The former world 1500m finalist still enjoys her racing career when she’s not coaching, lecturing, organizing events, announcing or commentating.
At the peak of his running career, James Tee was a World, European and Commonwealth 1500m finalist.Now a Senior Lecturer in Sports Management and Performance at Cardiff Metropolitan University, as well as Head Coach at Coopah, he is a multiple Masters World Champion and coach to a successful group of athletes. which includes current and graduate students from both Cardiff Met and Cardiff University.
In addition to his core training group, Tee also runs a mid-week ‘running club’ – an open track night in the local community for runners of all abilities – and is a respected event organiser, presenter and commentator.
How did you get into coaching and who did you learn from?
As I was developing, I was lucky enough to have some amazing school and club experiences through various coaches, but I was quite unique in that I trained on my own for most of my senior competitive career.
Mark Rowland coached me for about 18 months in 2001 and I learned a lot during that time.I quickly realized that there is no easy way to success, no magic wand.
I started my coaching journey in 2008 when I was still competing (as a senior athlete) Scottish athlete David Bishop was looking to improve his 1500m and he asked me if I could help him run 3:45 – US Scholarship I had never coached anyone but myself, but I remember thinking, It worked because he arrived on time and got the scholarship. He was my first charge and it was nice because it came full circle. when he returned to the UK I coached him at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
James T (Mark Shearman)
I started looking after university students at Cardiff Met at the same time as I ended up coaching athletes that other people wouldn’t coach, or those who didn’t have coaches, because even though they didn’t realize it, I learned through them. Every coach has to start somewhere, and that’s one of those things. you only learn through practice, you learn through people, and in fact very often you only learn through mistakes.
In the beginning, I had currency as an athlete, so people came to me because of that. Even though I never stopped being an athlete, they come to me now because they see me as a coach, and that’s a nice feeling.
Gaining credibility is hard, but I like to think the proof is in the environments you create. If the athletes enjoy what you do and if they improve or succeed because of it, what do you -you are doing something right. If you create an environment that is not pleasant, but people are having great success, the moment that success starts to hit several roads, the same goes the other way. if people enjoy the training environment, but they are not improving or succeeding, then these groups can also fall apart.
James T, Claire Elms, Andrew Ridley
What is your coaching philosophy?
I’ve always loved helping people who ask for help, and that’s the basis of my philosophy. I think it goes back to self-training. I want to be the coach for others that I would like for myself.
At the end of the day, it’s about being there for my athletes, supporting them to be the best they can be, while making sure they’re healthy, happy and enjoying the sport.
Coaching student-athletes can present different challenges to those experienced as club or professional team coaches.What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?
It’s a fascinating one and I’d like to think I got it mostly right. When athletes come to university they often have their own coaches (at home), unlike in the US where the college coach becomes their coach in Cardiff the idea is that anyone can jump into sessions, but there’s no assumption that I’m going to coach athletes just because they’ve moved here.
A good example is Pearce Copeland (2019 European U23 silver medallist). At the time (he came to Cardiff Met) I was coaching Jake Hayward (2022 European silver medalist and Welsh 1500m record holder) and people assumed Pearce would come to me close but he was happy with his ‘home’ trainer Bob Smith who was brilliant so he was just jumping with us every few sessions. It’s a win because he had his own set that worked really well, but he felt like he could be part of our team and join us in training as well.
Piers Copeland beat Calum Elson and Adam Fogg (Getty)
It’s a bit of a revolving door with the university students. You don’t own any athletes. They can come to Cardiff Met and then go to the US. When they come back, I can take them back, or they end up going somewhere else, but if they’re still running, still progressing and still enjoying it, and if I’ve been a part of it, then that’s great.
Another challenge for student-athletes is moving away from home and living alone. As a varsity coach, that’s one of the hidden issues we have to deal with. With coach education, we talk about programming, planning, all that, but pastoral care is very important and It goes back to my philosophy of taking care of the athletes and looking out for them.
We are lucky to have a great group in Cardiff and I like to think that new students feel part of something straight away. I keep them on the grass for as long as possible and we try to avoid the treadmill for the first few months. because it’s a little too defined. I just want to keep the athletes healthy and happy in that first block because there’s nothing worse than getting injured in the first two or three weeks of college.
Merthyr Maur (Mark Shearman)
We go down the Merthyr Moor Dunes near Bridgend (made famous by Steve Ovett) almost every October a few weeks after the students start. After the session the athletes mess around in the sea. I remember one of the students saying to me years ago. “It’s the best thing I’ve done since I started university. It’s still with me. It’s a change of scenery. You’re out of Cardiff running barefoot. I loved going down there, and.” it really got me thinking about the impact of that experience, especially for new students.
It can be difficult as a coach because you want to maximize a runner’s potential. I could throw 100 miles a week at all of my athletes, but only a few would make it. I guess I’m guilty of undertraining people, but it often results is that they have a longer career in the sport and they enjoy it more. It’s about making sure they always have somewhere to go, that there’s always room for progression.
What, if anything, has changed in coaching since you first got involved?
The fundamentals haven’t changed, but I’m constantly learning. You have to evolve, you have to change, otherwise you’re done as a coach.
James Tin in Budapest 2014 (Tom Phillips)
What is the best piece of advice you would give to new or aspiring coaches?
Coaches or people who want to train need to go out and get coaching experience. There are so many different groups out there that need volunteer coaches and they don’t survive without them. People have this unrealistic expectation that you’re going to go straight to paid job or a paid coaching role, but there are so few paid opportunities out there.
I look back at the times when I trained students as an “unknown” coach, and there was no pressure, no expectations. I actually remember in 2010, two years after I started coaching, I suddenly had this huge group and I said to my wife. “I never planned for this to happen.”
It was never my intention to have such a large group or the driving force behind my coaching, but the group just grew organically. The athletes were the voice of the group and they became the recruiters rather than me.
It’s also important to have a good support network around you – friends, colleagues, etc. – and use mentors.Coaching is time-consuming, so the people closest to you need to understand how difficult it can be.
James T (Paul Stillman)
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned in your coaching career?
It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, but the highs are incredible and they make you go through the lows of the sport. At the end of the day, you have to enjoy it and you have to be true to yourself.
Never set success as the absolute driver. If you create the right environment and enjoy what you’re doing, success will come from it, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of the athletes, their health, your health, or your family’s health. You want it to be long-term, so you need to have a balance to make it sustainable.
Finally, even though coaching can be all-consuming, there is always time to train. I still run (and compete) because I love the sport and think it sets a good example for my kids and the athletes I coach. i am
I feel really lucky that athletics has given my kids, and continues to give, a positive experience, even unknowingly. My daughter Bella now comes to our open track night every Wednesday. I mostly whistle and they run , but there’s a good group of people — up-and-coming young athletes, parents and their kids — and it’s just a good way to give something back to the community. It’s time for me, too With Bella, and that means a lot.
» This article first appeared in the November issue of AW magazine. Subscribe to AW Magazine herecheck out our new podcast! here or subscribe to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here
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