Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Canada’s Evely, American Pfaff scooped up by British team ahead of 2012
TORONTO - The last thing Derek Evely told UK Athletics officials at a London airport hotel before boarding a plane back home was that he’d have to mull over their job offer to coach in England.
He and his wife were having trouble selling their Edmonton house, which had been on the market for two years already.
“I got on the plane, I went to sleep, plane landed in Edmonton, I woke up, checked my voicemail and it had sold while I was in the air,” Evely said. “I thought: somebody’s trying to tell me something.”
Evely, the coach of the Edmonton sprint group that includes world championship bronze medallist Tyler Christopher, was named director of a new high performance centre at Loughborough University on Tuesday as the British team gears up for the 2012 London Olympics.
Veteran U.S. sprint coach Dan Pfaff, who guided Canada’s Donovan Bailey to 100-metre gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, was named head of a second London 2012 high performance centre at Lee Valley.
“If we want the UK to lead the world at the elite end of our sport, then we must have world leaders in key positions,” UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee said in a release. “Dan Pfaff and Derek Evely certainly fit that criteria.”
Evely follows his friend and Christopher’s former coach, Kevin Tyler, to Britain as part of an exodus of Canadian coaches ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
UK Athletics hired Tyler in January as their strategic head of coaching and development.
Triathlon coach Joel Filliol, who guided Victoria’s Simon Whitfield to a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, was hired as Britain’s head triathlon coach, while Peter Eriksson, who helped wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc to five gold medals at the Paralympics in Beijing, was also scooped up by the British.
“They’re not messing around,” Evely said.
The former decathlete said the fact he’d be working with Pfaff and Tyler made is decision to leave for Britain an easy one.
“I’m really happy in my position in Edmonton, but I feel this is a better move for me professionally and for my family,” he said. "It’s not always about money either, it’s about the people I’m working with, I’ve got a proven record with Kevin, Dan’s a very good friend of me.
“And my god, it’s about being in a senior management position going into a home Olympics. It’s an awesome experience and I feel like it’s as challenging as it can get.”
Evely and Tyler have been friends for 25 years, going back to when they competed together at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. Evely’s been friends with Pfaff for about 15 years, since the American coach recruited Canadian sprinter Shane Niemi to Texas.
Evely’s new job begins Sept. 7.
Until then, he’ll continue to coach the Edmonton athletes, including Adam Kunkel, the Canadian record-holder in the 400-metre hurdles and rising 400 runner Carline Muir, through the remainder of the outdoor season, which includes the world track and field championships in Berlin.
While Canada has lost several talented coaches to the British program over the past few months, Evely said Athletics Canada can’t be blamed for their loss.
“A lot of people would point their fingers at AC, but I don’t think that’s fair at all. I think it’s way above that, I think it’s the culture of sport,” he said.
"If you want to succeed at the highest level (in Canada), you’re your own support system in a lot of ways.
“We end up with these coaches that rise above, do really well and they get picked up. When you get to the top, there’s really not a lot out there for you.”
Pfaff leaves his position at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Training Centre in Chula Vista, Calif. Pfaff has coached 33 Olympians to seven Games medals, including Bailey’s gold.
