Local coach James on international duty (From Andover Advertiser)

Andover AC's James chosen as international sprint coach

11:39am Tuesday 19th March 2013 in Other Sport By Sports editor Kerry Miller

Andover Athletic Club head coach James Coney was recently selected as men’s sprint coach at the annual Celtic Cup match, held at the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff.

This competition was a direct head to head battle between England U20 and Wales U20 track and field teams. This is the first time James has been involved at international level and was responsible for looking after athletes competing in the 60m, 60m hurdles, 200m, 400m and 4 x 200m relay. James was involved in team selection alongside staff from England Athletics, mainly picking from medallists at the recent U15/U17 and U20 National Indoor Championships. He also organised and delivered a pre-event team meeting and relayed selection and tactics and team management on the day of competition. The highlight for James was working with one of the fastest U20 400m runners in Europe and finding out that he had forgotten his trainers and had to borrow a pair to warm up in.

Despite this the talented sprinter set a new meeting record and was highlighted as one of the day's best performances. This opportunity was made possible by James’ involvement over the last four years in the National Coaching Development Programme and was part of an ongoing scheme to for coaches across the UK.