A former Olympic 400m sprinter, Maree Holland of Lake Munmorah, is the latest high-profile athlete to join the Fit For Sport coaching team.
Holland was a 400m finalist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and one of only four Australian women to ever make an Olympic 400m final (the others being Cathy Freeman, Betty Cuthbert and Charlene Rendina), and she’s ranked the all-time number three 400m female in Australia.
“I have lived the life of a promising athlete from the age of 10, where I was a junior level Australian competitor at athletics and cross country,” she said.
“As I took on more training loads and an even greater appreciation for success I became a two-time national senior champion who went on to represent my country at the Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games and Athletics World Cup.
“Those years working under various internationally successful coaches have given me both the desire and tools to coach which I have taken into my senior life.
“My passion remains coaching and fitness and providing awareness of activities and sports as a way to a better life,” Holland said.
She still holds the NSW 400m record and the Oceania 400m indoor record and held the Australian record from 1988 to 1994.
Last week Holland got her first view of the local talent in the Fit For Sport program at the Wyong Rugby League Club grounds where more than 70 young sportspeople are being put through their paces each Monday afternoon.
Holland is joined on the coaching team by Keatyn Davies (nee Windley) who represented Australia in 2003 and 2008.
Owner Paul Nancarrow set up the Fit For Sport program last November to provide speed and athletic development training for junior athletes across all sports.
He’s a local conditioning and sprints coach, and the former coach of Davies, as well as a former premiership winner with the Sydney Roosters and Newcastle Jets.
“The growth has been phenomenal and has far exceeded expectations,” he said.
“We now work with a number of teams all over the Central Coast and Lake Macquarie and have been invited to conduct clinics as far south as Merimbula and all the way north to Yamba,” Nancarrow said.
Source:
Media release, Feb 24
Fit For Sport