LEANNE HINES-SMITH

President of Ignition Athletics, Leanne is a Level 4 accredited sprints, hurdles, jumps and relays coach and has worked as an administrator and experienced senior teacher with Education Queensland.

Leanne began coaching in Northern Territory in the late 1970's, working with young indigenous athletes. In more recent years,  she has been recognised for her years of service to School Sport as a coach and manager at Regional, Queensland State and National level.

The Queensland Athletics state team is led by Leanne, both at the annual All Schools Championships and the U20 Athletics Australia Championships.

Leanne has been appointed to team management roles by Athletics Australia, supporting International teams competing at National Youth Olympic Festivals, World Junior, Oceania Regional Championships and World University Games. This has given Leanne diverse experience within the team environment, by working extremely closely with athletes and coaches for extended periods of time.

A current Board Member of Queensland Athletics, Leanne continues to work passionately for the members and to develop the sport through coaching grass roots to senior representative athletes, while being consistently involved in the administration of the sport in Queensland.

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TONY and ALISON FAIRWEATHER

Tony and Alison Fairweather of Fairweather Track Squad, have a combined total of over 55 years coaching experience, coupled with success as athletes on the professional league circuit and also in masters athletics.  They hold Level 4 and Level 3 coaching accreditation respectively. 

Tony started his involvement in athletics after seeking to improve his speed for rugby and rugby league.  He soon developed a keen interest in sprinting and started competing in the professional league.  He had many successes there including winning a 400m race at Stawell, along with national championships in masters.  When he was asked to provide coaching for a Little Athletics Club he jumped at the chance, following on to develop his own personal sprint squad, also working with some junior 800m and 1500m athletes.

It was here that Alison joined him and together they combined to create a great coaching/support team.   Alison has a background in multiple sports including equestrian, but fell in love with sprinting and her passion grew when she started coaching.  She has also won various professional races including the Stawell Women’s Gift, and national and state masters medals.

Together they have coached numerous state and national medallists in junior and senior levels, multiple Gift wins including 2 Stawell Gifts, and have had 9 athletes selected for Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, World Junior and World Youth Championships, with 3 of those athletes making finals in their events.

In addition to their personal squad they have coached in development camps/clinics for various schools, LANSW, Athletics Australia Outback Program, Hunter Academy of Sport and worked with sportspeople of many codes developing their speed.  They have coached athletes of many different backgrounds and nationalities and, to this end their coaching style has developed to a very holistic approach.  Originally based in Newcastle NSW, they relocated to the Gold Coast for lifestyle reasons and commenced coaching here in 2013 and started building a new squad.

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BRETT ROBINSON

Successful beach sprints coach and coach of Stawell Gift winner, Murray Goodwin, Brett brings experience and expertise to the Somerset facility. He has coached Ignition athletes to National championships and is currently guiding beginning and elite athletes  along the pathway to the next State and National level competitions. 

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CASEY WEST

Casey is a Secondary school PE teacher and Head of Sport at her current school. Casey has been instrumental in developing and implementing school-based athletics programs within the private school sector, on the southern end of the Gold Coast. Casey has a great rapport with the junior athletes, which is reflected in her squad.

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ALEX BECK

Alex is a past student of Somerset College, the home ground for Ignition and a wonderful ambassador for the club. Alex is combining his hectic schedule of working as a physiotherapist, training and coaching junior athletes. Alex is now the resident Physiotherapist at the College.

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PHILLIP NEWTON

Phil coaches athletes in sprints, hurdles and jumps. He is currently coaching athletes from Papua New Guinea, along with local Somerset students and athletes from the surrounding districts.

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TONY BAKER

The Flying Eagles are predominantly a middle distance & distance team of youth athletes (aged 10-18) competing in races from 400m upwards in track, cross country & road races.

Our Head Coach is Tony C Baker, a Level 4 Athletics Australia specialist coach. Tony is recognized by the Australian Track & Field Coaches Association as an Elite Performance Coach.

The Eagles home base is a 400m grass track in Meadowbrook (between Brisbane & the Gold Coast). Our athletes come from a wide area to train under Tony. They come from Brisbane north side, to the Gold Coast & Scenic Rim. The Eagles are affiliated with Ignition Athletics Club, who is a strong supporter.

Today the Flying Eagles welcome athletes from 10-18 yrs, from those wanting to improve their running technique, to those who compete at national level. Many of our athletes compete in Little Athletics, Qld Athletics meets, School Sport events. 

We also compete as a team in many road races & fun runs.

Please contact us through our public Facebook page at

Https://www.facebook.com/eaglesaths/

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GARTH PLANK

Wheelchair Track and Road Coach

Garth has an unwavering commitment to offering coaching opportunities to anyone with mobility differences. Garth's dedication to the sport is inspirational and he is very keen to connect with more and more "budding athletes" and introduce them to wheelchair road and track events.  Garth can be directly contacted via email on mentor4me@gmail.com

 

GLYNIS NUNN

Glynis is a Level 5 accredited coach and is the Executive Director of the Australian Track and Field Coaches Association (ATFCA). Glynis is also an administrator with the Gold Coast Academy of Sport.

Known in her senior competitive years as the “Flying Nunn”, Glynis turned her hand to coaching after her retirement from international competition in the early 1990's. Glynis coined the light-hearted name Nunn Better  for the training squad and it has stuck over time. The squad has been a platform for a myriad of athletes to evolve over many, many years, culminating in the selection of athletes into Australian teams competing at the Goodwill Games, Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, World Youth, & World Junior Championships and the World University Games.

Glynis continues to coach a diverse group from young developing athletes, through to International representatives on Senior and Masters teams.

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MARK LADBROOK

Mark is Head Athletics Coach at the College. 

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MAL MUIR

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NIC GUSMAN

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TODD RANSOME

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CANDICE McKENNA

Head of Sport at Somerset College, Candice brings an expertise to distance running coaching.

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AMANDA SCOTT 

A range of coaching expertise is available to all Ignition and potential Ignition members, no matter which training group they choose to join. 

Coaches are required to update their accreditation at the end of a four year period. Coaches associated with Ignition Athletics Inc work hard to continue their own professional development, in particular the growth of their intellectual knowledge. This is achieved through attending seminars and coaching courses, enrolling in online courses, and working through coaching modules offered by Athletics Australia under the Athletics Coach Accreditation Framework alignment. 

Coaching fees vary depending upon contact time with athletes and the type of sessions undertaken. Individual coaches set squads fees.