UK
athletics stars move into coaching
UK Athletics
3 May 2001 - Top international athletes are becoming coaches - to help create the next generation of successes for UK Athletics.
Judy Oakes, the UK shot put record holder who represented her country more times than any other athlete in history before retiring at last year's Olympic Games, plus fellow internationals past and present Julie Asgill, Dave Clarke, Spencer and Lynn Duval, Paul Head, Alex Kruger, Eamonn Martin, Chris and Sonia McGeorge, Yvonne Murray-Mooney, Richard Nerurkar, John Nuttall, Suzanne Rigg and Alison Wyeth are the first batch of internationals to respond to UK Athletics invitation to qualify as coaches.
The 'headmasters' of the pioneering teach-in at Loughborough University were Brian Hall and Dave Lease, top-qualified coaches and managers of the Norwich Union Great Britain & Northern Ireland Under 20 and Under 23 Teams last year. Hall said: "We were both apprehensive before we started but we were pleased with the outcome. We got a round of applause at the end! They were really positive about everything. We hope there'll be a course like this every year now - but at the end of each track season - to give a lot of others the chance to see whether they want to be involved."
Oakes, who is already helping to search for her shot put successor by coaching the UK Junior Squad, said: "It was interesting to see so many international athletes involved. I find it bizarre that I had to go and qualify but I appreciate that some were able to compete at the highest level without really thinking about it because they had so much god given talent."
Her coach Mike Winch - himself a former international - welcomed the initiative as "a way of getting well-known people involved, which is important. Previously, they have been reticent, but there's no doubt they have the basic knowledge to become good coaches."
Oakes, who has already begun to help the UK Athletics Junior Women's Throws Squad, added: "Now we can go out and promote our events. And hopefully the athletes will then be able to go away and do something sensible."
UK Athletics' Performance Director Max Jones, whose team came up with the idea, said: "I've worked for national governing bodies for 20 years now, and none of them have done very much to encourage former international athletes to stay in the sport. We cannot afford to turn our back on this valuable resource. What we cannot replace by reading books, watching videos or attending courses is the experience of actually have been there and done it."
UK Athletics' Development Director Adam Walker said: "Thousands of volunteer coaches throughout the UK are currently moving into a process that will offer them life-long learning. It is immensely encouraging to know that recent and present high profile athletes are willing to join them and pass on their invaluable experiences. We are all united by the target of delivering the best possible help and advice to future generations of athletes."
