COACHING
Season 2020-21
The old adage ‘you play like you train’ is never truer than when applied to athletics.
Think about it: every other sport your kids are involved in requires them to turn up at least once a week for practice, so that they’ll be up to the challenge come Saturday/Sunday morning games. Running, jumping and throwing are no different—the more you put in on the training track, the better you’ll perform on match day.
At BLAC, we’re all about personal development and enjoyment. We invite your athletes to come down to Dendy Park during the week to receive top quality coaching from experienced coaches and pro athletes. We’ve really ramped up the coaching and training in the past couple of years and we’re hoping more athletes will take advantage of the quality coaching on offer. Midweek training isn’t compulsory, but we can honestly say it makes a big difference.
We also want to dispel the myth that training is only for elite athletes—the fastest runners, longest and highest jumpers, or strongest throwers: It is for anyone who wants to develop their technique and performance in particular events—who seek personal improvement and to enhance their enjoyment of athletics. We want to encourage participation and improvement.
Training days are also a vital part of building camaraderie and team spirit among athletes. Athletics is for the most part an individual pursuit. By attending training midweek, your athlete will have a great opportunity to forge new friendships whilst pushing each other to greater heights at the same time.
What coaching is available
We have Coaches who cover most track and field disciplines that are available on competition days. This includes:
** Sprints - 70m to 400m
** Middle distance - 800m to 1500m
** Hurdles
** Discus and Shot Put
** High Jump
** Long Jump and Triple Jump
** Walks
Additional sessions and coaches maybe added during the season.
When & Where does coaching take place?
Coaching is provided at Dendy Park – our usual competition location during summer. The club has a fine group of experienced and dedicated coaches across all athletic disciplines.
TUESDAY —MIDDLE DISTANCE
This year we again have a dedicated middle distance training session. Rupert van Dongen, a coach with more than 20 years experience with athletes ranging from national champions to little athletes, will be training our athletes for 800 metres and 1500 metres events. Rupert will be running a training session each Tuesday 5.00pm - 6.00pm. We encourage athletes competing in under 9 and above to come to Rupert’s sessions as these are the age groups that participate in middle distance events of 800 metres and longer. Rupert will also be working with any athletes interested in race walking and will conduct walk training sessions in the lead-up to the days when walks are part of the program for BLAC’s Saturday morning competition.
TUESDAY—JUMPS AND THROWS
Tuesday is field day, with training for the Long Jump starting at 6.00pm so athletes have the opportunity to train for all of these events in the one session.
Olympic shot putter Damian Birkinhead & Commonwealth games hammer thrower Jack Dalton are our throws team and we are hoping to be able to announce when the Throws training can commenced. Throws training will include the discuss and shot put. Marijn Kortekaas is BLAC’s new long jump and triple jump coach. Marijn is a parent & Coaching Director at BLAC and has stepped up into coaching, a transition we strongly encourage other parents to try.
THURSDAY—SPRINTS AND HURDLES*
Thursday is track day, with training for both the sprints and hurdles starting at 5.30pm. Laura Bainbridge, a former Brighton Little Athlete herself, is back for another season. Allan Poynton, BLAC’s longest-serving coach, kicks off hurdles training at 5.30pm sharp.
SUNDAY—RELAYS
Sunday afternoons are for relay training where we master the baton changes from 4.30pm (TBC for 2020/2021 season) as we prepare our teams for the Southern Metro Region Relay Championships in November and State Relay Championships in December.
The best thing about relays is that a sport that is a very individual pursuit suddenly becomes a team concern. BLAC is an active participant in regional and state relay championships and we have a proud history of sending many teams and snaring some excellent results with our relay teams. We encourage your kids to join in the team spirit.
The Brighton Little Athletics Coaching Team
DAMIAN BIRKINHEAD - THROWS
Damian is a five-time national shot put champion and the reigning national record holder in the event. He represented Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, where he had a top 10 finish. He was also a member of the Australian Commonwealth Games teams in 2014 and 2018, as well as a bronze medal winner at the World Junior Championships in 2012. Damian is in his second year coaching at BLAC and has also been developing his coaching credentials with Melbourne High School and Melbourne Grammar.
JACK DALTON - THROWS
Jack is an Australian Commonwealth Games representative in the hammer throw. At the 2018 games on the Gold Coast he achieved a top 10 placing in his event. Jack has been with BLAC now for three seasons, interweaving his time with us at Dendy Park, with competing in the local senior track and field competition. He also spent time in Germany, training with one of the world’s best throws coaches. Since returning to Australia, Jack has been coaching discus, shot put and javelin at a range of schools around Victoria. Jack is nearing the completion of his degree in Psychology, which he hopes will lead to a career in mental training and performance.
POLINA GALKINA - HIGH JUMP
Polina is the newest member to the BLAC coaching team, joining us from Caulfield Grammar, where she has been helping the girls’ athletic team. You will find her at Dendy Park on Wednesday afternoons training our javelin throwers. Polina has competed at the highest level, representing Ukraine at the World and European championships in athletics (heptathlon) and softball. She is a qualified athletics coach, sports instructor and PE teacher. When she’s not coaching budding athletes at Brighton, she’s also competing for Sandringham Athletics Club and she also plays softball for Victoria.
MARIJN KORTKEKAAS - LONG AND TRIPLE JUMP
Marijn is in his first season as our long and triple jump coach and dad of BLAC U10 athlete Ollie. He is a former international volleyball player who represented the Netherlands at U16 and U18 level and played in the Dutch 1st Division. He has completed the LAVic Introduction to Coaching course and combines his easy-going nature with top-notch organisation, energy and passion for his role as BLAC team manager.
ALLAN POYNTON - HURDLES
Allan is BLAC’s longest serving coach, having been with the club for 23 years. He started here when his own kids were competing and has enhanced his coaching knowledge and experience, as well as imparting that wisdom to an array of hurdlers, including numerous state medalists and 2 State Multi gold medalists. Allan is an accredited ATFCA level 3 hurdles coach and level 2 recreational running coach. He has also been a hurdles coach with the LAVic Junior Development Squad for 10 years. Whilst he has overseen the development of some champion athletes in his time, Allan prides himself on being able to work with athletes of all abilities, living and breathing the key values of BLAC: participation and each athlete striving for their personal best.
RUPERT VAN DONGEN - MIDDLE DISTANCE & WALKS
Rupert came to BLAC in 2018-19 with a coaching resume of almost three decades. He is a former Victorian athletics team coach and team manager, and has also been a medalist as a competitor himself in distance and walks events.He is an accredited IAAF High Performance coach, and has also been involved in the coaching setups with six premiership-winning teams in the Associated Private Schools athletics competition. Rupert lives and breathes athletics and is head coach of the TXR Runners and running coach for the Dandenong Stingrays U18 football team in the NAB Cup.
BLAC Sponsored:
INTRODUCTION TO COACHING COURSE - ITCC
Take your first step into basic athletics skills coaching.
All practical .... No exam .... No previous experience necessary!
If you want to learn more about athletics for kids, then the ITCC is for you!
The ITCC is designed to help participants become better placed to assist children to perform basic athletic skills. The course is great for parents, school teachers and other interested persons who want to know a little more about the skills of the sport so that they may help to coach children of Primary school age, assist at Little Athletics Centres or prepare students for a school athletics carnival. Participants will be shown skills, drills, games and activities relevant to the target age group.
The ITCC is a non accredited practical coaching course designed for Little Athletics and conducted on behalf of the Australian Track and Field Coaching Association (ATFCA).
Course Outcomes
At the conclusion of the course the participant will, for the target age group:
Better understand an appropriate working model for each Little Athletics event
Have a greater knowledge of appropriate drills, skills, games and activities for particular event groups
Identify some of the more common technical faults of events
Have a basic understanding of a simple coaching session
Better understand how to organise a group safely
1 Day course - 6.5 hours duration - approx. 8.45am to 3.20pm
Participants need to be minimum of 16 years of age at the time of the course.