01.Aug.12 Learn from gymnastics' expertise

England Athletics is delighted to announce Craig Heap as a keynote speaker at the North Coaching Conference on 29th September.

Craig, a former GB Olympic gymnast and now Performance Development coach at the City of Newcastle Gymnastics Academy will present some key lessons he has learnt around helping athletes to achieve their full potential. His keynote will draw on his vast experience from his own journey as an Olympic athlete, through to becoming a coach to aspiring gymnasts and athlete mentor.

Craig's is the latest name added as a speaker at our 2012 National Coaching Conferences. Following on from the excitement of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the theme of the Conferences will be “Where next for coaching?” They will also be used as the launch events for this winter’s Local Coach Development Programme.

The events which have always been enthusiastically received by attendees will be held as follows:

A fantastic public speaker and a truly inspirational figure, Craig’s enthusiasm for developing people and his journey as a beginner to Olympian to Coach has lessons that all coaches can relate to and learn from in their own pursuit of excellence. John Stacey, Club and Coach Support Officer is delighted to have secured Craig as the keynote speaker for the conference and explained,
“The conference will provide coaches with an opportunity to listen to some of the country’s most respected athletics coaches, however we must also consider what we can learn from other sports. Coaches such as Craig bring not just expertise but experiences but also a different dynamic to help us think about our sport from an alternative angle, inspire and challenge us."

Craig was the first person to captain England to Team Gold at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. He then went on to become the sole representative for Team GB in the Sydney 2000 Olympics, where he achieved his Personal Best performance in the All Round final. Two years later, in the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, he repeated the feat of ’98 as he captained England to Team Gold again. Over an illustrious career, Craig achieved 14 British titles and GB representation at 5 European and World Championships.

In 2002, Craig retired from Gymnastics and set up his own company called Olym-Fit UK, which aims to inspire young people to lead more active and healthier lives. He has coached at the City of Newcastle Gymnastics Academy since 2004 where he works with the junior men (12-18 years old). Since his involvement, the Academy has become a Centre of Excellence for gymnastics in the North and the coaching team have produced and individual junior champion in Scotland and a Junior pommel horse champion in England.

Craig’s proudest moment in coaching was seeing his team become the National Junior Champions. Continuing his passion for developing and supporting young people, Craig also works as an Athlete Mentor for the Youth Sport Trust, is part of the Sky Sports-Living for Sport project, is a Sporting Champion, Sport Makers Ambassador and works with the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust.

Craig is still in the public eye as a commentator for both Sky Sports and the BBC, and has been signed up to Radio 5Live covering gymnastics in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Coaches attending the North conference will also benefit from a second keynote speech delivered by Kevin Tyler.

For full details of our coaching conferences please see:

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01.Aug.12 Learn from gymnastics' expertise

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