News

“It opens a lot of doors” – Lauren Butler on the Street 2 Stadium programme

The Street 2 Stadium programme is set to increase the number of para athletes accessing regular athletics training in England and has seen stars such as Maddie Down succeed on the Paralympic stage. We caught up with Lauren Butler, Para Athletics Talent Coordinator for the Birmingham region, to find out more about her role on the programme, what she loves about coaching and her experience at the recent GAPS camp in Mauritius.

How did you get into coaching?

Lauren is an athlete herself and started coaching in 2019 during her time as a student at the University of Birmingham.

“I first started coaching in my first year as a student at the university and it just sort of grew from there. One of the coaches, Dean Miller, also ex Paralympian, got me involved in the para coaching side of it. He was at the time the coordinator for the Street 2 Stadium programme.”

What do you enjoy most about coaching?

Since 2019, Lauren’s love for coaching has grown as she has had more opportunities to work with athletes and help their development.

“Seeing athletes improve through training brings personal satisfaction, but a lot of the time the athletes don’t notice it in training. When you get to competitions, they actually notice that they’ve improved and they come running up to you like I just got a new PB. It’s such a rewarding feeling."

Lauren Butler with Street 2 Stadium graduate at first competition

“I love the challenge of para coaching because every athlete you come across is different. Even though they might be in the same classification, their disabilities will be affecting them slightly differently. It’s like a huge puzzle for each athlete because you have to completely understand them, understand their disability and look past that to be able to coach them the way that they need coaching. It can be challenging, but it’s so much fun.

“They can train just the same way as any other athlete, you just have to adapt and change a few things to suit them as an individual.”

Why is the Street 2 Stadium programme important?

Lauren coaching GAPS athletes using starting blocks

“Street 2 Stadium is a programme for athletes that show potential. Most of our other talent programmes select athletes based on previous performances, whereas with Street 2 Stadium you’re IDing talented athletes that had no idea about their possibility in the world of athletics.

“You’re giving these really talented kids an option that they never thought was viable. It opens a lot of doors for some of them. I’ve seen athletes that wouldn’t have even considered athletics absolutely love the sport and go on to compete and do well.”

What is your role on the programme?

Lauren is the Para Athletics Talent Coordinator for the Birmingham area. She is responsible for overseeing the talent ID process from the beginning in schools/organisations right through to pairing the athlete with a local athletics club.

“I might go in and do a school PE lesson or an after school session and see the athletes in action. If we see that they’ve got really good potential in athletics, we then select them to come on the programme. They’ll have a few months’ worth of coaching to really experience what athletics is like and then we pair them up with a club and coach who will help them continue training. We also support them through the classification process.

“My role is organising all of that and doing a big part of the talent ID. There are a few coaches that will support with the sessions and coaching the athletes selected for the programme, so it is a whole team thing.”

How does being an athlete help you to be a better coach?

Lauren has been involved in athletics from a young age as an athlete and uses her own experiences of training and competing to help her best support the athletes she is coaching.

“Being an athlete, you get a different perspective, so I understand a lot of what the athletes go through. I started athletics when I was ten years old, so I’ve done all the junior competitions and understand the nerves before your first competition."

“When sessions are getting tough and an athlete has to dig in, I know that pain, I know that feeling and I can sympathise with that. It makes me more aware of when an athlete is just tired from a session or whether they look too tired because they might be getting ill. It really helps me to observe those changes, especially with some para athletes those slight difference in tiredness levels and immune system are really key to get right.”

What did you learn from the GAPS camp?

Lauren coaching sprint drills at GAPS camp

Lauren recently attended the GAPS camp in Mauritius where athletes and coaches came together from 21 different Commonwealth countries to share their knowledge and learn from each other’s experiences. Lauren learnt a lot from coaching athletes of different levels and it helped to remind her of the importance of the basics for all athletes.

"We were having to strip some of the drills right back to the beginning and go through the basics, which I don’t think as coaches we do quite as often as we should. I think it’s really important and is something I’m going to do a bit more with my athletes to make sure we’re not losing those basics elements as we get more advanced."

“I got to do a lot of work with some really amazing wheelchair racing coaches, which is always something I have wanted to get into, but I just didn’t have the experience. I was shadowing them through track sessions and we had a few theory based sessions on wheelchair racing as well. I’ve come back ready to start that up, so we’re going to get some wheelchair racing set up in the Birmingham area now. It’s something I can look for on the Street 2 Stadium programme now that I am more confident with talent ID in that area.”

Find out more about Street 2 Stadium

Has Lauren's story inspired you to give coaching a go?

View upcoming coaching courses

Latest news