Welsh Athletics - The Performance Coach of the Year was awarded to Ryan Spencer-Jones

The Performance Coach of the Year

This summer Ryan has been very busy, coaching three athletes at the Paris Paralympic Games aswell as being the Team GB Thows Lead. Two of Ryan’s athletes – Aled Sion Davies and Sabrina Fortune both medalled and Sabrina also came home with a World Record! This also followed some incredible successes at the Para Athletics World Championships in Kobe earlier in the year.

As well as a highly successful coach, Ryan also works as the Welsh Athletics National Throws Coordinator, developing the throws programme across Wales and is in his 13th year with Welsh Athletics. He also supports UKA in developing their throws programme. 

Alongside his own coaching endeavours, his mission is to develop, assist and work on key partnerships with personal and community coaches to ensure Wales produces a succession of throwers, working with the incredible range of existing coaching and athlete talent. 

An interview he did back in August

This summer's Paralympics, the games' 17th summer edition, is nearly ready for kick-off! Running from August 28 - 8 September, the next eleven days are set to feature an exciting range of competition.

A strong contingent of Welsh Athletes will be competing. Among them are five Welsh throwers: Aled Davies, Sabrina Fortune, Harrison Walsh, Hollie Arnold and Funmi Oduwaiye, led by throws team leader Ryan Spencer-Jones of Welsh Athletics. 

Ryan works as the Welsh Athletics National Throws Coordinator, developing the throws programme across Wales and is in his 13th year with Welsh Athletics. He also supports UKA in developing their throws programme. Alongside his own coaching endeavours, his mission is to develop, assist and work on key partnerships with personal and community coaches to ensure Wales produces a succession of throwers, working with the incredible range of existing coaching and athlete talent. 

Ahead of the Paralympics, we caught up with Ryan to share what it is like to coach and lead a throws team for Team GB at a major event like the Paralympics. We also delved into what it's like for the athletes as they lead up to their competitions as Ryan himself is also a former Commonwealth Games athlete.

What will your role be at the Paralympic Games?

I will be team lead for throws.

How many Welsh athletes will be attending the Paralympic Games?

We have Aled Davies, Sabrina Fortune, Harrison Walsh, Hollie Arnold and Funmi Oduwaiye in the throws team. Olivia Breen is also competing in the T38 100m sprint and long jump, making 6 athletes competing from Wales.

What does the final week before the Games look like for an athlete?

The final week is about managing downtime and processing conflicting thoughts in a positive way leading into the competition. We have to keep energy high as the athletes enter the key period, trusting the process and the hard work done throughout the year. This effort to manage downtime is so important as it's the biggest risk to energy leakage and mental fatigue.

How did you get involved in Athletics? Were you an athlete?

I was an athlete in the shot put! I threw during my late secondary school days but focused on rugby mainly during that period. When I came to UWIC (Cardiff Met Uni) I started taking it more seriously. Motivated by a coach based there I went onto make the 2010 Dehli CWG and the Glasgow CWG.

How do you juggle being a coach and discipline lead for Welsh Athletics and UKA?

The main aim is to create a strong program in Wales then the UK will see the benefits. This can be seen in the Paralympic team with 5 Welsh throwers 4 who currently train here and 1 English athlete that is based in the hub. It is important that the sport continues to grow, and we need coaches to do that, so I champion any coach that wants to work within the sport and grow their knowledge of the events. It is becoming increasingly hard to keep coaches in the sport due to varying factors.  I find it increasingly hard managing or having the time away from the sport but want to see Wales and the UK become stronger as a throws nation. This can be seen with the amount of Welsh throwers on the Paris 2024 Paralympic team.

How many Paralympic Games have you been to?

 This will be my third Paralympics, having previously attended Rio and Tokyo. 

What advice would you give to the athletes ahead of competing?

Trust in the process to deliver a performance, manifest positivity and be in the moment of the competition.

How many years have you been coaching and what do you enjoy most about coaching?

I have been properly coaching since 2015 after I stopped throwing myself. I coached whilst throwing to support other throwers, but found that when needing to deliver a higher level of programming delivery and planning the time needed grew greatly. I enjoy seeing people getting better, breaking their PBs in and out the circle and ultimately performing on the biggest stage.

Looking past the Paralympic Games, what does throwing in Wales look like in the future?

Throwing post-Paralympic Games looks strong! Wales has a small population but punches well above its weight and we have a very strong contingent of para throwers with a huge amount of success such as Aled Davies. I hope to continue growing that space across the whole event group in Wales. Athletics is a global sport and the levels of performance across the world are growing fast. As such, throwing in Wales needs to continue to grow in specificity and delivery.

What is the one thing you do to look after your own mental health in a busy period like the build-up to a major game?

Honestly whilst at the Games there is very little time for down time. Therefore it's important to take the time when you can, but I look forward to decompressing post-Games before another long season starts. This short cycle of 3 years has been unusual and tough to do so, but I enjoy being on the ground in a performance environment and supporting athletes to deliver when it matters.

Any other interesting facts about you?

I have 3 children Theia, Spencer and Thorin with my wife Claire. I studied to be a teacher and completed my PGCE, using my skills in the art of pedagogy enables my coaching.