“WHEN they do well, or you see their progress, that is your pay cheque.”
Coaching is a “partnership” says Catarina Hallden, head throws coach at Jersey Spartan Athletic Club (JSAC) and mentor of local Paralympic discus hopeful Rachel Leck.
“When people start [coaching], you’re very much the person who tells them what to do, but then as they get better and it gets technical, then it becomes more of a two-way thing. You become a friend or a bigger sister.”
The Swedish-born coach is now in her second decade of coaching but actually began her sporting career in football, eventually refereeing. However, when she moved to Jersey, the women’s football game was not what it is now, she explained, so she had to find something new.
“When I came over to Jersey, ladies’ football didn’t exist.
“I married a road runner and started running with JSAC nearly 25 years ago.
“They used to do a newsletter and one of them said, ‘Throwers, where are you?’ And I said, ‘I fancy having a go at that’.”
“So I started throwing when I was about 34 and then I started doing my coaching badges and official badges, mainly in discus and hammer. Now I really love coaching and throws have just taken over my life.
Having worked with Rachel as her first para athlete, Hallden said that coaching someone with cerebral palsy had been a learning process for them both.
“You do have to think about the same things [with a para athlete] however, you just need to, as I say to Rachel, you need to tell me what might work better and you may need to adapt a little bit.
“You treat them and you think of them doing it [sport] in the same way [as an able-bodied athlete], but you have to slightly adapt.”
Hallden has been by Leck’s side through the ups and downs of her sporting ambitions. Firstly, enduring the difficulty of not qualifying for a category as a para-powerlifter and having the not-so-easy task of switching sports.
But she has “always been determined” according to Hallden and Leck has now secured a place on the prestigious Paralympic Pathway with British Athletics, only a couple of years after learning to throw, with her sights set solidly on the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles for the F38 discus.
“If she hadn’t had the background of weights and built her body the way she has, she wouldn’t be where she is today,” Hallden added.
“It’s vital for her to keep doing the weights because that’s what keeps the cerebral palsy at bay. And that’s why she has had this success in such a short period of time.”
Leck is not her only athlete, Hallden coaches various throwers at Spartans on the Youth Talent Pathway. Reflecting on the relationship she has with them all, she said she “get’s so much back” from the time she sacrifices for coaching.
“You get so much back. We are all volunteers and so you start maybe giving a couple of hours a week and then the athletes need more coaching and enter events so you spend more and more time.
“But when they do well, or you see their progress, that is your pay cheque.”
Describing Leck’s quick progression, Hallden added that it’s not “sinking in” for her either but Leck is succeeding in raising awareness of disability sport in the Island.
“The younger girls really look up to her [Leck] as a role model.
“I don’t think it’s really sinking in for any of us yet, but I think especially for [JSAC] and for throws, there is so much we can do with disability.
“The Jersey Sport Foundation funded us to have a chair so I could do seated throws too.
“It’s something that I explored a few years back, and it’s something I will have to come back to. Especially now we are raising awareness.”
Considering the small scale of Jersey, the small size of the “throws world” as Hallden puts it and smaller still the amount of para sporting exposure in the Island, networking is “really helpful” for her and Leck who are on the pathway together.
“I think it’s important to share and listen to other coaches, because we will always learn something from other people.”
But providing more opportunity for para-athletes on the Island is important, Hallden reflected. For those local clubs or coaches who may perhaps feel a bit apprehensive about learning to coach a disabled athlete and expanding their offering, she had four words: “Just go for it.
“Because there are people who will help you. I think in athletics, we are very lucky in that we have a huge network in the UK that are very willing to help you as a coach and to succeed. For me they are just a Zoom or telephone call away.
“I can also go in and look in the archives of the athletics hub about various things that will help me in my coaching. So don’t be afraid. Just go for it, because there will be people who will be able to help you.”
