Elite athletics academy lands in Edmonton

Not a month after the last gold medal was awarded at the Beijing Olympics, national team track and field coaches from across North America and the Caribbean gathered at the University of Albert to figure out how to do better next time.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) invited the coaches to participate in an eight day training course in late September, the first of what is expected to be an annual event held at both Foote Field and the Van Vliet Centre.

"An IAAF representative came here earlier this year to assess our facilities and our commitment and ability to become an IAAF Academy, and, based on a positive review, we signed an agreement that designates the U of A as one of just 12 IAAF academies in the world, and the only one in North America," says Dr. James Denison, a U of A Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation associate professor and program leader of the Edmonton IAAF Academy.

"Certainly, having the Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre located here and maintaining a good relationship with the IAAF since we hosted the World Championships in 2001 really helped us earn the academy designation that led to this course," Denison adds.

The IAAF offers annual coaching courses at its academies in an effort to ensure each region of the world enjoys high performance coaching, with the ultimate goal of promoting track and field through improved performances and balanced distribution of success. The course offered in Edmonton focused on coaching the long jump and the triple jump, events in which North American and Caribbean athletes have lagged in recent years.

"The horizontal jumping events are about converting flat speed into the jump, and because this region is so strong in sprinting, it includes a lot of great sprinters who will never make their Olympic teams," Denison says. "So, our region has a lot of potential in the horizontal jumps, and the IAAF designed this course to educate coaches on how to take advantage of this potential."

Boo Schexnayder of the U.S. and Elio Locatelli of Italy, both of whom have coached horizontal jumpers to Olympic medals, led the course, with many U of A professors contributing presentations on topics ranging from nutrition to sports psychology.

The 14 coaches invited to participate in the course included eight from Caribbean nations, four from Canada and two from the U.S. Robyne Johnson, coach of the Boston University track and field team, was one of four female coaches in attendance. She believes the U.S. athletics governing body chose her because she is currently coaching Tahary James, a potential medalist in women's triple jump at the 2012 Olympics.

"This has been an excellent experience. The facilities here are excellent, the curriculum and the teaching have been world-class. This is my 21st year coaching track and field, but this week has reminded me there is always something new to learn," says Johnson, who competed for the U.S. in triple jump before becoming a coach.

Wayne McSween, a national team athletics coach from Grenada, is hoping to lead an athlete from his country to the first-ever gold medal in a horizontal jumping event at a major international competition.

"This course has me somewhat in awe, because it has exposed me to coaching methods and techniques that have been incorrectly understood in my country," McSween says. "I can't wait to get home and implement the things I've learned. I want to correct errors and see how much more my athletes can achieve."

Denison believes the IAAF course benefits not only the participating coaches and their athletes but also the U of A.

"A lot of our professors and graduate students have been helping put this course together, and this has given them the opportunity to meet and work with some of the best coaches from around the world and build knowledge and relationships they probably would not have been able to do otherwise," says Denison, whose teaching and research focuses on coaching education.

"This also fits well with the mission of our faculty to be world-class in education and research," he adds. "It shows we're already working on that level, and it also provides opportunities to develop more collaborations with the IAAF, such as conferences and competitions, and that will allow us to continue to be leaders in the future."