Wilf Paish - A Real Pioneer

Many of you do not know who Wilf Paish was. Wilf was a British track & Field coach who passed away this past week For me Will was and is an iconic figure in coaching. It was sad to hear of his passing, but it brought back a rush of memories. I did not know Wilf personally, although many of my close colleagues did. My introduction to Wilf Paish came in my first year coaching when I bought the whole British Amateur Athletic Coaching series. Wilf wrote Javelin Throwing, a booklet that I read and reread as I was trying to learn the event as an athlete as well as a coach. Then I began to subscribe to the technical publication of the BAAB, Athletics Coach. He seemed to have an article in every issue. His articles were gems; I always found his ideas were ideas I could understand and immediately apply to my coaching. His background as a physical education teacher came through loud and clear. In 1978 at the Sports Science Congress before the Commonwealth games in Edmonton, Canada I finally got to hear him speak. He was a fiery presenter that left no doubt where he stood. During that presentation I picked one coaching cue for the throws – Chin/Knee/Toe – See it go and a concept I have used ever sense – Toenails to fingernails. (For those of you who know Kelvin Giles, I am convinced that Wilf taught Kelvin his presentation style as part of his mentoring of Kelvin) Daley Thompson introduced me to Wilf briefly at the Olympic Village at UCLA right before the LA Olympics, he could not talk because he was off to coach Tessa Sanderson, the Gold medal winner in the javelin in one of her final training sessions before the games. He also originated the throws pentathlon that is still popular and used today. This man contributed so much to sport, it is hard to find words to express his contributions. He is one of a great generation of coaches that taught and inspired many of us. As each of them pass away I hope you younger coaches will take the time to learn what these people contributed to the great sport of track and field. People like Sam Adams, Harmon Brown and Ed Parker in this country have all passed away in the in the last eighteen months. Great people  and great coaches who loved the sport like Wilf did. There are many from that generation out here right now that we need to stay in touch with and continue to learn from. I really wish someone would do an oral history project and a Ken Burns style documentary on these people to keep their ideas and memories alive. I really hope there are more Wilf Paish’s out there in the up and coming generation of coaches. We need people to innovate, stand up for they believe in and carry the torch as he did.