STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.

Nanaimo Track and Field athletes training for 2018 season

Apr 20, 2018 | 7:26 AM

NANAIMO — Spring training sessions are underway at the Nanaimo Track and Field Club.
 
There are two sessions every week on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
 
The Rotary Bowl is divided up into a number of stations including running, high jump, javelin, and hammer throw.

Video from a typical training day at Nanaimo’s Rotary Bowl:

 

About 300 school aged kids are part of the club at various levels of competitiveness.
 
Mike Viers is the head power/speed coach for the NTFC and puts in 2-3 days a week working with local athletes.
 
He says there are a number of key competition dates coming up.
 
“We have the North Island Championships at the very beginning of May, Island High School Championships are May 16 and 17. BC High School Championships are the first weekend in June, and that’s the first big thing that happens with our club,” said Viers. 
 
There’s also the Vancouver Island Meet Series which starts at the end of April.
 
Competitions take place in Victoria, Port Alberni, Nanaimo, Duncan, and Comox.
 
Nanaimo’s event is the annual Elwood Wylie Meet on May 26 and May 27.
 
One of the athletes expecting to have a successful year is 16-year-old hammer thrower Ethan Katzberg.

 

He won his division at the National Youth Track and Field Championship in 2017 in just his second year throwing.
 
Now that Katzberg has had a taste of competition at the national level, he’s looking to get back to the top of the podium in 2018.
 
“I definitely want to get to nationals again, hopefully top three,” said Katzberg. “I want to make myself a better thrower.”  
 
Ethan is coached by his dad Bernie and his sister Jessica is hammer thrower as well.
 
He says having his family involved makes the sport more fun for him.
 
“At the house it’s kind of more relaxed and fun, and out here (training) we take it more seriously,” explains Katzberg.
 
Another athlete after some important results in 2018 is middle distance runner Hope Stewart.

 

The 17-year-old John Barsby student is looking to lower her personal bests in the 800 metre and 1500 metre races in an effort to get noticed at the university level.
 
“My personal best in the 800 is 2:18 and I’m hoping to get down to 2:15. Another goal is to get down to 4:45 in the 1500m and my PB is 4:52. Breaking that barrier instantly makes me eligible for scholarships in the US. That’s a big thing as I’m in my Grade 12 year,” Stewart said.
 
North Island Championships and the BC High School Jamboree are a couple of the key meets for Stewart this coming season.
 
Track and Field Club spokesman Phillip Vannini a lot of sports for kids today are done through the Wii or the PlayStation, so the importance of play and organizations like the NTFC has never been more important.
 
As a coach himself he’s seen how young children in the six to eight age range aren’t quite as comfortable with some of the basics of running, jumping and throwing as they used to be.
 
“Often they have to be trained how to grab a ball and throw it. And the first few times that doesn’t come as naturally as it might have (in the past) and it’s a really interesting thing to observe. The great thing is after three or four times it’s all natural. That ball at first may seem like a bit of a foreign object because it’s analog and not digital. But it’s a great feeling to see all those things just kick in,” said Vannini.

 

Interest in the Nanaimo Track and Field Club is growing and for the athletes involved it serves a number of different purposes.
 
Whether that’s winning medals, setting personal bests, getting much needed exercise or simply having fun.

 

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77