Trackspeed1 Squad :.
About Trackspeed1 :.
About
In October 1978 a then 19-year-old county-standard athlete reluctantly raised his hand at the annual
general meeting of the Blackheath Harriers, and was duly elected as the Young Athletes Team
Manager for the club for the ensuing year. The club's youth sides had decayed over recent seasons
and currently lay in the depths of a lower division of the Young Athletes National League.
His first training session the following week would see all of four youngsters turn up.
Yet this marked the start of a revolution in youth athletics in the south east, and the birth of a coaching regime that would progress to the international and world stage. A massive recruitment drive supported by a robust coaching structure turned the club's fortunes on their head, and the birth of his own coaching group marked the start of what was to become 'Trackspeed1'.
Initially known as 'The John Powell Sprints Squad' (JPSS) made up mostly of Blackheath young athletes, his teams went from strength to strength, qualifying time and again for national finals, ultimately winning five consecutive national titles. The squad was getting steadily stronger, and many stars emerging on the international scene emanated from the Blackheath scheme, several from JPSS.
The defining moment in the group's development was, ironically, linked to the parting of company between John Powell and Blackheath Harriers. It led to a meeting with Sir Eddie Kulukundis OBE who himself admitted that he had "been admiring from a distance" the progress of both Blackheath's youth sides and the John Powell squad.
Sir Eddie's
support in not only affording JPSS athletes the benefits of annual warm weather
training,
and various kit and equipment deals, but giving their coach various development
opportunities at home
and abroad, saw JPSS kick into overdrive. Some of the top young prospects
in the country all of a
sudden began emerging on the international and world scene, and barely a year passed
without at
least one of their number appearing at the European or World Junior Championships.
Management
of new club Belgrave Harriers at youth and under-20 level brought more silverware,
and
hoards more talented young athletes into the sport. Immediately, the club
gained promotion and
went straight into a national final - the first club ever to achieve such a feat,
and in 2000 they
became national junior champions.
Eyeing
progression to the senior scene though, JPSS was eventually reborn 'Trackspeed1'
amid
a throng of talent crashing in on the international scene. Phillips Idowu
began life with the group
before moving to John Herbert (with 6th place in the Olympics and a Commonwealth
title to come).
And enter stage left, one Chris Lambert who had been in JPSS since the mid-nineties.
Following his initiation on the world scene at Annecy (World Juniors) in 1998, he
became
Trackspeed1's most successful athlete of all time as he worked through numerous
national
titles to World Students champion over 100m, European under-23 200m champion and
record
holder, and the squad's first qualifier for the Olympic Games in 2004.
Set that
against a background of British Internationals Timothy Abeyie, Dwayne Grant,
James Ellington, Michael Parper, and numerous others all spending their developmental
years with Trackspeed1, and one of the most successful squads in terms of nurturing
grass roots talent and bringing it through to international and world level, had
been firmly
established at its training base in south east London, the spiritual home of track
and
field in the UK - Crystal Palace.
Today,
the group has move on at a pace. The vast majority of athletes are seniors
and all
operating at national level if they haven't actually earned international vests
yet, but a small
'development' group keeps the coach's feet firmly on the ground. Registered
as a Limited
Company as well, Trackspeed1 offers coaching in schools, and seeks any ways in which
it
can raise any funding for its athletes after the massive cuts made in recent years
around lottery funding.
All in all, Trackspeed1 is a squad for any athlete
looking for self improvement in the sprints field.
Its motto epitomises the unique spirit and camaraderie in the group - "achieving
excellence by endeavour"!
Any good standard sprinter interested in finding
out more about Trackspeed1 should initially
email the chief coach, John Powell, at trackspeed1@hotmail.com
