Development role for Olympian Ryan

CHAMPION sprinter Gary Ryan has been entrusted with directing the development of Irish athletics for the next three years.

His appointment was announced yesterday by Athletics Ireland, along with that of Stephen Maguire, who has been handed the post of director of coaching.

Both appointments were announced by new Chief Executive Officer Brendan Hackett and will be funded by the Irish Sports Council, which was represented by chairman Ossie Kilkenny.

The director of development was described by Mr Hackett as an exciting new position within Athletics Ireland.

“The director of development will work mainly with schools and clubs, organising coaching courses for teachers and parents and encouraging existing coaches to progress to the next level,” he said.

“The development team will be completed in the coming months with the appointment of regional development officers. Athletics is a strand on the primary school curriculum and a key component of the Junior Cycle physical education programme at secondary level.

“Athletics Ireland would like to see every child in the country getting the opportunity to experience athletics, and will endeavour to assist teachers through the provision of coaching courses, support materials and child-friendly athletic equipment.”

And Ryan, a two-time Olympian, promised the performance of his life in his bid to establish athletics alongside Gaelic games and the other major sports amongst schoolchildren.

He admitted that while they will, in a way, be competing for athletes at schools level, they can learn a lot from the other sports.

“The GAA went down this route in terms of development officers 25 years ago and we have to tap into the mistakes they made and the things they did right. The FAI have done it and there are a lot of things there of mutual interest to us all, so maybe we can share information,” he said.

A household name, the Nenagh Olympic athlete has won nine national senior titles, four at 200m and five at 100m, shares the national 100m record at 10.35 secs with Paul Brizzell, and came back after a disappointing campaign, when he failed by a fraction to qualify for a third Olympics, to snatch the national from Brizzell last summer.

“The objective is to get more children to participate in the sport in the first stage, and then to try to keep them and try to give them something that will develop them throughout their careers,” he said.

Maguire’s ambition is to develop a world-class coach education programme, with sports science support, building on the huge wealth of coaching talent available in this country at the moment.

“We have fabulous coaches here - people with a wealth of knowledge - and I am one of those people who is prepared to ask questions, ask for help and to learn from the experience and talents of others,” he said.

“I will be calling on those people for their assistance. My role will be very inclusive. I will be annoying people. What Derval [O’Rourke] did in Moscow is a perfect example of proper planning.”

The task of putting the five national event co-ordinators in place will now begin, as well as appointing five part-time regional coaches.

And the positions of team managers for track and field, cross-country, and developmental squads will be advertised in the near future.

They will all be three-year appointments, as Athletics Ireland departs from the traditional appointment of team managers from within their own executive.