Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Whangārei coaching legend Ian Babe new president of Athletics NZ

Northern Advocate
10 Aug, 2018 09:30 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Whangārei athletics coaching maestro Ian Babe with his latest young charge Parua Bay's Bella Earl when she won the National Under 15 Cross Country Championship last weekend.

Whangārei athletics coaching maestro Ian Babe with his latest young charge Parua Bay's Bella Earl when she won the National Under 15 Cross Country Championship last weekend.

Whangārei athletics coaching maestro Ian Babe has been chosen as the new president of Athletics New Zealand.

Babe, aged 81, was picked to be Athletics NZ's next president at the 131st AGM of the national athletics body in Wellington last weekend.

The well respected coach takes over the reins from Dianne Rodger who completed her 12 month term at the weekend.

Babe officially 'retired' form coaching in 2016, but has returned to coach 13-year-old Parua Bay runner Bella Earl.

After recognising her talent he couldn't resist making sure she got the right coaching to advance and was on hand to see her win her first national title in Wellington at the weekend.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Some of his young charges who have gone on to do extremely well both in New Zealand and overseas include Michelle Prowse, Mary Davies (who Babe refers to as "just a shy girl from Ruakākā") and former Olympic medallist, Commonwealth Games star and ITU World champion Sam Warriner.

Babe's reach extended far beyond athletics and triathlon, however.

His work with the Northland rugby team on many past occasions is well documented.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A former Northland rugby rep himself, his techniques and methods were well beyond their time, yet indeed influenced many North Auckland and Northland teams, and are said to be the underlying force which helped North Auckland go unbeaten in 1977, escape the depths of the provincial competition's Division Two, and then go on to win the Ranfurly Shield in 1978.

Other notable athletes Babe has worked with include New Zealand cricketers Tim Southee and Bryan Young, New Zealand basketballer and netballer Megan Craig, Northland rugby legends David Holwell and Todd Miller, as well as the elusive yet talent-laden Fijian-flyer Rupeni Caucaunibuca.

Discover more

Earl narrowly misses course record

10 Sep 08:30 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP