Athletics New Zealand has appointed three Performance Coaches to full-time positions within the organisation.
Matt Dallow will be responsible for throws events, Maria Hassan has responsibility for endurance events and Andrew Maclennan will take charge of the multiple areas of sprints, jumps and combined events.
The three coaches have been employed to coach athletes within the Athletics New Zealand Performance Programme and to support the personal coaches of other Programme athletes. They will also play a key role in coach development throughout New Zealand.
Increased funding from SPARC following the December 2010 review has allowed Athletics New Zealand to make these appointments. It is the first time that the organisation has been in a position to employ coaches in this capacity and is a milestone for the sport.
There will soon be an announcement of several additional part-time performance coaches.
Performance Athlete Development Manager Terry Lomax said "This is a moment that has been a long time coming and hopefully the start of athletics coaching in this country being seen as a professional pathway for our coaches."
The three coaches start in their new roles from 7 June, along with the new Performance Director Scott Goodman.
