We hear from the woman who has led Jeremiah Azu to international sprint success about the joys and challenges of being a mentor
Helen James has been a coach at Cardiff AAC for over three decades, most recently guiding Jeremiah Azu – an athlete she’s coached since he was 16 – to World and European Indoor 60m gold. A former Welsh 60m champion and national age-group record-holder herself, James started running at primary school and continued throughout her school years. Her parents emigrated to New Zealand when she was 12, returning to the UK two years later, and during that time she won the Auckland Schools 100m title. Particularly strong indoors, she has a 60m personal best of 7.8 which came at RAF St Athan in the early 1970s.
How did you get into coaching?I got into coaching through my children [two daughters]. They both competed in school and they did really well, so I took them down to join Cardiff. I knew quite a few people down there from when I ran many years ago and my love of athletics soon came back.I started off as a team manager and I was thrown in at the deep end when I had to organise two buses to travel to a competition with just a few days’ notice [because there was nobody else to do it]. I was dreading it because I thought: “Can I actually do this?”, but we did, and we did really well. After that someone suggested that I should get involved in coaching and I’ve been doing that ever since.When I started coaching I was juggling work and family so it was really full on. Now that I’m retired it’s a little bit easier.The coaches in Cardiff worked together. Back then there was quite a big group of us, so one coach would write the training plans and the rest of us would assist. I remember one gentleman saying to me: “Why are you so quiet? You were an athlete once, you know what they’re meant to be doing, so speak up,” and that was a turning point. Not long after that the group split up and we all ended up with our own athletes. I think those words just stayed in my head and I thought: “I can do this”.
Who has been your greatest coaching influence?I’ve known and learned from many coaches over the years. James Hillier [former British Athletics High Performance Coach – Sprints and Hurdles, now Head Coach at the Reliance Odisha Athletics High Performance Centre in India] was one of them, as well as Adrian Thomas who coached my son-in-law Rhys Williams [Team GB Olympian who won the European 400m hurdles title in 2012]. I also learned a lot from the late Dave Williams in Cardiff many years ago.Adrian and I actually combined our groups for a little while and we’d get together for hill sprints at the Merthyr Mawr sand dunes near Bridgend. The athletes have a love-hate relationship with Merthyr Mawr. They love going there, they just don’t like how they feel after it.I just like to watch the different sessions that coaches are leading, and if I think, “I like that one”, then I’ll mix it with my own ideas.
How would you describe your coaching style?I think that I’m quite friendly and approachable, but I want all my athletes to win. I know that sounds a bit mad, but I coach them to win.Everyone’s “winning” and everyone’s success is different; for some athletes that might be a personal best, for others it might be county selection or international selection. Everyone has a different level of achievement and, if they work hard, that should be celebrated. I just like to see the kids do the best they can.It’s not just about the hard work and training though, it’s also about the social aspect and making friends – the camaraderie of getting on a bus together to go to a competition and hanging around together for the day. It’s supposed to be fun!
What would you say are the characteristics of a good coach?Understanding your athletes and having a good relationship with them is really important. Your athletes need to know what to expect from you and to have the confidence to ask you anything. For example, if they’ve got problems, they want to know that you can help sort them out. I like to be seen as someone who cares about the athlete first.
You coach a large group of athletes. How do you manage that?With difficulty! I’m not the only coach in the group, though. I have other coaches who work with me and they’re all very knowledgeable, so we all have an input, especially supervising the training sessions. There are some days when we’ll run about five different training sessions in one group, so that can be difficult, but we work really well together. I mostly coach in the evening, but I’m lucky enough to be retired now so I can coach in the morning, too.I think you’ve got to try and talk to everybody, to pay attention to everybody. We treat our athletes like family because we spend quite a lot of time with them and we’re interested in what they’re doing outside of athletics as well as on the track. Also, if I’ve got kids running in the National Athletics League (NAL) I’ll always go to support, if I can.I don’t think I’ve ever missed a championship with Jez [Azu] over the years. I had never imagined going to China [to the World Athletics Indoor Championships], but I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
Jeremiah is a great example of an athlete you’ve coached since the very start of his career. What does it feel like to discover young talent?With Jez, it initially took me a lot to persuade him to come to the club, but I’m so glad I persevered. I have another very young athlete now. He’s been with me about a year and he’s outstanding, he’s been winning everything. Initially it was his brother who came over to me, and I wouldn’t normally take the younger athletes – at least not as young as he was – but because they came as a package I did.Discovering talent is exciting for a coach. The young athlete I have now has a lot of growing to do, but it was the same with Jez. He came in as a 16-year-old who hadn’t really run before, except for school competitions.To watch him develop over the years, and there are other athletes who have been with me a long time too, so to watch them develop into really good athletes and really good human beings is special.It’s not always easy, though. When Jez made the decision to move to Marco [coach Marco Airale in Italy in 2022] I was obviously upset, I won’t deny that, but I was expecting it. I understood why he wanted to go because actually, at that age, kids want to try different things and follow their dreams. My children both went travelling – and you bring your kids up to fly the nest, don’t you? I just wished him all the best and there were no hard feelings.When he came back he came down to see us and he eventually started to join back in the odd session. It was an easy transition, there were no issues. He just slotted back into training like he did before he left. It was like he’d never been away.
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to a new or aspiring coach?Work with other coaches first and learn how to coach and how to treat people. Treat everyone the way they deserve to be treated. Also, when you’re coaching, everybody has their own goals and dreams. It’s important that you encourage your athletes to follow their dreams, but most importantly, to enjoy what they’re doing!
