Mr Briedis has an unparalleled record in N.Z. athletics

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32295, 13 May 1970, Page 15

Mr Briedis has an unparalleled record in N.Z. athletics

(By

R. 0. DEW)

yytHEN the New Zealand team for the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games was announced recently the talented Christchurch track and field coach, Mr Valdemars Briedis. had the satisfaction of seeing the names of three of his pupils— Misses B. Poulsen (shot and pentathlon), S. A. Flynn (discus and javelin) and D. Charteris (shot and discus) —among those chosen. It must have been a proud moment but it was certainly not a new experience for the man who is widely regarded as one of the most dedicated and knowledgable amateur athletics coaches in the world. Since he settled in New Zealand 18 years ago, his connection with athletics apparently at an end, 11 of his athletes have won national representative honours, some of them numerous times. Nine of them have been chosen to wear the silver fern at Olympic or Commonwealth Games—R. D. Tait, Misses Charteris, Poulsen. Flynn, L. Duncan, L. Curtis (now Mrs Norris), V. sSloper (now Mrs Young), m. A. Chamberlain (now Mrs Stephen), and L. Anderson (now Mrs Wilson). Personal reasons prevented Misses Duncan and Anderson from competing at the Commonwealth Games in Perth in 1962. But the international achievements of others in the group have been considerable. In an international eareer spanning a decade, Mrs Young won three Commonwealth ■ shot titles and two Commonwealth discus titles. She also won a Commonwealth bronze medal in the discus and was fourth by a

centimeter in the shot at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Mrs Stephen won a bronze medal in the 800 metres at the Tokyo Olympics to go with the silver she won at the Perth Commonwealth Games two years before. She also twice broke the world quartef-mile record and on another occasion bettered the world’s best performance for the women's mile. Tait was fourth in the discus at Perth and recently became the first New Zealander to break the 200 ft barrier in this event. Although no longer under Mr Briedis’s guidance, he has again been chosen to represent the Dominion at Edinburgh. All three are Christchurch members of Mr Briedis’s present Commonwealth Games training squad, Misses Flynn, Charteris and Poulsen, have already worn the silver fern with honour overseas. Miss Poulsen won the shot at the Pacific Conference Games in Japan last year and Miss Charteris was third in the discus and the shot at the same meeting. Misses Poulsen and Charteris also fared well in the contest between the Commonwealth. Russia and America last year. Miss Poulsen was third in the shot and Miss Charteris was fifth. Two other athletes trained by Mr Briedis have represented New Zealand. G. Hack was five times runner-up in New Zealand half-mile championships and it is reasonable to assume that if his career had not coincided with that of P. G. Snell he would have become a multiple national champion. One of a small band to

have broken Imin 50sec for the event, he represented New Zealand against Australia in Melbourne in 1959. The other was Miss L. Hurrell, a former national 220 yards champion. She twice represented New Zealand as a sprinter in the R. H. North Cup contest. Mr Briedis’s record on the national scene is just as impressive. Athletes under his care have won the quite staggering total of 84 New Zealand championships a record unparalleled in this country. And he is nowhere near the end of the road yet. “I would like to make It a hundred," he said yesterday. His athletes have broken New Zealand records in nine events, some of them many times. Born in Latvia, Mr Briedis now considers himself to be a New Zealander. “After all, I have been in New Zealand longer than in any other country in my life.” He wants nothing more than to be accepted as a 100 per cent Kiwi. “New Zealand is a beautiful country. I am an outdoor man, I like the climate and the freedom: I can go fishing or tramping whenever I like, everything is so handy." He came to New Zealand in 1952 at what seemed the end of an illustrious career in athletics as a competitor and coach. His idea was to leave behind the political troubles and unrest “The Continent is unstable in a lot of aspects,” he explained. “1 had decided on a new life: I didn’t want to take up athletics at all when I arrived,” Mr Briedis recalled. He slipped back into the sport almost by accident. Before coming to New Zealand he was a prominent professional coach in the

Netherlands. The Dutch junior 800 metres champion, Joop van Kroiningen, arrived in the Dominion at the same time and Mr Briedis, because of his previous connections with the sport in the Netherlands, agreed to “give him a hand once or twice a week.” He was quickly snapped up by the Crichton Cobbers’ Club in the winter of 1952 but after a spell of six months in Dunedin he lost contact with the club. The following year, when he was back in Canterbury and living at Rangiora, he was down at the Ensors Road ground used by the Technical club assisting Kroiningen and was approached by Miss Chamberlain. He agreed to coach her for “a couple of nights a week.” Then, out of the blue, the secretary of the Technical club (Mr C. Sanderson) “came round and told me that the committee had chosen me as club coach. Nobody had even asked me,” he said with a laugh. “Mr Sanderson brought Valerie Sloper (now Mrs Young) to see me. Although she was only doing 26ft in the shot and 76ft in’the discus, I thought to (tiyself: ‘that is a good girl. I can make something of her.” It is now history that van Kroiningen went on to finish runner-up to W. D. Baillie (Auckland) in the 1954 New Zealand half-mile championship and Misses Chamberlain and Sloper became two of New Zealand’s most prominent Olympic representatives. But it was only the beginning of the second chapter in the athleticsdominated life of Mr Briedis. The first chapter began when he took up competitive athletics as a schoolboy in 1929. He won many primary and secondary schools’ ath-

letics titles and for many years held Latvian secondary schools' records for the shot put and long jump. In later years he developed into . a decathlon man capable of scoring more than 6000 ' points on the old scale. . In the winter seasons skiing attracted his attention ' and he won the Latvian championship before leav- , ing his homeland for good. He became interested in coaching athletics when he was 18 and received his coaching diploma in 1938 from the Sports Institute at Riga. He added to his knowledge at Finnish and Swedish coaching schools. One of his early coaching successes was with a Latvian javelin thrower, Janis Stendenieks, who threw 236 ft 3in under his guidr ance. Stendenieks later emigrated to England and was for three years the winner of the English championship. After the war in 1945, Mr Briedis went to live in the Netherlands. He resumed coaching and was the chief coach of several prominent clubs, one of which had more than 500 active athletes, before being appointed chief coach of North Holland in 1947. At this time he had about 4000 athletes in his charge. The following year he prepared a section of the Dutch team for the Olympic Games in London. He was also asked to prepare Dutch athletes for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki but because of his plan to emigrate to New Zealand was unable to accept. In Europe Mr Briedis was a professional coach. Here his coaching activities are purely amateur, but the requirements and inroads into his private life which the sport demands are just as great. He is completely dedicated and insists on the same quality in his athletes. One of the secrets of his sue- , cess is undoubtedly his professional approach. He is, in a sense, a professional coach without pay. Summer and winter Mr Briedis coaches athletes six days a week. Friday is usually regarded as a rest day but if training is postponed on another day because of the weather then he and his athletes are out Friday as well. It is obvious that he has a great love for athletics. “When you don’t enjoy athletics, when you don't love athletics, you have no successes," he says. “After being a ' professional I wouldn’t go on and sacrifice my private life if I did not enjoy coaching.” This winter Mr Briedis’s coaching activities will be more in demand than ever. He not only has to prepare Misses Flynn. Charteris and Poulsen for the Edinburgh Games. The promising Northland decathlon athlete, R. Mains, has moved to Christchurch so that he can obtain the benefit of Mr Briedis’s vast knowledge and ability. And he wants to be at his peak for the Edinburgh Games too. There is no doubt that Mr Briedis has made a tremendous contribution to athletics since he came to New Zealand. His willingness to give advice to any athlete seeking it, has helped make him one of the most popular personalities in the sport.