1st June 2022

COACH PROFILE - ALISON GREY

ALISON GREY

Scottish Athletics

Throws coach

 

What is your athletics background?

I competed in shot put and discus until aged 27. I reached Commonwealth Games standard, competing for Scotland in the Games in Victoria, Canada in 1994.

I really enjoyed the opportunities that athletics gave me, especially being able to explore the world and experience the higher level competition and all the benefits that brings.

Unfortunately, injury curtailed my career and I gradually petered out of competitive athletics.

 

What brought you into coaching?  How long have you been coaching and in what field?

Initially it was because I wasn’t ready for anything else. I was so used to routine – I was so disciplined about when to eat, when to train, when to sleep and so on.

I wasn’t really prepared for athletics to not be a big part of my life and wasn’t ready to have evenings to myself! So I went back to the club where I started as an athlete, Livingston AC.

When I first went back, I assisted one of the coaches who had coached me as a child and did a mixture of sprints, middle distance and horizontal jumps with only a few throwers. I started by assisting him and then transitioned into leading a group. In hindsight this was probably a good thing as it gave me a broad all-round understanding of all the different event groups and the overlap of training and how to put some run sessions in for throwers and so on.

It was a big learning curve, but it taught me a lot about different training methods for different groups, the crossovers and what different training approaches brought to each athlete’s development. I was able to experiment and learn more than if I had started straight with throws, especially if I had coached athletes that I had trained with.

I had already done my assistant coaching qualification in 1995 whilst still competing due to rupturing my ACL. Then I went back to the complete my coaching qualifications in 2000 after retiring as an athlete. At this time I was in the civil service so I was also working full-time. I was a civil servant for 13 years then, not long after finishing competing, I moved into sports development and I am now with Scottish Athletics as Coaching Coordinator plus one-day a week a remit to help develop throws athletes and coaches.

I coach independently now as it gives me more flexibility to work with athletes from different clubs and out of different facilities. I use Grangemouth Stadium which has indoor, outdoor, a throws net area and all the facilities I need.

I have athletes from across central Scotland, predominantly throwers. My core group are shot and discus athletes. I also support some combined event athletes and coaches who I just provide with throwing and technical coaching but I don’t constitute them as my athletes but I hope I contribute to their development. All are generally U20s or U23 age groups and are talented athletes looking for specialist technical throwing.  My core group currently is five girls, three shot and discus and one, just shot, one just discus plus four, two boys and two girls, combined events athletes.

 

What is your coaching philosophy?

After 20 years of coaching I have learned not to have a fixed mindset as a coach. You need to develop your learning through your athletes. Although there are some parameters to develop your athlete physically, technically and, ever more importantly, tactically, you have to mould around the athlete rather than the other way round.

Every athlete is different, and you won’t get the best out of an athlete if you try to mould them around a set programme. It is important to find out what works for that athlete and not be too fixed in your mindset.

It is important to give them the basics – when you start out you have all the information, you are learning how to develop physical literacy, developing their strength levels and approach to competition but then it takes lots of practise and trial and error and learning what is effective for each individual athlete.

 

What keeps you motivated?

I really enjoy it especially the interaction with athletes, the time you spend with the athlete supporting their journey and developing trust with each other. The motivation of working with the athletes is key.

Helping an athlete develop to be the best they can be keeps me going – and, also, recognising if that isn’t working and having that difficult conversation about an athlete maybe moving on to a different environment. Dealing with success and failure is important – it isn’t easy but you do need to be there for them when it doesn’t go well as well as when it does. When the outcome is so positive it motivates me to keep going.

 

What do you consider your biggest achievement from a coach perspective?

Most of my athletes are 17 to 24 age group so we are looking to get to under 20, under 23 level for Scotland or GB. I have two athletes aiming for the U18 squad at GB level.

Currently I have one athlete with the U17 Scottish shot outdoor record and another U17 indoor shot record. It is nice to have these within the training group.

It is all about the athlete reaching their potential for me, so I am as proud of those who get their first medal as those who go right on to represent Scotland and GB. I am as proud of the first girl I coached who won a long jump medal at the East of Scotland champs right when I first started out and is now probably 37 years old as I am of my U17 record holders now.

 

What are your ambitions for 2022/23?

Those athletes knocking on the door for Jerusalem (Euro U18) and Cali (World Juniors) are realistic targets, so it is about managing those expectations.

But it is about the whole group so those at BUCS (last month) and those at the Scottish Champs are as important. Every athlete has a different target, so it is working with each one to fulfil their potential through the season, review it at the end and then set realistic targets for the following year. I think athletics taught me this – targets are great but you have to think about the process to get there.