Promising athletes at Rathkeale

Thirty seven of the greater Wellington region's most promising athletes, including 17 from Wairarapa, will be involved in a training seminar to be held at Rathkeale College from tomorrow night until early Sunday afternoon.
Organised by Team Wairarapa coaches Mark Harris and John Quinn, the seminar will not only provide the participants, who are aged between 10 and 19yrs, with specialised coaching in their own particular events but look closely at other aspects outside the actual competition arena, aspects such as nutrition, team building and media training.
"Athletes who aspire to the top need to be well-rounded people, they have to understand what gets them to that level, and what pressures they will be under when they reach there," Harris said. "There's a lot more to it than what happens out on the track and this is what this seminar is all about."
The chairperson of Athletic New Zealand's junior development programme, Joan Merrilees of Dunedin, will be one of the notable guest speakers while among a star-studded list of coaches who will be holding clinics are David Sims, a walks coach from Auckland, Dennis Flitten, an IWAF level five qualified throws coach from Hawke's Bay, Brent Brooker, a successful high jumps coach from Auckland and Greg Lautenslager from Nelson, who coaches some of the country's top junior middle distance runners.