Athletics - The Forgotten Middle Child Of Irish Sport

Writes Mark Cooper

 I was lucky enough to attend the official opening ceremony of the ‘Killarney Valley Athletics Club Arena’, a facility which in spite of Covid-19 disruption, planning issues, funding withdrawals and loan uncertainty managed to cross the finish line of completion. The construction is a high-fenced all-weather sports field surrounded by a running track, with floodlights encircling the space, offering sporting access late into the evening. One must truly see the facility in the flesh to appreciate its boundless utility for those young and old, able-bodied and with disabilities. 

Minister for Education Norma Foley came to the podium and spoke of the great achievement of Killarney Valley’s fundraising and organising committee with reference to its “incredible importance for the community at large”, before Irish International athletes Sarah Leahy, Jordan Lee and Ciara Kenneally showcased their athletic prowess in sprinting and high jump, respectively. Well over one hundred children stood in awe of these fine athletes demonstrating their incredible strength, speed, power and precision, many of whom I’m sure dream of following in the trio’s footsteps on the global stage. It was in witnessing the joy and enthusiasm of the many young athletes in attendance at the event that one began to wonder why track and field, and athletics in general, have generally taken a back seat in Irish sporting life.

Killarney is a town steeped in sporting history, and up until this past year, athletes in the surrounding area would have to drive (or more likely be driven by parents or volunteers) over twenty-five minutes to the town of Castleisland to train, compete or spectate. Given the sporting heritage of Kerry, it is incredible that a town of its size had never been serviced by a purpose-built athletics facility up until this year. This situation is not an anomaly. According to Athletics Ireland’s website, there are just over 35 traditional running tracks in the Republic of Ireland, with many of those outside of Dublin or university campuses being smaller 200m tracks (which it must be said are also invaluable facilities, but crucially not capable of hosting accredited competitions). 

While Gaelic Games, soccer and rugby often steal the limelight, following Team Ireland’s return from their most successful European Athletics Championships of all time, one must question why athletics in Ireland appears to have taken a back seat in terms of national interest. How could it be that a nation so steeped in sporting prowess has failed to truly perform to its potential on a global athletics stage? The quality of coaching could well be the answer.

While in Gaelic Games, rugby and soccer, even local amateur teams outside of a county’s top divisions will pay managers, coaches and strength and conditioning experts vast expenses in return for their services. This is not so when it comes to the majority of coaches and trainers within the world of athletics. Many athletes competing at European and World Championships, and even the Olympic Games, are coached by volunteers. 

These top-class mentors with incredible levels of experience and dedication must often pay their own way for flights, accommodation, food and the many other costs which go into preparing a world-class athlete in their chosen discipline. In a recent interview with Phil Healy in the Southern Star, this issue was to the fore of the Olympian’s concerns for the continued growth and development of Irish athletics. In reference to the large sums paid to coaches in Gaelic Games, Healy stated that she and her fellow athletes “are here on an international level with volunteer coaches who don’t even get their expenses paid.”. One cannot argue that this system is conducive to high performance for our brightest athletic talents. It is quite possible that the current financial system of Athletics Ireland is creating a gulf in top talent, with the inevitable result being that of an exodus of quality international standard coaches from our Irish teams. 

When Irish athletes reach the start line and look to their left and their right, they know they are on a playing field which is skewed against them. David Gillick, who was to the fore in much of RTE’s coverage of the European Athletics Championships in Munich, spoke of the undeniable gap between Ireland and its competitors when it comes to coaching and high-performance training. 

Gillick, a World Championship 400m finalist in 2009, emphasised that while “[f]acilities are there,” for athletes to compete on the world stage, “the fundamental thing in the world of athletics is coaching.”. And this is an area where the nation is almost entirely reliant on volunteers. 

Feidhlim Kelly, coach of a number of international track and field athletes including European bronze medallist Mark English, recently revealed that his own expenses are barely covered by the minimal fees he charges athletes in order to keep his head above water. A highly qualified and internationally accredited coach in any other sport would surely not have to resort to moving back home with their father to allow him to support his athletes in competitions across the globe.

The first pillar in Ireland’s Strategic Development Plan for the years 2021-2028 was entitled “Coaching”, with Athletics Ireland seeking to “further develop coaching and technical education across all of our sport”. It is promising to see a key priority for the organisation focused on the support of coaches of athletes across all disciplines, including elite level internationals. However, as with many government policies, this strategic plan will be all bark but no bite without adequate funding. In an open letter to Minster for Sport Jack Chambers in the Irish Independent, Cathal Dennehy took umbrage with the politician’s liberal use of social media to celebrate the success of athletes such as Ciara Mageean, Israel Olatunde and Rhasidat Adeleke at the aforementioned European Championships in Munich. Dennehy’s frustration lay not with Chambers’ promotion of the achievements of the Team Ireland per se, but with the hypocrisy of such celebration in the face of glaring funding issues in the world of Irish athletics, in particular when it comes to coaches.  

The letter took Olatunde’s coach Daniel Kilgallon as an example, with reference to “unsustainable” systems which are currently in place to support such mentors. 

Coaches like Kilgallon are a vital cog in an athletic machine, and if we truly wish to see high achievers prosper in the green singlet of Ireland, change in how we support those who support our athletes must come fast.

The letter looked at the level of funding available in New Zealand in comparison to our own similarly sized and populated nation, and the structures which are in place in elite sport. Thirteen High Performance Coaches across New Zealand are paid in the region of 60 to 100,000 dollars a year to coach top athletes in the country, with a view towards extracting the highest performance possible from their teams. This model looks likely to be followed by Ireland with Paul Macnamara, head of high performance in Sport Ireland stating that the organisation “will be looking to contract a number of coaches who work with our leading athletes towards Paris 2024 and LA 2028.”.

Ultimately, the great hope for Irish athletics coaches has come with the success and exposure brought about by coverage of this year’s European Athletics Championships. With the absence of Gaelic Games activity, full coverage could be offered to the masses for the first time, and the response was undeniably positive. 

The appetite most certainly exists for the continued growth and development of Irish Athletics, but this cannot be achieved without a sustainable and significant investment in Irish coaching talent. Our athletes have the best of facilities and individual funding, but without elite coaches who can commit their time and knowledge, they will always be one step behind before the starter pistol is even fired.