Podcast #80: Award-winning coaches discuss their journeys in athletics
The latest England Athletics Podcast features two winners of the Coach of the Year Award as part of our Regional Volunteer Awards 2025.
Wenlock Olympians coach Camilla Stewart was victorious in the West Midlands, while Victor Oyesola of West Cheshire AC won in the North West region. In conversation with host Alex Seftel, the pair discuss their journeys in the sport so far and what motivates them.
Victor was described as "a transformative coach whose passion, innovation, and care have reshaped his club’s culture". In the podcast, he talks about how he took on a coaching role after the opportunity came his way when his own previous coach fell ill, and how he combines training athletes with football coaching. He explains:
"It has been a very tough time joining athletics since Covid because everyone lost that year of development, "I sat down with a few people and said 'qualifying for nationals is not as hard as people think, it's down to commitment and how we structure our club'. So we decided to put a little bit of a drive in, having some really talented athletes, and I had a girl go to the World Athletics U20 Championships last year."
Camilla is based at a club which is famously connected to the Wenlock Olympian Games, a forerunner to the modern Olympic Games, founded by William Penny Brookes in Much Wenlock in Shropshire in 1850. In winning her award, she was said to have "transformed her club through tireless dedication and inspirational coaching". As she puts it:
"The kids are very inspiring and if you want to keep going for anything, you want to keep going for the kids that are committed and look to you for advice and support. They have helped me build it back up and now I've got really good companion coaches and it feels like the club is going in the right direction."