Athletics NSW Awards: Alex Stewart named top coach

14 May 2020

Athletics NSW Awards: Alex Stewart named top coach

With the cancellation of the 2020 Athletics NSW awards, over the next month we will announce the winners on the website and in social media.

Coaches are a critical element of the success of our athletes. They are often the people who spend the most time with our athletes and have an enormous influence on their careers.

Athletics NSW has pleasure in announcing and recognising the 2019/20 coaches of the year. Jumps coach Alex Stewart claims the top award for the second consecutive year named the Athletics NSW International Coach of the Year. He is joined by a number of other coaches of the year in various categories - Country Coach of the year Matt Horsnell, Recreational Coach of the Year Gary Howard, International Para Coach of the Year Matt Rawlings and the Club Coach of the Year Steve Whelan.

International Coach of the Year

It was an outstanding 2019/20 season coach Alex Stewart has guided Sydney-based Victorian Eleanor Patterson to the national women’s high jump record and Brandon Starc to sixth place at the world championships.

Patterson’s short season was exceptional with leaps of 1.96m, 1.96m, 1.94m and 1.99m – the latter breaking the 31-year-old national record of 1.98m.

Starc made a strong later rally in 2019, with three leaps over 2.30m and a sixth place at the Doha world championships. He then made a strong start to the 2020 season with a 2.30m clearance at the Sydney Track Classic.

Coach Stewart defeated a good field including Matt Horsnell, Penny Gillies, Andrew Murphy, Anthony Benn and Melissa Logan.

Country Coach of the Year

It was a close battle for this award with Matt Horsnell (coach of Nicola McDermott) and Melissa Logan (coach of Sarah Carli) both having strong claims for the award, but McDermott’s three 1.96m Olympic qualifiers, tipped the award for Horsnell. In addition, the Central Coast-based Horsnell coaches a strong junior squad including World U20 Championships hopefuls Katie Gunn and Bella Stewart. His squad also includes Jezebel Navusolo, Sienna Bond and Bethany Kranendonk. (some athletes he co-coaches)

Recreational Coach of the Year

Run Crew coach, Gary Howard is named the recreational coach of the year. Howard, and his co-coach, Olympian Ben St Lawrence, guide a large squad of athletes in Sydney’s East. The athletes competed in numerous competitions ranging from road, to track and trail, and including many Athletics NSW championships. Individually and as a team, they have won various NSW state championships medals. Howard has also coached athletes to national teams including Lauren Carey and Jackson Sharp in 2019. A hard working coach, Howard dashes across Sydney to different competitions on the same day to support his athletes.

International Para-athletics Coach of the Year

Hills coach, Matt Rawlings is the International Para Coach of the year following a tremendous year where he placed athletes on a number of international teams. Sprinter Tamsin Colley, although only 17, competed at her second senior global meet. Following her Paralympic debut in Rio, she made the final of the T36 200m at the 2019 World Para-Athletics Championships in Dubai.

Rawlings, also coached six athletes to the 2019 INAS Global Games held Brisbane in October. This squad included Stephanie Schweitzer who was making her sixth appearance for Australia at an INAS Championship event. Schweitzer debuted in Brazil in 2007 INAS Athletics World Championships as a 14-year-old and has been coached by Rawlings since.

Club Coach of the Year

The Hills Athletics club claims a second award, with Steve Whelan named Club Coach of the Year. Whelan, who is approaching 40 years as a member of Hills has a strong interest in endurance/recreational running, has been a key organiser of the Metropolitan West Cross Country competition for over 20 years ago. Whelan, who has held all the major club administrative roles, has been coaching for over 20 years. He has coached al all level, from Little Athletics to masters. Some members of Whelan’s squad include juniors Jacob Crews and Catherine Rickter who were set to run at the national championships in March; and one of the countries best masters distance runners Don Mathewson. Some other members include Hugh Gillespie, Niamh Sanday, Jayden Weymark, Stephen Archer, Ian Rose, Imogen O'Neill, Rosemary Roediger, Chris Hackett, Peter Byrne, Mike Everett, Trevor Nixon and Dennis Williams.

Thank you to all the coaches, those recognised above and all the others who spend many hours a week supporting our athletics with positive environments to grow athletically and personally.

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Image: Brandon Starc and Eleanor Patterson (image courtesy of David Tarbotton)