Coach sought to fast-track young Scots athletic talent

A NEW director of coaching for Scottish athletes is being sought, after the sport’s governing body conducted a strategy review involving chairman Frank Dick and director Tommy Boyle.

Three new full-time posts have been created – Director of Coaching, Athlete Pathway and Talent Manager and Performance Programmes Manager – and those appointments will be bolstered by part-time positions geared at improving event-specific development in different disciplines such hurdling and field events.

While there is continued support for elite athletes and coaches, scottishathletics will place a greater emphasis on the identification and nurturing of young talent and their coaches. This was apparent in last week’s announcement of the provisional Commonwealth Games squad of 41, which included 14 teenagers as the focus turns to Glasgow 2014 and then the Gold Coast in Australia in 2018.

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Now changes to the coaching and performance structure will provide further support for coaches and athletes not in the Commonwealth Games squad, as well backing the current Scottish elite including Steph Twell, Eilidh Child and Lee McConnell.

Steve Rippon’s departure from the head coach role for a post in Finland offered an opportunity to review the strategy and there will be an emphasis on athlete pathway and regional development. The new director of coaching will oversee those roles.

Dick said: “Scotland has traditionally led the way in terms of coaching in various sporting fields. We see our new plans as exciting and innovative and, given experience of working on performance strategies in a number of sports and internationally, I think the way we are now looking at it is unique and certainly appropriate for Scotland at the moment.

“We want to identify the best young athletes and their coaches and fast-track them when we can. We want to do that alongside a regional and elite structure.

“The board of scottishathletics have agreed the performance strategy framework. The detail will be refined in practice by the new performance leadership team.

“We need to identify potential early and nurture it better. The leadership team, and our young athletes and their coaches, will have the future of the sport in Scotland in their hands.”

Nigel Holl, chief executive of scottishathletics, said: “We are looking to strike a balance now between the elite athletes in our Commonwealth Games squad and the next generation of athletes and coaches.

“We firmly believe our new performance strategy will help us achieve those goals. We hope for and expect there to be a number of very strong candidates for each of the posts from within Scotland.

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But in looking for absolutely the best candidates, we might have to be prepared to wait for an individual who is involved at the Olympics.

The posts will be advertised over the festive period, with closing dates for applications towards the end of January.

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