedication. Unsung introduces the sports stars you don''t know, telling the stories you can''t miss.

Informations

• Publié par: Distributed by eBookpartnership
• Date de parution: 07 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781801502931
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2022
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Alexis James, 2022
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright.
Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801501415
eBook ISBN 9781801502931
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eBook Conversion by www.eBookPartnership.com
Contents
Introduction
1. START ME UP: Athletics Starters
2. FUEL SELL: Performance Chefs
3. FIX UP LOOK SHARP: Formula One Mechanics
4. SNOW WHISPERERS: Winter Olympic Snowmakers
5. GET SHIRTY: Football Kit Designers
6. SHADOW RACING: Cycling Moto Pilots
7. LOST IN TRANSLATION: Football Interpreters
8. GOD SQUAD: Sports Chaplains
9. WATCHMEN: Doping Officials
10. HUMAN DRUM: Rowing Coxswains
11. COUP DE GRASS: Football Ground Staff
12. LION S DEN: Rugby Medics
Acknowledgements
Photos
To my dad. And to Riz.
May your song always be sung
- Bob Dylan, Forever Young
Introduction
THE SEED for this book was planted in 2018 in the spectacular leafy surrounds of Le Golf National, Paris. It was day two of the Ryder Cup and I was nursing a rotten hangover in the freezing 5am queues. As the sun began to peep over the green hills and golden dunes of the Albatross course, a distant hum caught my attention. A battalion of greenkeepers driving ride-on mowers was plotting a path to the imposing grandstand nicknamed Le Monstre . Clipped to each vehicle was the blue flag of Europe, fluttering in the morning breeze. It was a rousing sight. And for us lucky, bleary-eyed attendees it was a sign that the Ryder Cup had begun. But for those two dozen ground staff, alive and alert, it had started many years ago.
Before I arrived in France, I had written about these guardians of the fairway. I had interviewed Ryder Cup course superintendents past and present, including Steve Chappell. He was in charge at Gleneagles in 2014, and he told me the story behind one of its most memorable moments.
On the final day, Europe s Justin Rose had skewed left off the tee and into the gorse on the 13th hole. Watching on, Chappell couldn t believe it. Months prior, he had intended to remove those very bushes. But he was prevented from doing so by European captain Paul McGinley. The skipper had reasoned that, at over 300 yards from the tee, it was more likely to be the big-hitting Americans who would be caught in the trap.
Instead, it was Rose who had been swatted. His American opponent Hunter Mahan sensed a chance to increase his lead and halt the surging Europeans. But while McGinley hadn t expected his guys to be in the shrub, he had been meticulous enough to note the yardage during his pre-tournament recces. With his captain s insight to hand, Rose did the rest. His recovery to within a foot of the pin became one of the defining moments of the tournament.
A birdie clawed back Mahan s lead and, with Europe 10-6 ahead, extinguished any faint American hopes. Rose smiled at the camera and quipped, There s a bit of Seve for you. He was right, it was a shot that the great Ballesteros himself would have been delighted with. The Scottish crowd cheered. The commentators gushed. And one relieved superintendent had experienced that moment like no other fan on the planet.
So as I watched the sprightly troop of greenkeepers fizz their way around lush Parisian lawns, I felt their pride. Admittedly, the Latin Quarter mojitos may have had a lingering effect on my sensibilities. But I also appreciated the years of toil that went towards laying the foundations on which golf s greats could showcase their brilliance.
Throughout sport, there are hundreds of decisions made and actions taken by peripheral figures just like Steve Chappell. They help shape the moments that become TV montages, history-book chapters, and lifelong memories. It is their stories that I intend to tell over the following 12 chapters.
The number feels apt. In football, the 12th man is a term that describes a crowd whose commitment has compelled their team to victory. In cricket, the 12th man is the poor sap who hasn t quite made the field but could be needed at any moment. Many of those featured in these pages will relate to both descriptions. Some of the roles go way back in history. Some are recent creations born of sport s increasing professionalism. All are now indispensable.
Although they often occupy the same room, track, or pitch as the biggest names in sport, the characters described here are more relatable. They look like us, live like us, and have flaws like us. They are not the media-savvy operators that modern sportspeople are. With some understandable exceptions, they are unguarded, honest, and thrilled to be able to share the tales they rarely get to tell.
Although this began as a 2020 lockdown project, I didn t want the pandemic to dominate every word. It is something we have all lived through but it will not define us. Nonetheless, there are chapters where Covid-19 s unwelcome spectre is unavoidable. Several I spoke to even played an integral part in sport s resilient fightback.
Restrictions prevented me from personally visiting all of those featured, though I am grateful to the many who did welcome me to their homes and places of work when permitted. To those I only met over Zoom, I sincerely hope that I have managed to do your story justice.
And to the reader, I also hope that I have been able to relay the pride that these people take in their work and the ways in which they are integral to their sport. If so, then maybe the next time you attend or watch a sporting event, you ll have a hair-raising moment like the one I experienced in Paris. Only without the cold sweats.
You ll look beyond the headlines and behind the athletes. For there is where you ll see the people who power them. For every Lewis Hamilton there is a pit mechanic priming his car. For every Emma Raducanu there is a performance chef fuelling her goals. For every Harry Kane there are ground staff perfecting his stage. And for every Usain Bolt there is an athletics starter launching his first steps to greatness.
While its biggest stars and household names enjoy the glory, tucked away amid sport s small print and voiceless under its fanfare is a band of unsung heroes rarely acknowledged, let alone championed. Too often these tireless facilitators and hidden organisers are only noticed when they make an error. The feats are reserved for the athletes, while those behind the scenes are only ever attributed to the disasters. This book is a humble attempt to change that.
Alexis James, April 2022
1
START ME UP: Athletics Starters
The sound of gunfire is the precursor to every great sprint in athletics history. Yet those pulling the trigger are much more than a hired gun. Meet the volunteer officials whose strict codes on rule-keeping can break as many dreams as they make - for even the world s most famous athletes.
It All Starts with a Bang
ON YOUR MARKS
At the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, the field for the 100m final included the fastest man in history. He smiled at the camera and produced his famous pose before accepting the invitation to his blocks. His nervous rivals were beholden to superstition. They jumped on the spot, fiddled with jewellery, sipped water, and prayed.
SET
Over 50,000 fans at the Olympiastadion held their breath, and their phones. They were anticipating the new world record that a global audience of 95 million were about to witness. The sprinters were poised. The world now waited on one man.
His name was Alan.
BANG!
You may not have heard of Alan Bell, but you ve almost certainly heard his gun. Now in his 70s, he remains the highest-ranked chief starter in the UK and one of the most experienced in the world. As well as the World Championships he has fired the starting pistol at the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the World Indoor Championships, and the European Championships. It makes him the only international starter to have officiated at every major athletics meeting. And it means that when Usain Bolt cemented his greatness in Berlin, Alan had the best seat in the house.
That night will probably be the greatest moment of my life, with the exception of the birth of my kids, he told me when we first chatted in January 2021. You fire a gun at the World Championship Final, which is not a bad bonus in itself, and the big fella from Jamaica creates history. And nobody has been anywhere near since.
Hanging on the wall of his study is the certificate that displays Bolt s name and the astonishing time of 9.58 seconds. As starter, Alan s signature also appears on there. He was keen to point out that without it, the record would not have been ratified. That s my 17th world record, he said, before pointing to another framed memento from the night. It was Bolt s warm-up vest. My son tells me it should be on eBay. I ve suggested over my dead body!
A former high jumper who represented England at amateur level in the early 1970s, Alan was forced to retire in his mid-20s when he ruptured the achilles tendon in his take-off foot. I m a knackered athlete, he boomed in a Geordie baritone as loud as his gun. As a member of North Shields Polytechnic Club, he was invited to help out at a youth track meet.