Whangarei athletics faces shortage of coaches

A new golden age of Whangarei athletics may well be dawning with the installation of the all-weather track at Kensington Park and increased numbers taking part in the sport - but a lack of coaches in Northland remains a problem.
President of Athletics Whangarei Ian Babe ran a six-hour, region-wide Run, Jump, Throw course on Sunday at the track, which only 12 people attended, and they were all from his club.
The Run Jump Throw programme is an Athletics New Zealand initiative which Northland has been involved in for the past 20 years.
"It was very valuable for those who came along but it was a shame there were was no one from other clubs in the region," Babe said.
The highly qualified Whangarei coach turns 74 next week and has nurtured many top class athletes in his time. He reckoned Northland was a gold mine of potentially very good athletes. "The opportunity to develop athletes in the North is very high at the moment with the interest shown in the club nights - we have been getting 200-plus kids to our junior athletics night on Mondays - plus with the addition of the new track facility."
From the 1960s on, Northland churned out a stream of national class athletes in practically all disciplines, who were up there with the country's best, Babe said.
"Even in the 90s, I had 12 athletes who represented New Zealand but the biggest concern in Northland was that there was very few coaches - that has not changed. Because of the lack of coaches, our athletes leave the area to train elsewhere."
Babe and fellow Athletics Whangarei coach Chris Portch are the most highly qualified coaches currently working with athletes in Northland. While the all weather track is definitely a positive for Northland's athletes as they do not have to travel south to Auckland to use the ones there so often, the coach/athlete relationship is the key component in producing a successful competitor, Babe said. He has been the coaching development officer for Northland in the past, and although he handed over the reins to the role a few years ago to concentrate purely on coaching athletes, rather than coaching coaches, he is still the first port of call for people interested in taking up coaching.
"We do not have a coaching co-ordinator presently and it's something we need. We have been working with Sport Northland about it and by running the Run Jump Throw Course we were hoping to get more people interested."
Athletics Whangarei have also begun working with primary schools - including Saint Francis Xavier Primary School. Babe took 20 teachers from St Francis Xavier through the Run Jump Throw course recently, teaching the same principles that are taught on Mondays at Athletics Whangarei junior club night.
Since last week, every class at St Francis have been doing the Run Jump Throw programme at the all weather track, where they have been learning the basics of athletics.
If anyone is interested in becoming a qualified athletics coach, contact Ian Babe on (09) 437 1657.