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A number of younger coaches are making their mark on the New Zealand athletics scene. We profile four coaches from varying backgrounds to talk about their journey and why they would encourage others to make the same step.

Alex Wansink

For former high jumper Alex Wansink the opportunity to plug what she viewed as “a coaching gap” was the spur for the North Harbour Bays club member to becoming involved as a coach.

The 23-year-old, who works as a sports co-ordinator at Albany Junior High School, now leads a group of around 30 young high jumpers with a significant number flourishing on the local athletics scene.

Alex began coaching foundational athletics from the age of 16 before transitioning into becoming a more specialist high jump coach.

“I found there was a gap between grassroots and performance in terms of the coaching opportunities for high jump,” she says. “Following the footsteps of my coach, Graham Gill, I started my own squad in October 2020.” 

Learning most of her athletics fundamentals from the late coaching legend Russ Hoggard, Alex is now a regular at AUT Millennium, directing and coaching a large group of athletes aged ten to 16 in the art of high jumping.

“I love the mentorship factor and building up relationships with the kids,” she says.

“WhatsApp is a lifesaver and such a great way to communicate with athletes and parents. My philosophy is to work with each athlete as a person first, building a foundation of trust and respect before the roles of coach and athlete”. 

This season her athletes have excelled in Auckland regional competitions, winning eight of the 10 titles in the ten to 14 age bracket at the Auckland Championships and also earning high levels of success in the U14 and U16 age divisions. 

For next season Alex is looking to broaden her range of events she would like to coach and is seeking to introduce hurdles into her repertoire. She is also seeking to operate a strength and conditioning programme with another young coach, New Zealand discus silver medallist Savannah Scheen.

For her, coaching is in her blood, and it is a passion she fully aims to pursue in the future.

“If I could coach 40 hours a week I would,” she adds. “Nothing is better than showing a young athlete what they are capable of.

“For any young person wanting to move into athletics coaching, it is a great way to stay involved in the sport. It is an excellent way of giving back and providing opportunities for the next generation”. 

Annika Pfitzinger

Since being unexpectedly “thrust” into coaching a little under two years ago, Annika Pfitzinger has adapted quickly to the role and help maintained the buoyancy within the Athletics Nelson endurance scene.

Annika, 30, a former New Zealand Half Marathon champion, had previously flirted with coaching, however, following the departure of long-time Athletics Nelson endurance coach Greg Lautenslager to his native US it left a huge coaching void at the club.

“We only found out two weeks beforehand that he was leaving, and he passed on my details to the high school aged athletes he had been coaching as a potential coaching option,” explains Anni, who works in marketing.

“I viewed this as a great opportunity to start coaching. I went down to the track for that first session, and we came up with a plan.”

Boasting a strong coaching foundation through a combination of her father, Pete, a long-time coach and two-time US Olympic marathon runner, mum, Chrissie, a Seoul Olympian in the 3000m, and her former coach, Chris Pilone she is not short of knowledge to draw upon.

This is further bolstered through her partner, Julian Matthews, the 2016 Rio Olympic 1500m runner who was formerly coached by Greg.

“I had the athletes basic training programmes from the past (when coached by Greg), which was great, but I had a lot of learning to do. It involved a lot of communication with the athletes, but it was helpful that Julian had been through Greg’s system.”

Supporting a group of 10 to 12 athletes of primarily high school age, Anni says she has developed a “nurturing” approach with the aim of fostering a long-term passion for the sport.

“I try not to put too much emphasis on performance, and instead try to develop them as athletes,” she says.

“I want my athletes to be comfortable to ask questions about the training we’re doing, and I like to explain the reasoning behind everything as we do so they can learn. As an athlete I think knowing why you are training a certain way makes you more invested in your own performance.”

Anni has enjoyed some success stories with Amelia Clark winning a silver medal in the junior girls race at the 2022 New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in Nelson before last July she secured the gold medal in the U16 women’s race at the New Zealand Cross Country Championships in Taupo.

This season Anni has also coached Noah Lausen to a sub-two-minute 800m time, and she is excited by the development of “endurance machine” Brooke Bowen.

In the future the 30-year-old would like to develop a coaching business and she hopes to fill the “big hole” left by Greg to make the most of the running potential in Nelson and the wider Tasman region.

So after almost two years in the role, what is the buzz and thrill Anni gets out of coaching?

“I have become invested in all athletes I coach, and I want all of them to be happy and enjoy it. I love watching their development and their resilience build as they overcome setbacks. It is great that they have a passion for the sport, and I just want to keep that going.

For any athlete looking to make the plunge into coaching she would whole-heartedly recommend the move.

“Watching the athletes develop as both runners and people is extremely rewarding and I consider myself lucky to be able to give back to a sport which I’m so passionate about,” she says.

Mitch Joynt

For Para Athletics World Championship-bound sprinter Mitch Joynt coaching was something which began “organically” but which he now hopes he can develop to the highest level.

As the oldest member of his training group, the 28-year-old Oceania 200m T64 record-holder was asked to step in to run sessions in the occasional absences of his coach, Hamish Meacheam, out of the North Harbours Bays club in Auckland.

Initially set the responsibility of carrying out the set training programmes for the group over time the role has crystallised into that of assistant coach, and more latterly he now independently coaches his own group of athletes and coaches one night a week at Warkworth Athletics.

“I have a real passion for people that want to be coached,” he says. “I have a lot of experience performing in high level sport since I was 12 and I hope to pass on some of that knowledge. I also appreciate the back and forth and the teamwork. I am helping them, but they are helping me at the same time. We can learn and grow together.”

Learning “80 per cent of his coaching knowledge from Hamish”, he has more recently expanded his range of coaching from the sprints to also encompass the long jump. Working with a small group of able-bodied secondary school age athletes for the past three seasons he has enjoyed the experience, and he took immense personal satisfaction from guiding long jumper Kennedy Shields to the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Championships.

However, he has also relished the opportunity to give back one night a week to the kids at Warkworth Athletics.

“The parents do the admin and general running of the club, and I am there to teach the technical elements. It has been a real cool experience because Warkworth is my hometown, and it has been great to give back to the community and also gain greater exposure as a coach.”

Mitch also believes his coaching career has helped develop his personal athletics career in giving him greater confidence in challenging any coaching decision and subsequently greater ownership of his training.

Also working as a strength and conditioning coach by Hibiscus Coast women’s football team, Mitch has some big future ambitions as a coach.

“I’d been keen to take it to the next level,” he says. “It would great to take an athlete all the way to the international level and it would be cool to one day guide an athlete to the Paralympics. That would be a nice career arc for me.

“If you are an athlete and live the sport, the opportunity to coach allows you to squeeze more athletics into your schedule. Being a coach also gives you options. Everyone’s athletics career is going to end someday, so to have that coaching knowledge once you have stop competing allows you to stay involved in the sport.”

Angie Petty

Her coaching journey may have started by accident but for Rio Olympian Angie Petty she has not regretted the move for one minute.

The 12-time national middle-distance champion was working as a personal trainer when in 2019 she was randomly approached by “a man in his 50s” and asked if she would coach him.

“I hadn’t really thought too much about coaching at that point, but I was happy to help,” she says. “I put a message on Facebook to attract a few more runners to that first session and we got three adults and three kids come along.”

Four years on and Angie and her husband, Sam, lead a thriving group of around 40 mainly teenage athletes some of whom have earned national honours. 

So given the fact coaching had not been front of mind, did Angie enjoy coaching from the outset? 

“It was really cool to see how much the kids loved it, and it reminded me of where it all started for me as a kid and those running dreams I had as a youngster,” she says.

Drawing from her extensive experience as an international athlete plus the learnings of the coaches she has worked with including Angie’s current coach Maria Hassan, who also guided her from the ages of 13 to 25, Danny Mackey, a US-based coach she worked with, as well as utilising the knowledge of husband and middle-distance runner Sam, she draws upon a strong knowledge base.

Working with an octogenarian coach Sam McLean, who acts as a coaching mentor, and further keen to hone her craft by reading and listening to coaching podcasts she has over time developed a clear coaching philosophy.

“I want to give all our athletes a good training structure which allows them to grow and nurture them to stay involved in the sport into their senior years. We don’t prescribe crazy high mileage and we believe in a good balance.”

Angie, 31, who works more on the training structure and organisation while Sam carries out more of the analysis have proved an adept coaching combination and the pair have not been short of success stories. They have helped guide Kiera Hall to the 2022 national U18 title and 2023 under-20 800m and 1500m silver medals. Rosaria Gibson won the 2022 U18 1500m title, Sam Lascelles the 2023 U18 800m title, while other athletes under their wing who have impressed on the national stage are 2022 national U18 cross country bronze medallist Daniel Prescott and Cooper Wightman, the U18 1500m bronze medallist.

So why does Angie, a mum to 14 months old Azaliah, coach?

“I enjoy being a positive part of someone’s life,” she said. “It is nice to see them develop not just as athletes but also as people and it is rewarding to see them have success and reach their goals.

“When I think back to my career and the people who sacrificed so much for me, it is rewarding to be able to give back.” 

***To find out more about coaching and how to get involved go here