Steve Mucchetti, a former junior cross country champion in Connecticut and coach of 2013-14 State Track Championship winners Ridgefield High, moved to the Island this summer to join his Jersey-born fiancée Sarah (née Le Meur) before the couple married in September. And, following a period of enforced inactivity due to visa restrictions, he is now looking to make a mark at FB Fields.
The 31-year-old joined forces with Craig Meredith at Fit 2 Function last week as he seeks to boost the popularity of distance running (through a new initiative called the Endurance Project), while he will also offer his services to Jersey Spartan AC. The latter now have the likes of NatWest Island Games medallist Peter Irving and strength and conditioning specialist John Scriven on their books, and Mucchetti has expressed excitement at joining a fraternity with a ‘real thirst for sport’.
Steve Mucchetti: “It seems like there’s a real thirst for sport on the Island, so it’s important that people who want to train have the option to do that”
‘I’ve coached privately in New York on something called the “Run SMART Project”, where I coached 30 runners for the New York Marathon, and that was incredibly helpful as a lot of people I’m going to be working with now will be training for a race but are maybe not sure of how to get started.
‘I also worked with more serious athletes at Florida State University, and we had the second best cross country team in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). We also had a guy who made the 1,500m finals of the World Championships a year after he graduated – it was just that kind of environment.’
On his new environment, Mucchetti continued: ‘It seems like there’s a real thirst for sport on the Island, so it’s important that people who want to train more seriously, or just to have fun, have the option to do that.
‘Spartans have such a good set-up there and they all do a good job. It’s is obviously the big club on the Island and is the traditional outlet for anyone who wants to get into athletics, so whatever I do will be a collaboration with them. Everyone there is exciting to talk to because they have so much experience in the sport.
‘There was such an enthusiasm around the Island Games and it seems to have energised people, and that’s fun to be a part of. For anyone who wants to run on the Island – I’m here to coach and help people get better, that’s all it’s about.’
Allbut added: ‘It’s fantastic to have experienced volunteers helping us out with sessions.
‘We can always do with more volunteers, so we’re delighted that Steve, John and Peter are helping the club.’
