Coaching at a juvenile level requires the club and coaches to recognise the demands that a growing body places on a child and for training to be complimentary and supportive to the overall development of the child. MSB also recognise the education requirements of today's children and undertake to give primary consideration to exams and study when planning a training and competition schedule.

It is the aim of the club to bring young athletes to a state of readiness to undertake whatever course of action they wish to pursue by the time they completed 2nd level education. At this stage their bodies have physically matured and they should be well positioned to benefit from whatever additional training they may wish to undertake at this stage.

During their development years in MSB the young athlete will progress through 3 distinct phases.

8 to 12 year old:
At this stage the key aim will be to have fun and learn to enjoy athletics, while developing the basic skills which can be honed and perfected in later years. During this period the competitive emphasis will be on team events and how the team benefits from everybody's contribution.

13 to 15 year old:
As children develop and reach puberty their bodies strengthen and are able to adapt to slightly higher workloads. This stage should see the teenager able to undertake more strenuous workouts, the training will intensify slightly and the person will tend to concentrate more on the events in which they are stronger. The competition emphasis will tend more towards individual performance, but team events will continue to be promoted.

16 to 18 year old:
Here we are likely to see the athlete specialising in a small number of events. Athletes and coaches will have built up an understanding over the previous number of years which will enable training programs to be specialised to an individual and take into account all their circumstances and how they react to different training demands and circumstances.

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