Sport
1 May, 2023
Local little athletes learn from the best
LOCAL athletes got the chance of a lifetime to learn and practice under the watchful eyes of some of Australia’s best athletes who have represented the nation on the world stage during a special coaching clinic recently.
Tableland Athletics hosted an impressive all-day coaching clinic at the Tolga Reserve on Sunday, 16 April, where athletes from four to 60 were able to learn from Taneille Crase, the cur-rent Australian and Oceania Women’s Heptathlon champion and Mitchell Cooper, a Commonwealth Games discus thrower.
Local athletes Kayla Montagner, a sprinter who recently returned from the Stawell Gift and Greg Hamilton, a Masters Decathlete and coach for local Heptathletes, were also on hand to host some training.
Athletes were given a choice of event groups with each coach, Crase took hurdles and long jump – her most skilled events, Cooper coached discus, shot put and javelin, Montagner ran sprints and provided an introduction to using block starts on the track and Hamilton introduced the flop technique in high jump for 11 years and above.
“The greatest advantage to our local athletes was that they were shown new techniques and given more detailed instruction of the various components of each event,” Tableland Athletics president Andrew Ford.
“Even the youngest athletes began their athletics journey with modified skills for events that they will do in years to come, those being triple jump and javelin.
“The athletes will be working on their new-found abilities in the weeks to come, giving them much needed confidence leading into the upcoming track and field competitions and with school athletics carnivals only weeks away were given the confidence to excel.
“With the Road to 2032 on the horizon for all classes of athletes and being held in Brisbane the opportunity this clinic, held once a year, affords our local kids skills that they can use in the many athletic events offered.”
Tableland Athletics recognised Crase with a donation towards her GoFundMe quest to get to the World Championships, held later this year in Hungary.
Crase has been invited to attend the Multi Event Championships in Gotsis in Austria, an invitation only championship for the very best in the world.
