21/05/2026
This year was my 7th Youth Nationals and every year the trip is extremely valuable (for many reasons) but above all else it provides a clear picture of the Youth Australian circuit.
Over the last decade I have watched the evolution of competition climbing in Australia and every year I am reminded of the same things…
1. Lots of kids are strong but not a lot are technically proficient. In the Australian circuit, we very clearly have a culture of stronger is better. Being stronger will fix everything…unfortunately, it doesn’t.
2. Being able to climb under pressure is everything. It is irrelevant how good you are if you’re not able to perform under pressure.
3. There are three key components to climbing (and most competitive sports); physical, technical and mental. Every year the best climbers have a balance of all three and every year the majority have neglected their mental training.
4. Confidence is your golden ticket to climbing at your best. If you don’t believe you can do it, all it takes is one tough move and self doubt wins the fight.
The easy part of Youth Nationals is knowing what needs to change, seeing where our weaknesses lie as a State and as a team. For Victorian athletes, it was undoubtedly a headgame issue across the board. Our talent pool runs deep but we didn’t have a strong enough mindset to match our technical and physical proficiency come game day.
But, we are a team and a strong one at that. I don’t intend to sit back and hope this gets better, nor do I intend to continue the same strategies. We’ll be shaking up our training, attacking our weaknesses in a new way, strengthening our love for climbing and our mind.
Because "The mind is the athlete; the body is simply the means it uses to run faster or jump higher."
Our team still pulled some amazing performances this past week, with many tops, final qualifications and podiums. But the results aren’t the point!!
The point is, imagine what we could do, how we could climb, under pressure at National level if our headgame was the strongest of them all..
Imagine how it would feel, for any youth athlete, to climb at their best when it mattered the most.
It’d be pure magic. ✨️