Stephen Maguire appointed as new director of coaching by Scottish Athletics

SCOTTISH Athletics have appointed Stephen Maguire in the newly-created role of “Director of Coaching”.The Northern Irishman will join the governing body for the sport later in 2012 – following his commitments at the Olympics and Paralympics.

He is ultimately expected to move his family home to Scotland with his current base being in the United States, where he works as an assistant coach to a sprint group which includes London 2012 medal contender Tyson Gay.

Maguire’s appointment as director of coaching follows a restructure of the performance staffing at scottishathletics to ensure a direct focus and support for personal coaches of Scotland’s elite athletes as well as the athletes themselves.

He will join scottishathletics after the Paralympics in London this summer, where he will be coaching Jason Smyth – as the visually impaired sprinter defends the two gold medals he won in Beijing in 2008.

Maguire previously worked for Irish Athletics before heading to the USA with Smyth to work alongside a group of top class athletes – including 2007 World champion Gay – in Clermont, Florida.

Maguire, 48, was director of coaching for Athletics Ireland at one stage and has a varied coaching experience which stretches from schools cross country to the Diamond League. He has been coaching Smyth for eight years.

Earlier in his career, he worked in finance and also with Arthritis Care. He represented Ireland as a 17-year-old.

Maguire’s arrival will coincide with further appointments as part of the restructure and he is now involved in the selection process for those jobs.

Nigel Holl, the chief executive of scottishathletics, said: “We know that Stephen has a desire to make an impact with and through our excellent network of personal coaches.

“He will be looking to ensure the structures across Scotland are strong and effective to deliver the right challenge and supportive opportunities for athletes as they progress from local to National and International level.

“His experiences in Ireland, in the USA, with a double gold medal winning Paralympic athlete, and with some of the world’s leading sprinters, together with his excellent communication and leadership skills make him a fantastic new leader for our Performance team.

“The priorities for this new team are long-term – making sure the structures deliver the right support to the right athletes and coaches when they need it.

“It’s worth waiting until September for those skills and experience, although Stephen will help us finalise the other members of the Performance team over the next couple of months.”

Maguire said: “I am delighted to take up the position of director of coaching in Scotland. I have worked in a world class performance environment now for a number of years and I have the skills and experience needed to make a difference in Scotland.

“I see the job as a long-term project, not forgetting the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in two years, but it is vitally important that we succeed there and begin to build a performance base for the future.

“We have athletes that can succeed at the highest level. I believe we need to support these athletes and coaches and help them develop.

“Having said all that, like anything worthwhile in life, the job for me and the challenge we face will not be easy.

“It takes an awful lot of hard work to become a world class athlete and a world-class coach. But we want to build a world class system for our athletes and coaches that can be benchmarked against best practice anywhere across the globe.’