Gary
Willis - SCU National Development Coach
Saturday 3rd March, 2007
by Ed Hood
The last few seasons have seen few youths or juniors
names grace the start sheets in Scotland, but 2006 saw a few of those
'green shoots of recovery' the politcians tell us about. The man charged
with nurturing the crop is Gary Willis, so VeloResults decided we
should ask him some questions.
First off, we spoke a little about the job itself.
What's your job title and remit, Gary?
"Well, I'm the 'National Development Coach', and my remit is
to work with riders aged between 13 and 17, specifically towards getting
them onto the GB programmes, World Class plan, and the like. I started
in the role in June of this year."
Sounds quite a challenge. What's your background?
"I came into road racing from mountain biking, and went to university
where I did a Sports degree."
Things have been a bit fallow young rider-wise
for the last year or two in Scotland, there's been the odd flash of
promise or better, but not quite the steady flow which we all want
to see. "Yes, but I think this year is much better.
It's a sign of the times that of the nine riders on the programme,
only one came from a road background - most riders come in through
track racing or mountain biking".
Where does your funding come from?
"It comes from Sports Scotland, a percentage is lottery money
and the rest comes from the Government." It's a fantastic situation,
where our young riders are actually getting more help than the odd
tyre, jersey, or life to the race (here at VeloResults we all remember
those times)."
What sort of help do the riders actually get
then? "We give them training programmes and hold a couple
of training camps each month for them. We provide kit too (VeloResults
has spotted the young squad out hammering around the lanes of East
Lothian, and look the part they certainly do), but probably the most
important thing we provide is a programme of races at British and
International level."
|
The
SCU Junior squad tackles Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh |
"We already have a programme for next year mapped-out.
This year we took a Scottish junior squad down to the British team pursuit
championship for example, that was a good experience, which we'll be
repeating."
Do you have anyone at WCPP level yet?
"No, not yet, but that's what we are working towards."
How then do you plan to get young riders
into the sport? "Well, through the clubs and development
teams, like for example the 'Edinburgh Racers' at Meadowbank."
Just like any serious plan, and in order to secure
the funding and commitment required, Gary has set out short-, mid-,
and long-term goals: "The three targets we are working towards
are 2010, the Commonwealth Games in Delhi; 2012, The London Olympics
and 2014 when the Commonwealth Games will hopefully be in Glasgow.
We are working towards having riders in all these events."
Thanks very much for your time
Gary.
VeloResults hopes to be reporting on the successes of your
young charges for a long time to come.
