13 December 2007

Lloyd Cowan last night picked up the Male Coach of the Year accolade at the 10th anniversary of the Sports Coach UK awards.

The UKA Performance Coach was honoured for an exceptional year, which included him guiding Christine Ohuruogu to World Championship gold in Osaka.

At a glittering ceremony at London’s Dorchester Hotel, Cowan joined an impressive list of past winners that includes Sir Alex Ferguson and Mickey Stewart.

The awards – presented by HRH The Princess Royal – recognises the achievements, hard work and dedication of coaches of children, players and athletes worldwide from grassroots to elite level.

Based at the UKA High Performance Athletic Centre at Lee Valley, Cowan coaches a number of the Norwich Union Great Britain & Northern Ireland team’s biggest names, including Ohuruogu, Simeon Williamson and Andy Turner.

Meanwhile, Mike McFarlane has graduated as one of eight coaches who comprised the inaugural intake of UK Sport’s Elite Coach scheme.

The three-year scheme aims to accelerate the development of the nation’s most exciting coaching prospects. The focus is on practical applications to elite coaching, and strong emphasis on the skills required to lead high performance programme and to manage a team of expert support staff.

McFarlane, the 1982 Commonwealth 200m gold medallist, graduated with seven other coaches, including Olympic gold medal rower Tim Foster.