National Volunteer Week / Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu runs from 14 to 20 June, and we want to use this as an opportunity to say something simple but heartfelt to the people who keep athletics going across the motu: thank you.

Our sport doesn’t happen without volunteers. Picture a typical winter Saturday at a cross country race. Event organisers have been out since early, marking the course. Someone is at the registration table handing out race numbers and sorting the entries that came in overnight. There are officials and timekeepers at the finish, marshals standing on cold corners so runners go the right way, and a coach who has shown up to training through every dark Tuesday evening since the season started. 

We’re grateful to the club committee and sub-committee members who keep clubs running, and to the centre board members and patrons who give their governance, their time and their long memory of the sport. Our coaches, officials, administrators and team managers carry so much of the load, often quietly. And none of it would come together without the people who set up courses and pack them down, look after equipment, hand out uniforms, and do the hundred small jobs that turn an empty field into a day of athletics.

This is mahi aroha: work done out of love for the sport and the people in it. To every volunteer across Aotearoa: thank you for your time, your patience, and your commitment to our athletes and to the sport of Athletics. We see it, and we don’t take it for granted.

This year’s theme of National Volunteer Week is Your Year to Volunteer – Tōu tau ki te tūao, chosen to mark the International Year of the Volunteer. It’s both a thank-you to everyone already giving their time, and an open invitation to anyone who’s been thinking about getting started. If you’ve ever thought about lending a hand, this is a good year to start. Clubs and centres around the country would welcome you.

If you want to get involved, there are endless opportunities to lend a hand. Click here to learn more.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Click here to learn more.

Beatrice Faumuina CNZM, ONZM, was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sport and governance

Beatrice a former athlete, having won 21 New Zealand senior titles (17 discus throw and 4 shot put), and has held governance roles in sport and business, and has worked in international relations.

From 2015 to 2018 she was the New Zealand Trade Commissioner and Consul General in New York, and was a member of the New Zealand and Samoa Trade Investment Commission. She has held many national governance roles, including as a Trustee of the Spark Foundation, a member of the Women in Sport Aotearoa Steering Committee and a member of the Westpac Sustainability Expert Advisory Panel. She was Deputy Chair of The Trusts Area from 2021 to 2024, and helped coordinate assistance provided to families evacuated to the Arena during the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods. Over her athletics career, she represented New Zealand at four Olympics Games, five Commonwealth Games, and six World Athletics Championships, winning the gold medal in the discus at the 1997 Athens world championships. She was a member of the Athletes’ Commissions for the International Association of Athletics Federations, and the New Zealand Olympic Committee. She served two terms as Director of Sport New Zealand, where she helped shape High Performance Sport New Zealand’s design of wellbeing initiatives to manage athlete mental health. She was co-host of ‘Straight Up with Niva and Beatrice Faumuinā’, which was a finalist for best original podcast at the 2023 Voyager Awards. She was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2005 and was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

Barbara Beable MNZM was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to athletics.

Barbara Beable (née Poulsen) has contributed more than 60 years to sport and athletics as an athlete, coach, and educator.

She won 17 senior individual New Zealand Championship titles between 1966 and 1978, including nine in the pentathlon and eight in shot put. She represented New Zealand at three Commonwealth Games, winning silver in the shot put in the 1970 Edinburgh Games. Her highest international ranking for pentathlon was fourth. She worked with her husband, Dr Michael Beable to create a unique training environment that saw many reach national and international success. As Head of Physical Education for 26 years at Queen Margaret College Wellington, she introduced modern fitness programmes that underpinned the sports and recreational programmes, and was a member of the pilot group that pioneered Physical Education as an academic subject. Alongside Dame Lois Muir and the Capital Shakers Netball team in the early 2000s, she worked as the strength and conditioning coach, introducing the players to techniques and processes that now form the basis of modern training programmes. Many of those players later became Silver Ferns, including some who still coach today. Since retiring to Wānaka in 2016, she has continued to coach at the Aspiring Athletics Club while endeavouring to raise funds to further develop facilities for the youth of Wānaka.

Dr Michael Beable MNZM was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to athletics.

Michael has contributed more than 50 years to athletics as an athlete and a coach.

As a self-taught athlete, he held the Wellington long jump record for 16 years and was selected twice for New Zealand international teams. He began formal coaching in 1974, in partnership with his wife, Mrs Barbara Beable. He has coached athletes to 133 national titles at New Zealand Open and Secondary School level. 55 have represented New Zealand, with some competing at Olympic and Commonwealth Games and World Championships. He held national coaching roles, including Head Coach for the 1981 New Zealand team to the Pre-Commonwealth Games International Meeting in Brisbane, and Auxiliary Coach at the 1990 Auckland Games. Between 1977 and 1983 he served on the Athletics New Zealand National Coaching Committee, where he helped shape coaching nationally with the production of the Athletics New Zealand Coaching Manual, from which the junior athletics’ Run-Jump-Throws programme was derived. He led development of the national coaching structure and Coaches Diploma. He continues to coach both school athletes with the Aspiring Athletics Club and high-performing senior athletes, including Shay Veitch, the current and four-time national New Zealand long jump champion. In 2022, Michael was awarded Athletics New Zealand’s highest coaching honour, the Arthur Eustace Award for Coaching.

Trevor Spittle MNZM was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to athletics.

Trevor has volunteered as an athletics official, administrator and educator for more than 40 years.

He initially volunteered at the former QEII Stadium in Christchurch in the early 1980s, quickly progressing from timekeeper to meeting manager. His commitment to athletics and its development locally, nationally and internationally has seen him volunteer thousands of hours in various key positions. He was President of the Canterbury Athletics Centre, President of Athletics New Zealand, and Committee Member of the ANZ Officials Association. He qualified as a World Athletics International Technical Official in 2005, and has supported five Commonwealth Games, eight World Athletics Championships, three Paralympic Games, six World Para Athletics Championships, the Sydney and Tokyo Olympics, and Singapore and Buenos Aires Youth Olympics. As a member of the World Athletics Competition Commission, he advised the World Athletics Council on the development of athletic events worldwide from 2015 to 2023. He played a crucial role in establishing an interim athletics facility at Rāwhiti Domain after the Canterbury earthquakes, as well as the development of the new track at Ngā Puna Wai. As a World Athletics technical official lecturer, he continues to support the development of aspiring technical officials across New Zealand and the Pacific. He has been a member of the Oceania Athletics Association Council since 2007.

āhei makes it easier for coaches, volunteers, and teachers to deliver sessions where all tamariki can join in, feel included, and succeed. By reducing admin and providing ready-to-go Run Jump Throw and Get Set Go resources, āhei gives coaches and educators more time to focus on what matters most: people.

This is a free digital planning platform now available to all Athletics NZ affiliated clubs, and already being used in 20% of New Zealand’s primary schools.

“The āhei team is really excited to be launching with Athletics New Zealand because it feels like such a natural partnership. āhei is about giving every teacher and coach the confidence to deliver quality sport and movement experiences, no matter their starting point. Partnering with Athletics New Zealand means we can connect their world-class programs directly into schools and clubs in a way that’s simple, practical, and inclusive. Together, we’re helping more tamariki move, play, and thrive through Athletics.”
— Laura Thompson, Founder of āhei

āhei also aligns strongly with para sport values. As Dunedin-based coach Josh shared:

“The language is strength-based and empowering. It aligns with para sport values—breaking down barriers and celebrating potential.”

Through āhei, clubs and schools gain access to:

• Run Jump Throw & Get Set Go activities
• A full video library and skill progressions
• Printable session plans and activity cards
• Adaptations to include all abilities
• Planning and tracking tools for coaches and teachers

Clubs can also look forward to an online training session coming soon.

Any questions? Contact membership@athletics.org.nz

For more information and getting your club started, please visit our info page linked here.

Becoming an athletics coach was never part of the plan for primary school teacher Nuree Greenhalgh.

Despite coming from a family of coaches and having competed nationally in the 400m and 800m, Greenhalgh was content supporting her daughters from the sidelines until a pivotal moment changed everything seven years ago.

Judy Revell-Lewis, the mother of then-promising young athlete Lex Revell-Lewis, reached out and asked if Greenhalgh would consider coaching her son.

“I immediately thought, ‘I have absolutely no idea how to coach,’” recalls Greenhalgh. “But I didn’t want to say no. Lex was clearly talented, and I wanted to help him.”

From the outset, Revell-Lewis made his ambitions clear—he wanted to break the longstanding national 400m record, set in 1998 by Shaun Farrell. After several near misses, Revell-Lewis achieved his goal in March, running 45.88 seconds at a meet in Melbourne—becoming the first New Zealander to break the 46-second barrier.

Now based at Waitakere Athletics Club, Greenhalgh coaches a dynamic group of twenty athletes.
At the 2024 New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Dunedin, eighteen of her athletes competed, collectively winning ten national titles.

It’s a long way from the coach who once doubted her capability

Greenhalgh’s own athletics career included representing New Zealand at the Oceania level.
She stepped back from competition to support her husband, James Greenhalgh—a former Davis Cup team captain and now a tennis coach—in his professional sporting career.
Their two daughters, Hayley and Sophie, have followed suit, coaching in gymnastics and tennis, respectively.

“Our dinner table conversations are often debriefs of training sessions,” she says with a smile.
“For years, with James travelling and me home with the girls, I kept thinking, ‘my time will come.’ I feel like this is it—and I’m so grateful for my family’s support.”

Keen to grow as a coach, one of Greenhalgh’s first steps was to seek out mentors.
She connected with respected athletics coach Gary Henley-Smith and power physiologist Angus Ross—both of whom have generously supported her development.

Greenhalgh has actively sought opportunities to grow her coaching knowledge, recently graduating from High Performance Sport New Zealand’s Te Hāpaitanga programme. She describes it as a turning point.
“I was a bit of a hot mess going in,” she says with a laugh. “There was huge room for growth, and I’m committed to that journey.”

One of the most valuable takeaways from Te Hāpaitanga was getting clarity on her role as a coach.
“They don’t need parenting—they already have parents,” she says. “I realised I’m their coach, and that’s a real privilege.”

Through the programme, she also had the opportunity to travel to Australia to observe Andrew Iselin—coach of sprinter Lachlan Kennedy, who recently clocked 9.98 seconds in the 100m. Greenhalgh brought several of her athletes along for the experience.

“It made a huge difference,” she says. “Seeing how they trained, and watching our athletes rise to the occasion—it was special to see their confidence grow.”

While Greenhalgh has surrounded herself with strong mentors, she’s also fostered a deeply supportive community within her squad.

Greenhalgh will shortly head off to the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr Germany as a team coach.
“I never expected athletics to take me round the world as a coach.”

In just a few years, Greenhalgh has emerged as one of the country’s most successful national-level coaches. And, after initially feeling like an imposter, she’s now proud to own the title.
“I’m a good coach. I’m exactly where I should be—and I absolutely love it.”

Coaches Korero Quick Fire

George’s journey in the sport began as many do—as a parent on the sidelines. But what followed was a lifetime of service. From club volunteer to administrator, from development coach to guiding athletes at the highest international level, George’s fingerprints are all over Canterbury athletics. He was instrumental in forming the Port Hills Athletics Club, serving as its first president and continuing as club captain, committee member, and coach for many years. He even marked the club’s grass track weekly, long after many would have put their feet up.

His impact wasn’t just felt at the club level. George served on the Athletics Canterbury Executive, Track and Field Committee, and Coaching Committee, running development squads and coaching clinics to help shape the next generation of athletes and coaches.

While George has coached countless athletes to national titles, his most high-profile success has been his work with Will Stedman. When Stedman, a young schoolboy with cerebral palsy took up athletics in 2014, George admitted he knew little about coaching para-athletes. But he threw himself into learning, adapting his coaching methods, and treating Will as just another athlete with the same potential for greatness as anyone else.

That partnership has been nothing short of remarkable. Under George’s guidance, Stedman won five Paralympic medals, including bronze at Rio 2016, double silver in Tokyo 2021, and gold at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe.

George embodies everything great about coaching. His hard work, commitment, and passion have left an undeniable mark on New Zealand athletics. He doesn’t just develop athletes—he helps them become better people. His coaching philosophy has always been about respect, honesty, and empowering athletes to take responsibility for their own performances.

His impact has also extended to developing coaches. Knowing that his time as a frontline coach was ending, George planned a seamless transition for Stedman, bringing James Sandilands into the coaching setup ahead of the 2024 Paris Paralympics to ensure continuity for Will’s future. Now, instead of stepping away wholly, George will continue mentoring emerging coaches, passing on his knowledge to the next generation.

The Arthur Eustace Coaching Award is presented annually to a coach who reflects Arthur Eustace’s core values: athlete-focused, learning-driven, and committed to sharing knowledge for the betterment of the sport. George embodies all of these values.

His coaching career spans over 30 years, and he has coached multiple national champions, Oceania titleholders, and international representatives. But what sets him apart is his selflessness; his willingness to always put the athlete first, to learn, adapt, and improve, no matter how much experience he already had.

As George steps back from frontline coaching, his influence will continue to be felt for years. Whether through the athletes he has coached, the coaches he has mentored, or the club and regional structures he has helped shape—his legacy is secure.

Athletics New Zealand congratulates George Edwards on receiving the Arthur Eustace Coaching Award and thanks him for his immense contribution to our sport. While he may be retiring from coaching, we know he will never be far from the track.

When Rebekah Aitkenhead was approached in late-2022 by the parents of Catherine Lund to coach their daughter there was little doubting the attraction of the role.

As one of New Zealand’s premier middle-distance runners Rebekah had her own running goals but having dipped her toe in the water regarding coaching while based in Melbourne for a period it was an exciting opportunity to guide one of New Zealand’s brightest young teenage prospects.

“Catherine’s coach, Alan Moir, was looking at stepping back from coaching and I knew Catherine was a good runner in Dunedin,” explains Becky. “During my time in Melbourne in 2021-22 I trained quite a bit with Lydia O’Donnell of Femmi. I’d never really thought of coaching before, but it was a good side job to coach recreational athletes for Femmi. It was also flexible in that I could do it remotely.”

Catherine, who was at that time preparing for the 2022 New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Championships in Inglewood, Taranaki, was delighted that Becky agreed to step in as coach.

“I knew Becky had all the Otago records, so I was excited to be coached by Becky,” adds Catherine.

Becky acknowledged the excellent role that Alan played in Catherine’s running journey by adopting a patient, long-term approach.

“In many ways Alan made it easy for me,” explains Becky. “When I started working with Catherine she was fit and ready to train. I just needed to work on some areas where she wasn’t quite as strong such as speedwork.”

For Becky – who herself harbours international ambitions of her own – it might also appear taking on the additional coaching responsibility of coaching Catherine might be too demanding.

Yet Becky, who is herself currently coached by Tauranga-based Craig Kirkwood, quickly discovered it was complementary.

“Initially, I thought it might be too much because everything would be running related,” she says. “However, I realised because I am really interested in running and super interested in how people train. I listen to lots of running podcasts on how groups train, it is not too hard to juggle because it doesn’t feel like a job. It’s fun.”

In fact, as Becky explains working with Catherine, the national U20 5000m champion, has been a hugely beneficial experience for her running.

“Catherine is a very smart runner and listens to her body,” says Rebekah. “That kind of intuition has taken me a lot longer. When I was younger if I felt a niggle, I would stubbornly push through, which didn’t help at all.”

Rebekah has also adopted a developmental approach to Catherine’s programme. Training no more than five times a week – which includes one track work out, one long run and one tempo run per week – the approach has gained dividends as the Ariki AA athlete has continued to impress.

She has finished top Kiwi in the U20 women’s race at each of the past two editions of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships and still aged just 18 she is all set to compete in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2024 World U20 Championships in Lima, Peru in August.

“Becky has lots of experience, especially in different situations with different coaches and she has seen a lot of what to do and what not to do,” explains Catherine. “We are good at making sure I do the right things and she offers a structured approach.”

The pair sometimes train together on long runs and easy runs, but both immediately dismiss the prospect there is any competitive element between coach and athlete and athlete and athlete.

“Definitely not,” adds Catherine with a smile.

Becky praises Catherine’s strength, particularly during threshold and tempo runs with coach insisting their next big goal is for her fellow Otago-based athlete to deliver at the 2024 in Lima – where she will target a PB and a place in the 3000m steeplechase final.

With Catherine planning to move to the US and attend Providence College in Rhode Island in January – Becky hopes over the next six months or so she can best prepare her athlete to make the transition to the next part of her athletics journey.

“Here in Dunedin, Catherine does a lot of training solo but when she jumps into a group at Providence is it very important Catherine is healthy,” adds Becky.

While Catherine will move on the next chapter of her exciting running development, Rebekah is also looking forward to seeing how her coaching path will develop in future.

“I enjoy both sides of coaching both recreational and elite athletes,” explains Becky. “I would say to other runners, if you are intrigued by how athletes train, I would definitely get involved. Coaching is a very rewarding job and a great way to give back to the sport.”

Describing the joy of coaching as “medicinal” Kerry Hill has made a huge contribution in the sport for a period spanning more than half-a-century.

From guiding Gus Nketia to a World Indoor 60m final and Commonwealth 100m final (Gus ran a national 100m record of 10.11 en route to the final in Victoria), New Zealand pole vault record-holder Paul Gibbons to dozens of national medallists and hundreds of athletes up and down the land, there are few Kiwi coaches to have made quite the same seismic impact here in New Zealand or overseas than the Tauranga-based man.

Looking significantly younger than his 77 years and possessing an infectious passion and enthusiasm for his sport, Kerry admits a lifetime in coaching has delivered so much and to be given the 2023 Arthur Eustace Award for Coaching he describes as “a huge honour.”

“It signifies a lifetime achievement of being seen to do something that you love, and do it well,” says Kerry. “It is a tribute in part to all coaches, many of whom work 20 hours a week or more in all weather conditions all year around. To have been nominated by another coach (Southland-based Lance Smith) is super special. To be accepted by your peers – you can’t get better than that!”

Born in Golden Bay at the top of the South Island and raised in the Hutt Valley he showed an early aptitude for sprinting and long jumping as a primary school age student out of Taita AAC.

He was however no world beater through much of his schooling added; “I don’t think I won a race from the age of about ten to when I was 19. I don’t think I ever beat those other guys that used to win, I think they just disappeared.”

Later moving north to start teacher training he was then coached by the inspirational Dave Norris and under his guidance Kerry gradually improved. Describing Dave as his “biggest influence” he recalls the joy he got out of all of Dave’s training sessions.

“He was so funny, I have never met a better human,” he explains. “He is so impressive at everything he does. He was a great mentor and what I learned from him was immense.”

Kerry went on to enjoy an accomplished career as a sprinter/long jumper. He made the New Zealand team for the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, finishing tenth in the men’s long jump, seventh as part of the New Zealand quartet in the men’s 4x100m relay and also competed in the men’s 100m at QEII Stadium.

He later appeared at two Pacific Conference Games and representing Oceania he finished seventh in the long jump at the 1977 World Cup in Dusseldorf. Boasting a long jump PB of 7.49m and a 100m best of 10.59 he stepped away from competitive athletics in his early 30s but already the coaching fuse had been lit.

With a passion for teaching and coaching, athletics seemed a natural add on. Long before hanging up his spikes he was asked to coach the son of a leading administrator and he was quickly hooked. A co-editor with Dave Norris of NZ Athlete Magazine for the best part of 20 years from the early 70s and editor of NZ Athletics Coach Magazine for seven years, Kerry’s hard-work

and enthusiasm for the sport was obvious to many and invited to attend a national coaching clinic at Nelson Girls College in the mid-1970s and from his coaching career was to rapidly accelerate.

After a three-year period based in London – where he coached at the prominent Haringey club – he later took on a role as a PE teacher at Westlake Boys’ High School. Here he successfully coached the first XV, softball and oversaw the North Shore-based school to the Auckland Top Eight boys’ school athletics title for the first time.

Loving his teaching role and the opportunity to coach multiple sports he was later given an opportunity to become Director of Coaching at Athletics NZ which he served from 1987-1994.

“I thought my role at Westlake was heaven but then when I was asked to be Director of Coaching at Athletics NZ, I thought that was even better,” he muses.

Kerry has since gone on to serve in a multitude of roles. For three years he worked as a Director of Coaching in Singapore and from 2003-2011 he was based in Doha as the Manager of Talent Development at the Aspire Academy, where he became the first and only coach in the history of Doha Rugby Club to be awarded a Life Membership.

Besides guiding Gus Nketia to the New Zealand 100m record and to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics he has coached ten individuals to the Olympics and served as a speed trainer for the 2016 New Zealand gold and silver winning Rio Olympic Sevens teams.

Coaching more than 100 national medallists from Colgate Games to New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships and Jennian Homes New Zealand Track & Field Championships his versatility is impressive. Guiding sprinters, hurdlers, middle-distance, long/triple jump, pole vault, shot and combined events, his broad range of coaching ability is both rare and eye-catching and he has even steered athletes to national secondary schools road running medals.

Yet his Midas touch for coaching has also extended beyond athletics as he has served a consultant to the NZ Warriors, Auckland Blues and the Northern Force netball franchise and also coaches the two speed climbers – Julian David and Sarah Tetzlaff – who have been selected by New Zealand to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. He also counts three-time Olympic bobsleigh representative Alan Henderson as another former athlete he has coached.

So what is Kerry’s overall coaching philosophy?

“Coaches are leaders, and the best leaders all show the same trait – they talk less about themselves and more about the team!” he explains. “A coach needs to think boldly and innovate and use hard facts and data, but I think most importantly I want all my athletes to become better people, that is the priority. Better people make better parents, employees and athletes – in that order.”

Today working for Coach Force in Tauranga – in which his role is to coach coaches throughout the Bay of Plenty – he also serves as Speed & Power Co-ordinator at Waikato University Adams Centre for High Performance and as Athletics NZ relays development lead.

Coaching a squad of 30 athletes aged nine to 25 – including emerging Para sprinter Jaxon Woolley – he appreciates every moment at the track and looks back with huge fondness of his time as a coach.

“The most rewarding element for me as a coach is the lifelong friends I have made,” he says. “I’ve been toastmaster or a groomsman at several of the athletes’ weddings that is an honour. It has been a real thrill to teach them.

“Athletics has given me a very fulfilling life full of positivity and creativity,” he continues. “If I have a rough day and the car breaks down or someone steals the credit card I come to training and it is medicinal. As soon as I see the group training and everyone is positive and happy, it is contagious.”

Olympians Kerry has coached:

Gus Nketia (100m), James Dolphin (200m), Doug Pirini (decathlon), Paul Gibbons (pole vault), Alan Henderson (bobsleigh x 3), Toni Hodgkinson (middle distance), Sarah Cowley-Ross (heptathlon), briefly Peter Pearless (800m), Julian David & Sarah Tetzlaf (speed climbers, 2024)

The session – which will be held on 28 November at 7pm – is open to anyone who wants to grow their knowledge and understand what it takes to coach athletes at the top level.

A link to the Zoom session will be received via a confirmation email once registered. Register here for this exciting opportunity to learn more from the leading sprints coach, who also guides New Zealand 200m and 400m champions, Georgia Hulls and Rosie Elliott, as well as Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles finalist Portia Bing.

Athletes are coaches across a range of event groups can also now register for a series of inspiring camps and conferences in the coming weeks.

The ‘Stepping Up’ Distance and Walks camp in Tauranga from 23-26 November brings together our New Zealand-based distance runners, walks specialists and their coaches to connect, collaborate and contribute.

A pole vault and throws development camp led by James Steyn (pole vault) and Hayden Hall (throws) post the New Zealand Secondary Schools Track, Field and Road Championships will take place in Christchurch on Dec 11-12. The camp is aimed at athletes 15 years or older, coaches, parents and teachers and anyone interests in learning more about these events and what it takes to be a high performance athlete.

Christchurch will also host a High Performance High Jump Conference from 11-13 December. The not to be missed conference boasts a stellar line-up of presenters led by world-class Aussie coaches Alex Stewart and Matt Horsnell plus a multitude of Athletics NZ and HPSNZ service providers to help impact the success of our high performance athletes.

Athletics NZ Events Groups Project Co-ordinator Kim Mickle said: “Athletes and coaches in a wide range of event groups who want to learn more about their craft have an incredible range of opportunities to expand their knowledge in the coming weeks.

“We are proud at the quality of what we are offering and we would really encourage anyone to seize the chance of featuring in any of our exciting forthcoming initiatives.”

More registration details:

• Stepping Up Distance and Walks Camp register here
• Pole vault and Throws camp register here
• High Performance High Jump Conference register here

The 18-month course offers a range of opportunities for a group of female potential high-performance coaches to test and develop their coaching capability and develop new skills in the challenging world of high-performance sport.

Approximately halfway through the initiative, Nuree admits the course has pushed her outside of her comfort zone, but she has picked up a wealth of knowledge that will leave her better equipped to take the next steps in her coaching journey.

“The learnings I’ve had so far on the initiative as a person and as a coach have been unbelievable,” she says. “I thought I knew everything about myself, but the course has proved very reflective. I feel like I have been slowly stripping various layers down and learning who I am, what I want to change and how I am going to do that to become an elite coach. Essentially, I feel like the journey is helping me to add those layers to be more confident in my pathway to high-performance coaching.

“Sometimes as female coaches, we can doubt ourselves alongside our male counterparts. Through all my Te Hāpaitanga learnings, experiences and reflections, I have learnt to believe in myself. I am more self-assured and trust myself.”

Affiliated to Waitakere AC in West Auckland, Nuree took up athletics coaching just four years ago but she has already enjoyed much success leading multiple young athletes to national sprints and hurdles medals. 

Currently coaching a group of around 14 athletes led by New Zealand senior men’s 400m champion Lex Revell-Lewis and supported by New Zealand U18 400m champion Kahurangi Cotterill, national U20 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles champion Grace Wisnewski and New Zealand U18 100m silver medallist Kadin Taylor, Nuree is one of New Zealand’s most promising, emerging coaches. 

However, she was both shocked and flattered when Athletics NZ High-Performance Coaching Manager Kirsten Hellier approached Nuree to apply for Te Hāpaitanga.

“When Kirsten rang me to say Athletics New Zealand were looking at developing me further and suggested I apply for the course, I saw it as an incredible opportunity,” she adds. “It was quite a big process to be selected as we had to do an initial application and then undergo an interview process. To be selected as one of only 12 women from a range of sports for Te Hāpaitanga and the only one from athletics was amazing.”

Undergoing a series of residentials across the 18-month course, Nuree admits the initiative has served multiple benefits. She has forged a close relationship with the other coaches and a close connection with the mentors (Kirsten Hellier is her NSO mentor, and Melodie Bosman her Te Hāpaitanga mentor) and the course lead – Jody Cameron, who has “been very good at nurturing us and allowing us to step into the high-performance setting through self-awareness and residentials that are concise and relevant to the challenges we face.”

The first residential exposed Nuree to finding out much about herself as a coach and a person, while another, which took place on the Kapiti Coast, involved working with horses in order to gain a greater understanding about coaching, reflection, boundaries and striving to be more successful.

“At first, I thought, what the heck will a horse teach us about coaching? But I got so much out of the course, it was ridiculous. A lot of the learnings were quite personal. I learnt about personal space and setting boundaries. I also learned how to be more firm and consistent with my instructions. Our days were broken up with working with the horses, followed by video analysis of our coaching.  We spent a lot of time reflecting on what went well, what didn’t go so well and what needs working on to move forward successfully.  We were then put back into the arena with our horse to improve the delivery of our coaching.”

In her next residential, she and her fellow coaches on the initiative will climb 1800m to the Mueller Hut in the Aorangi/Mount Cook National Park – the purpose of which is to understand more about the flow and efficiency state of athletes. 

“I’m actually quite scared of heights, so the climb will be difficult but I’m looking forward to the challenge,” she says. “As coaches, we sometimes have to ask things of their athletes that make them uncomfortable, but they have to trust in the coach to guide them through this process and this residential will help me have a better understanding of this.”

Also undertaking the Core Knowledge programme as part of the initiative – which involves Body in Motion, Coaching Impact, Professional Practice and Energy Systems– Nuree hopes and believes she will be much better prepared for the demands of being a high-performance coach when the course is wrapped up next July.

“I wasn’t sure at first whether high performance coaching was for me, but I definitely feel ready now to make the next step,” she says. “I would 100 per cent recommend other coaches looking to take that next step to experience the course. You have to be willing to be exposed and reflect about yourself as a coach, but it is well worth it in the long run.” 

***To find out more about Te Hāpaitanga go here

Femmi has brought together world leading medical experts in the women’s health space to support athletics coaches to better work women in sport. Femmi Theory Fundamentals is an online course which covers the essentials of female physiology, nutrition, injury prevention, psychology and more. The full course outline is available to view here

Femmi was built by elite runners Lydia O’Donnell and Esther Keown and is a training approach centred around female physiology. They are on a mission to learn from their personal experiences and change the game for young girls and women in athletics. By changing the narrative about women’s bodies, understand and celebrate the menstrual cycle, they aim to create safe spaces for women to thrive and empower coaches to view athletes holistically with a focus on sustainability in sport and enjoyment.

Discount available to Athletics NZ registered coaches:

• 1-year registered coaches receive access to the course for $50 (a $100 discount)
• 3-year registered coaches receive the course for $30 (a $120 discount)
• Discount codes are provided in the coach membership letters.

Athletics NZ registered coaches can access the Femmi Fundamentals course at the link below. You should have received a letter with promotion code, which you can use to redeem your discount. 
https://sso.teachable.com/secure/1151321/checkout/4382248/femmi-theory-fundamentals

For more information check out the Femmi website 
https://www.femmi.co/

Alex Wansink

For former high jumper Alex Wansink the opportunity to plug what she viewed as “a coaching gap” was the spur for the North Harbour Bays club member to becoming involved as a coach.

The 23-year-old, who works as a sports co-ordinator at Albany Junior High School, now leads a group of around 30 young high jumpers with a significant number flourishing on the local athletics scene.

Alex began coaching foundational athletics from the age of 16 before transitioning into becoming a more specialist high jump coach.

“I found there was a gap between grassroots and performance in terms of the coaching opportunities for high jump,” she says. “Following the footsteps of my coach, Graham Gill, I started my own squad in October 2020.” 

Learning most of her athletics fundamentals from the late coaching legend Russ Hoggard, Alex is now a regular at AUT Millennium, directing and coaching a large group of athletes aged ten to 16 in the art of high jumping.

“I love the mentorship factor and building up relationships with the kids,” she says.

“WhatsApp is a lifesaver and such a great way to communicate with athletes and parents. My philosophy is to work with each athlete as a person first, building a foundation of trust and respect before the roles of coach and athlete”. 

This season her athletes have excelled in Auckland regional competitions, winning eight of the 10 titles in the ten to 14 age bracket at the Auckland Championships and also earning high levels of success in the U14 and U16 age divisions. 

For next season Alex is looking to broaden her range of events she would like to coach and is seeking to introduce hurdles into her repertoire. She is also seeking to operate a strength and conditioning programme with another young coach, New Zealand discus silver medallist Savannah Scheen.

For her, coaching is in her blood, and it is a passion she fully aims to pursue in the future.

“If I could coach 40 hours a week I would,” she adds. “Nothing is better than showing a young athlete what they are capable of.

“For any young person wanting to move into athletics coaching, it is a great way to stay involved in the sport. It is an excellent way of giving back and providing opportunities for the next generation”. 

Annika Pfitzinger

Since being unexpectedly “thrust” into coaching a little under two years ago, Annika Pfitzinger has adapted quickly to the role and help maintained the buoyancy within the Athletics Nelson endurance scene.

Annika, 30, a former New Zealand Half Marathon champion, had previously flirted with coaching, however, following the departure of long-time Athletics Nelson endurance coach Greg Lautenslager to his native US it left a huge coaching void at the club.

“We only found out two weeks beforehand that he was leaving, and he passed on my details to the high school aged athletes he had been coaching as a potential coaching option,” explains Anni, who works in marketing.

“I viewed this as a great opportunity to start coaching. I went down to the track for that first session, and we came up with a plan.”

Boasting a strong coaching foundation through a combination of her father, Pete, a long-time coach and two-time US Olympic marathon runner, mum, Chrissie, a Seoul Olympian in the 3000m, and her former coach, Chris Pilone she is not short of knowledge to draw upon.

This is further bolstered through her partner, Julian Matthews, the 2016 Rio Olympic 1500m runner who was formerly coached by Greg.

“I had the athletes basic training programmes from the past (when coached by Greg), which was great, but I had a lot of learning to do. It involved a lot of communication with the athletes, but it was helpful that Julian had been through Greg’s system.”

Supporting a group of 10 to 12 athletes of primarily high school age, Anni says she has developed a “nurturing” approach with the aim of fostering a long-term passion for the sport.

“I try not to put too much emphasis on performance, and instead try to develop them as athletes,” she says.

“I want my athletes to be comfortable to ask questions about the training we’re doing, and I like to explain the reasoning behind everything as we do so they can learn. As an athlete I think knowing why you are training a certain way makes you more invested in your own performance.”

Anni has enjoyed some success stories with Amelia Clark winning a silver medal in the junior girls race at the 2022 New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in Nelson before last July she secured the gold medal in the U16 women’s race at the New Zealand Cross Country Championships in Taupo.

This season Anni has also coached Noah Lausen to a sub-two-minute 800m time, and she is excited by the development of “endurance machine” Brooke Bowen.

In the future the 30-year-old would like to develop a coaching business and she hopes to fill the “big hole” left by Greg to make the most of the running potential in Nelson and the wider Tasman region.

So after almost two years in the role, what is the buzz and thrill Anni gets out of coaching?

“I have become invested in all athletes I coach, and I want all of them to be happy and enjoy it. I love watching their development and their resilience build as they overcome setbacks. It is great that they have a passion for the sport, and I just want to keep that going.

For any athlete looking to make the plunge into coaching she would whole-heartedly recommend the move.

“Watching the athletes develop as both runners and people is extremely rewarding and I consider myself lucky to be able to give back to a sport which I’m so passionate about,” she says.

Mitch Joynt

For Para Athletics World Championship-bound sprinter Mitch Joynt coaching was something which began “organically” but which he now hopes he can develop to the highest level.

As the oldest member of his training group, the 28-year-old Oceania 200m T64 record-holder was asked to step in to run sessions in the occasional absences of his coach, Hamish Meacheam, out of the North Harbours Bays club in Auckland.

Initially set the responsibility of carrying out the set training programmes for the group over time the role has crystallised into that of assistant coach, and more latterly he now independently coaches his own group of athletes and coaches one night a week at Warkworth Athletics.

“I have a real passion for people that want to be coached,” he says. “I have a lot of experience performing in high level sport since I was 12 and I hope to pass on some of that knowledge. I also appreciate the back and forth and the teamwork. I am helping them, but they are helping me at the same time. We can learn and grow together.”

Learning “80 per cent of his coaching knowledge from Hamish”, he has more recently expanded his range of coaching from the sprints to also encompass the long jump. Working with a small group of able-bodied secondary school age athletes for the past three seasons he has enjoyed the experience, and he took immense personal satisfaction from guiding long jumper Kennedy Shields to the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Championships.

However, he has also relished the opportunity to give back one night a week to the kids at Warkworth Athletics.

“The parents do the admin and general running of the club, and I am there to teach the technical elements. It has been a real cool experience because Warkworth is my hometown, and it has been great to give back to the community and also gain greater exposure as a coach.”

Mitch also believes his coaching career has helped develop his personal athletics career in giving him greater confidence in challenging any coaching decision and subsequently greater ownership of his training.

Also working as a strength and conditioning coach by Hibiscus Coast women’s football team, Mitch has some big future ambitions as a coach.

“I’d been keen to take it to the next level,” he says. “It would great to take an athlete all the way to the international level and it would be cool to one day guide an athlete to the Paralympics. That would be a nice career arc for me.

“If you are an athlete and live the sport, the opportunity to coach allows you to squeeze more athletics into your schedule. Being a coach also gives you options. Everyone’s athletics career is going to end someday, so to have that coaching knowledge once you have stop competing allows you to stay involved in the sport.”

Angie Petty

Her coaching journey may have started by accident but for Rio Olympian Angie Petty she has not regretted the move for one minute.

The 12-time national middle-distance champion was working as a personal trainer when in 2019 she was randomly approached by “a man in his 50s” and asked if she would coach him.

“I hadn’t really thought too much about coaching at that point, but I was happy to help,” she says. “I put a message on Facebook to attract a few more runners to that first session and we got three adults and three kids come along.”

Four years on and Angie and her husband, Sam, lead a thriving group of around 40 mainly teenage athletes some of whom have earned national honours. 

So given the fact coaching had not been front of mind, did Angie enjoy coaching from the outset? 

“It was really cool to see how much the kids loved it, and it reminded me of where it all started for me as a kid and those running dreams I had as a youngster,” she says.

Drawing from her extensive experience as an international athlete plus the learnings of the coaches she has worked with including Angie’s current coach Maria Hassan, who also guided her from the ages of 13 to 25, Danny Mackey, a US-based coach she worked with, as well as utilising the knowledge of husband and middle-distance runner Sam, she draws upon a strong knowledge base.

Working with an octogenarian coach Sam McLean, who acts as a coaching mentor, and further keen to hone her craft by reading and listening to coaching podcasts she has over time developed a clear coaching philosophy.

“I want to give all our athletes a good training structure which allows them to grow and nurture them to stay involved in the sport into their senior years. We don’t prescribe crazy high mileage and we believe in a good balance.”

Angie, 31, who works more on the training structure and organisation while Sam carries out more of the analysis have proved an adept coaching combination and the pair have not been short of success stories. They have helped guide Kiera Hall to the 2022 national U18 title and 2023 under-20 800m and 1500m silver medals. Rosaria Gibson won the 2022 U18 1500m title, Sam Lascelles the 2023 U18 800m title, while other athletes under their wing who have impressed on the national stage are 2022 national U18 cross country bronze medallist Daniel Prescott and Cooper Wightman, the U18 1500m bronze medallist.

So why does Angie, a mum to 14 months old Azaliah, coach?

“I enjoy being a positive part of someone’s life,” she said. “It is nice to see them develop not just as athletes but also as people and it is rewarding to see them have success and reach their goals.

“When I think back to my career and the people who sacrificed so much for me, it is rewarding to be able to give back.” 

***To find out more about coaching and how to get involved go here

One of the more noteworthy trends of the 12-strong New Zealand team for the 2022 World U20 Championships has been that seven of the squad compete in endurance events from 800m to 3000m.

This wave of young, fresh talent into the sport is very exciting, especially so for one septuagenarian coach who has successfully guided two of the squad members to Cali and recently taken on a third (Luke Hitchcock who has been selected for the 800m) in the lead up to the event which takes place in Cali, Colombia in August.

Perry Cunningham, the avuncular former head of PE at Kings College and coach to James Harding and Zane Powell, is delighted at the efforts of his group of athletes which also includes the Browne twins – Bella and Chloe.

South Aucklander Perry has an eclectic athletics background. Describing himself as “a bit an anomaly” in his younger days he combined cross country running with high jumping. On the running side he was coached by former British Olympic 5000m silver medallist Gordon Pirie, and training in the same group which included future star New Zealand athletes Anne Audain and Allison Roe. Perry later would be transformed into a sub-2:30 marathon runner.

However, the high jumping was more of a mystery. Standing at just 5ft 9ins he was short for a high jumper, but possessing “springy and bouncy legs” he was good enough to win the 1967 men’s national senior high jump title at the age of 19 until a knee injured brought a premature end to his life as a field event high jump athlete.

His coaching career began as a newbie teacher at Rosehill College 50 years ago. As a teacher he was expected to take on an extra activity so opted for athletics and he achieved quick success as a coach guiding two boys he coached to third and fourth in the 1500m at the inaugural New Zealand Secondary Schools Track & Field Championships in Christchurch in 1973.

“At that stage I was still running but the coaching seemed a natural progression,” he explains. “From the beginning I really enjoyed it, and when I think I started 50 years ago it has been quite a journey. If only I knew then what I know now I probably would have been a hell of a lot better at coaching. But you learn as you go, and you never stop learning.”

Perry has also been fortunate to have learned from many coaching mentors over the past five decades including the legendary Arthur Lydiard – whom he first met in the mid-1990s. Lydiard was attending a seminar at Kings College and after recognising Perry as part of the athletics community, the former coach to Sir Murray Halberg and Sir Peter Snell promptly invited himself to an athletics camp organised by Perry.

“He would talk to the kids during the day and he looked at my training programmes and critiqued them saying I think you are doing too much anaerobic work here,” recalls Perry. “He really pointed me in the right direction with my training programmes. I learned a lot from Arthur.”

With the benefit of Arthur’s input and growing experience, Perry enjoyed more success as a coach. Over the years he has guided dozens of athletes among them New Zealand women’s 5000m, 10,000m, half-marathon and marathon record-holder Kim Smith, guiding her through her formative years.

However, Perry, 73, admits it was only after he retired full-time as a Director of Sport at Kings College in 2013 has he had the time to flourish as a coach.

“Since I retired I’ve never done as much reading and research as a coach. This has allowed me make many tweaks and changes as a coach and this allowed my athletes to run faster. My personal education as a coach is now a long way ahead of where it used to be.

“I think now I understand the balance in training and that sometimes less in more. Getting the training intensities right for quality work is really important. I spoke to Dick Quax a few years ago at a cross country meet before he died. I said I’m starting to get my intensities right using the Jack Daniels’ VDOT approach. When I mentioned that to Dick he replied ‘It has taken you long enough, but the penny has finally dropped’. That gave me further belief that I was on the right track.”

Perry has also been fortunate to tap into other mentors with Arch Jelley, former coach to former Olympic 1500m Sir John Walker, a key support.

Perry admits he get emails from Arch with information on interesting coaching articles. “He says here is an interesting article. He doesn’t tell you that you must read this, he just gently points you in the right direction.”

Other coaches he takes inspiration from include the influential British coaches such as Frank Horwill and Harry Wilson, former coach to 1980 Olympic 800m champion Steve Ovett. The ‘multi-paced running’ approach to training is something he implements with his highly successful current group, which includes Oceania U20 800m and 1500m champion James Harding and New Zealand U20 800m champion Zane Powell – both of whom are competing at the forthcoming World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia in August.

Also part of the top quality group include the Browne twins – Bella and Chloe – who finished one-two in the 2022 New Zealand U20 women’s 3000m.

Almost five decades of coaching work spectacularly came together at the 2020 New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships when Perry enjoyed what he describes as the greatest moment of his career. At the Tauranga Domain, Perry’s group remarkably won six titles with Zane securing the senior boys 1500m and 3000m, James Harding winning the senior boys 800m and James Ford the junior boys 800m.

The Browne twins – Bella and Chloe went one-two in the senior girls 2000m steeplechase and Chloe won gold in the senior girls 3000m with Bella in bronze.

“The foundation of this success was the multi-paced running,” he insists. “Something like that only comes once in your coaching career and I am convinced when we cleaned up all those school races that was the difference.”

Since then his group have continued to impress with James Harding winning the men’s U20 800m and 1500m double at the recent Oceania Champs and James Ford securing the Oceania U18 800m title in Mackay.

So how would Perry encapsulate his coaching philosophy?

“I guess you would say I’m trying to use the best of the past but also trying to taper it so it is on a level which is better suited for the kids I’m coaching.

“But one of the best things about the group is that they can think independently. I’ve now coached them for five or six years that they are telling me if they are light on aerobic or VO2 Max work. James Harding came up to me recently and said “looking through my log I see we have missed out those (Steve) Ovett speed sessions”. I said to James, ‘well done, you’ve picked up something that I have overlooked’. I lay the foundations but I would like to think the athletes are also contributing to their programme.”  

Perry accepts that a chapter of his coaching journey is about to come to a conclusion as James Harding, Zane and the Browne twins are all set to leave to take up US scholarships in August. Before then he’ll be watching intently how the former two fare in Colombia. However, as a new chapter closes another one opens and Perry has no intention of kicking the coaching bug.

“I’ve had such a good group of athletes it will be sad to see them go,” adds Perry. “It has been a great journey for all of us. But the fact they are ready to get on with their life in the US is also lovely and fantastic.

“I have some good younger kids such as James Ford and a couple of other boy who are showing great promise , Jack Erikson and Quinn Moss and I look forward to working with these athletes in future.”