Dion Andrews
Compared to many, Dion is a relatively fresh addition to the Athletics Canterbury coaching community with eight years’ experience coaching long sprint athletes – specialising in 200m, 400m and 800m. He currently coaches a squad of male and female athletes ranging in age from 14 - 24 yrs.
Dion’s unique offering centres on blending his professional qualifications and experience in the field of psychology with his experience as a competitive athlete, Coach and father to guide the development of athletes during their transitional years towards achieving their potential at maturity.
Outcomes that deliver achievement and competitive success balanced by the need to grow the whole person so as create well rounded and resilient Athletes is at the centre if Dion’s approach. Working with youth helps Dion remain current. “There is nothing more fulfilling than observing an athlete breaking down their self- imposed barriers to achieve more than initially thought possible”.
Dion is an Athletics New Zealand accredited Coach who contributes further to the health of Athletics Canterbury via his participation in the Coach Development Steering Group
​
George Edwards
George has been involved in athletics since 1984 when his daughter started athletics and became involved in coaching in 1990 when he completed an athletics NZ Level 1 course, initially coaching children’s athletics then moving on to teenagers and senior athletes.
In 1990 he was appointed the Athletics Canterbury Coaching Coordinator, organising, and taking courses for local coaches, a role he held for 15 years. He also served on club committees in various roles and on the Athletics Canterbury Executive and Track and Field Committee, as well as coaching and management roles with Athletics Canterbury teams.
Over the years he has attended scores of courses in all events, including Run Jump Throw and an IAAF Level II instructors’ course, and for a period conducted RJT courses in primary schools.
He has coached numerous club athletes to Canterbury titles and Secondary schools’ titles in jumps but also sprints, middle distance and multievents. His focus has been on jumps where he has had many athletes succeed nationally and internationally.
Currently he coaches William Stedman, a Para athlete who has medalled at Para World Championships and Paralympic games, in Long Jump and 400m. He also coaches other para-athletes.
​
Sam McLean
Sam has been involved in coaching middle distance and distance athletes since 1980 and currently remain heavily involved with a squad of twelve athletes covering distances from 1500m to marathon.
His coaching is influenced by his own running under the Lydiard system but over time he has refined this as he learnt more about the physiology of running and how it is best applied. His core philosophy is developing athletes by enhancing their endurance base through a programme of longer running with special emphasis on training zones and steady state type running.
Over the years he has mainly involved himself coaching athletes from late teens upwards but in recent years has been involved helping develop a middle-distance coaching programme at a local club. Here he has been engaged with Primary and Secondary school aged athletes which has been challenging but stimulating.
In terms of coaching success, he has coached several New Zealand representatives and National champions in Track, Cross-Country and Road.
He is an Athletics New Zealand Accredited Coach.
Lockie Campbell
As a sprinter without a coach during his high school years Lockie was compelled to research and design his own training programmes inadvertently beginning a life-long passion for coaching.
Over the years he has coached athletics, rugby, cross-country, and volleyball and enjoyed using the skills and training methods in one sport in each of the others. One thing that was universally apparent was that the success of a team or individual always came back to good coaching.
Providing greater opportunities for coaches to develop their skills was the motivation behind him joining the working group. He firmly believes that any sport is best served by having a good pool of knowledgeable and enthusiastic coaches and would love to see Athletics Canterbury as a leader in this area
​