News

01/10/2024 00:00, In Blog /

On Saturday evening, at the Welsh Athletics Annual Awards Evening, two talented coaches were recognised for their incredible contribution to our sport.

The Participation Coach of the Year was awarded to the late, great Glyn Pugh

Glyn was a legendary throws coach at Rhondda AC. Following the passing of Bill Kingsbury and John Loney who regularly coached at the club, Glyn stepped up to the mark and became the next throws coach at Rhondda AC following many successes himself as a hammer thrower.

Glyn certainly did step up to the mark – the medals, championships wins and internationals that he had input in throughout his time at the club are quite incredible.

A dear friend shared:

He was a tremendous coach, a great mentor and selfless with his time. He had a magical way of building people up for competitions and bringing out the best in them – whether it was winning a Welsh Championship or getting a personal best in a league meeting.  He thought the world of his athletes and in turn, each and every one of them thought the world of him too.

Glyn devoted his life to Rhondda AC and was also the chairman of the club as well as a regular official for Welsh Athletics.

Glyn very sadly passed away in February this year and will be greatly missed by all. Pauline his partner accepted the award on his behalf and shared a beautiful speech.

Glyn Pugh’s partner Pauline and family celebrating his fantastic Participation Coach of the Year award.

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

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. 

Ryan Spencer-Jones celebrating his Performance Coach of the Year award.

Congratulations to both coaches on winning your well-deserved awards and thank you for all the great work you do for our sport.