COACHING SESSIONS 24-25 SEASON

Toowong Harriers takes great pride in the number of coaching sessions we are able to offer our athletes starting from U7s through to U14+. Athletes who attend coaching sessions often see vast improvements as they work on their technique. We have finalised the coaching timetable for the first half of season, with over 120 coaching opportunities being offered across Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Sunday morning. Please note that the below timetables are subject to change due to coaching availability and weather.

 

TUESDAY COACHING

Tuesday coaching is divided into two 45 minutes sessions with a focus on introducing our younger athletes to the basic techniques of all their events

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THURSDAY COACHING

Thursday coaching was introduced last year with great success and we are doubling our offering this year. The first three weeks are for U11+ and new U12+ athletes only who have never done triple jump and javelin before. From week four the sessions are open to all U9+/U11+ athletes and will be aimed at an intermediate level

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Middle distance training will take place from 6-7pm and continues throughout the year. Running training is open to both our Senior Club (QA), and Little Athletics Centre (LAQ) members (U9+ and younger if supervised by a parent). Parents are encouraged to attend and run with their children. This is a great way to build and maintain general cardio conditioning. The focus of this session is endurance, fitness and interval work.

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SUNDAY COACHING

Sunday coaching is for our U9+ athletes and is aimed at an intermediate level. The first two weeks of Triple Jump and Fosbury Flop High Jump is for U11+ and new U12+ athletes only who have never done triple jump and flop before. From week three the U11+ sessions are open to all athletes.

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Please consider your athletes workload, and the events on offer – sometimes it is better to do 1 hour of coaching at full capacity, than sign up for 2 hours of consecutive coaching at half effort!

 

MEET OUR COACHES

Toowong Harriers is exceptionally lucky to have so many knowledgeable, skilled and dedicated coaches working with our athletes. 

• Joanne Lane – Level 2 Club coach, Level 3 Performance Coach in Jumps, Sprints & Hurdles. Also Advanced in Throws, Jumps, Young Athletes & Multi Events. 

• Lauren Somerville – Level 2 Club coach– Advanced in Sprints, Hurdles, Relays, Middle & Long Distance, and Jumps. 

• John Davis – Level 4 Senior IAAF Coach - Advanced in Long/Triple Jump, Steeple Chase, Middle & Long Distance. 

• Ian Thompson - Level 4 Specialist Event Coach – Throws, Jumps, Sprints, Hurdles, Relays. Level 3 Advanced Group Coach, Athletes with disabilities. 

• Sean Josey –Level 1 Community Athletics Coach – Cross Country, Middle Distance, junior coach.

 

We are often assisted by volunteer coaches, including some of our parents, who are experienced in their own right, and we are very thankful for their assistance.

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EXPECTATIONS OF PARENTS

As with our Athletic meets, athletes get the most out of coaching sessions when parents get involved. Parent expectation are as follows: 

• Arrive early and help coaches set up high jumps mats and hurdles so that sessions can start on time. Similarly help is needed at the end of sessions to pack away high jump mats and hurdles. 

• Parents/guardians of athletes 12 years and under must remain on site, at Jack Cook Park. You may nominate another adult whom your child knows to be responsible for them. 

• Remind your kids to be respectful of the coaches and other athletes and come along prepared to participate, listen and try their hardest. 

• Offer assistance to coaches when there is a large group of kids (particularly early in the season). Parents can help run drills with a small group of athletes while others are getting one on one instruction. 

• Remind your kids that Rome wasn’t built in a day, improvement takes practice that they shouldn’t compare their achievements to those of other athletes.

 

HOW TO REGISTER FOR COACHING SESSIONS

All coaching sessions are loaded onto the Team App under the ‘Coaching’ tab. You must have downloaded the Team App and registered with Toowong Harriers to book a coaching session.

 

We have gone to great lengths to add each athlete ‘child’ as an individual record in Team App and connect them to their parents' ‘guardian’. This will enable us to more easily track attendance.

 

When clicking on a coaching session the ‘children’ connected to your account will appear as an icon under RSVP. To register your child for the coaching session, click on the child's name and select ‘Yes’. If the session is already full you can still respond 'yes' and you’ll be added to the waitlist.

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Please check if your children are correctly linked to you Team App account. If not, please email coaching@toowongharriers.org.au and we will connect them for you. Once you have registered, please be mindful of the following expectations:

1. If you got a spot but can no longer attend, please go into the Team App and change your response to No. This will move someone on the waitlist up to ‘Going’. You could even leave a message in the Team App Age Group Chat to let parents know so they can check if their kid now has a spot.

2. If you were on the waitlist, please check the Team App leading up to the training day as you may now have a spot. If you’re on the wait list you see an orange oblong shape with ‘waiting’, that changes to a green ‘Going’ when you’ve obtained a spot.

3. If you’re on the waitlist and can no longer attend if a spot becomes available, please also change your response to 'No' as it gives the opportunity to an athlete further down the list to potentially get a spot.

 

The app does not have the functionality to alert someone if they’ve moved up the waiting list and secured a spot. Checking the Coaching area of the app is the only way.  Training sessions will generally be released 1 week in advance in 2 week blocks on a Monday evening. I’m looking forward to our best year yet of coaching sessions!! If you have any questions or concerns regarding coaching please don’t hesitate to contact me.

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Sally Geagea

Coaching Coordinator

Email: coaching@toowongharriers.org.au

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