Once you've been assigned a league and you are taking your first steps

finances play a major part in the game. When you first start and your wage bill is low and you have been given a lump sum to get you going, it is too easy to jump into the transfer market and sign athletes who are aither a) no good, or b) have too high a wage for a new club to be able to afford.

Any spending early on should be on putting seats into your stadium, but again, don't rush, read a few of the help posts on the game's forums.

Assign athlete specialities/favourite events - if they don't already have one (viewable on athletes page). Remember to take into account the ideal physique of the athlete.

Set Standard Line Up for Youth League and tick the 'Use the lineup in the Youth competition' box at the bottom of the screen

Sign up for an official game mentor, or send a message to the linked players in the Help and Information section of this site (under 'Seasoned Maxithlon Users')

Finances are an important aspect of this game, so don't be tempted to start spending straight away. We've lost too many new starters to bankruptcy, we don't want you to be the next statistic!

Use the knowledge available to you through us and the forums, where there is a back catalogue of questions, answers and game debates that will add to your knowledge.

Two Core Skills for each speciality/fav event, in order of importance:

Sprinters: 100m, 200m, 400m – SPD, STR
110mH, 400mH – SPD, AGI

Middle Distance: 800m, 1500, 3000Sch – STA, SPD (although speed scores well in 800m also)

Long Distance: 5K, 10K, Mar – STA, SPD (leaning more to Stamina)

Race Walkers: 10K RW, 20K RW, 50K RW – STA, AGI (heavily favouring Stamina, get it maxed ASAP)

Jumpers – JUMP, AGI (both crucial for all jumps, however PV benefits from STR as 3rd skill, and LJ greatly benefits from SPD)
Throws – THROW, STR (Shot Putters and Hammer Throwers should be the heaviest and strongest, whilst Jav appreciates SPD as a third skill)
Combined – SPD, STR, AGI (This is up to the individual, however obtaining an athlete that already has good JUMP/THROW really helps, so you can concentrate on building up their SPD and STR.

Be mindful of physique for each event type when selecting, or purchasing.

So, as a basic rule of thumb (with approx minimum measurements):

Sprinters are taller/slightly heavier - 180cm/74KG
MD are lighter - 178cm/68KG
LD are the lightest of the runners - 176cm/60KG
Walkers can be made of cardboard - 174cm/55KG
Jumpers are taller/lighter - 188cm/68KG
Throwers are taller/very heavy - 185cm/80KG (I've had throwers over 130KG)

You can hire up to 1 new coach each week.

In the early days don't waste money in the transfer market (learn the game first), but if you are eager to spend money then invest in 1 or 2 new coaches.

With maybe one of your first new coaches being a Youth Coach.

(a section on Coaches will be added to the help section)