Coach John Scott with Stephen Mackenzie after the long jumper’s gold medal success at 4J Senior Champs at Grangemouth last August (photo by Bobby Gavin)
Eric Liddell Recognition Awards – Edinburgh AC club website news
By Katy Barden
A hugely influential duo in Scottish athletics for over three decades, coaches John and Anne Scott remain modest about their success.
Their passion for the sport shines brightly as they talk, but they have never actively sought attention or accolades, preferring instead to stay under-the-radar as they celebrate achievements by those they coach – both sporting and otherwise,
‘What sets John and Anne apart is their selflessness,’ wrote scottishathletics when nominating the pair for a 2024 Eric Liddell Recognition Award.
‘They focus on the success and well-being of their athletes, often going above and beyond what is expected of a coach. Their approach to coaching is holistic, understanding that success in athletics is not just about physical prowess but also about mental strength, discipline, and character development.’
Alyson Bell is one of their many charges. Her Scottish 200m indoor record at the recent UK Indoor Championships – and the manner in which she conducted herself – captures this sentiment exactly.
Amidst a series of social media praise for her 23.12 performance, one message from an event Official, in response to a note of congratulations, stood out: ‘She was also a delight in the call room all weekend. Well done Alyson.‘
Alyson Bell at the UK Indoor Champs (photo British Athletics via Getty Images)
Anne nods quietly in agreement.‘One of the things we were told originally in our coaching courses is to treat people how you’d like to be treated yourself,’ she says.
‘We always make sure we’re as polite as possible.’
John and Anne were athletes before they became coaches. John was primarily a long jumper and triple jumper but he ventured onto the track too, participating in the 400m and 400m hurdles. A Scotland international athlete over many years, he also earned a GB vest but was unable to compete due to injury.
Anne plays down her own performance capabilities – ‘I was trying to be a sprinter so I did 100m and 200m. But it’s the old adage, ‘You’re not running fast enough, you have to go to 400m’, so I ended up doing the flat 400m.’
She was good enough to compete for Scottish Schools and earn an international vest. ‘I enjoyed the training but I didn’t quite have the head for competing.’
Both were still competing when they started coaching, albeit coming to the end of their careers.
It was never their intention to get into coaching so quickly, but after the unexpected death of a club coach they took over his group and have worked together ever since, combining their knowledge as athletes and learning from others.
‘I looked at what I did as an athlete and then John looked at what he did and we kind of merged the two and bounced a few ideas off people,’ says Anne.
‘The bottom line is that we seek each other’s advice, but we always call it as we see it in our given events.’
Photo via Edinburgh AC
Their influences were different – from Frank Dick, Bill Walker, George Sinclair, Peter Stanley and John Crotty in the UK to Loren Seagrave in the US. But collectively their own experiences have served them very well.
This year alone highlights have included Bell’s 200m national record and UK title (which followed a British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) 60m silver medal and personal best of 7.30s) and Stephen MacKenzie’s gold medals at BUCS and the recent Scottish Championships.
It is a career bursting with highlights, however.
Hard pushed to select just one, John talks through a series of moments that have made him proud.
There was Gillian Cooke (Scottish indoor record holder) long jumping in excess of 6.20m off her non-preferred leg in a bid to make the Olympic Games qualifying distance while injured. Then, not long after Gillian had stepped away from athletics, she went on to win the 2009 World Championships in the bobsleigh.
‘Gillian wasn’t quite sure where she fitted,’ he says. ‘So to then become successful in bobsleigh . . . and in doing so changing a little bit of the perception about what a brake-woman should look like. That was quite good.’
He tells another story of an athlete who made a comeback under his (and Anne’s) guidance before successfully moving onto skeleton (having previously tried and failed).
‘I was really pleased about that and how we managed to get her to move a little bit differently and it opened up a door for her.’
He also mentions Scottish long jump champion Stephen Mackenzie, an athlete who had fallen out of love with the sport for various reasons and could easily have stopped, but who has now found enjoyment and success.
‘These are the ones that have just popped into my head,’ he laughs. ‘If you ask me again in an hour I could have three different things.’
Stephen Mackenzie wins gold at the recent 4J Senior Indoor Champs (photo by Bobby Gavin)
For Anne, Alyson’s recent performance in Birmingham was a standout moment.
‘I was celebrating 20m out,’ she says of the 200m win. ‘It was just so nice to see her run so well on her sixth* run of the weekend.
*Alyson had already run a 60m heat (7.39), semi (7.32) and final (7.31), plus the 200m heat (23.78) and semi (23.48).
‘I’ve been involved with Darren (Scottish long jump record holder Darren Ritchie) and Gillian (Cooke), John is the long jump coach and I’m just helping out, whereas for me personally, Alyson’s performance was outstanding.’
Yet for all of those special moments, John and Anne’s success is as much a result of what happens off the track than on it.
The Eric Liddell Recognition nomination talks of the pair’s unwavering support and encouragement that has helped countless athletes achieve their goals, often surpassing their own expectations.
They are coaches, but they are also mentors, role models, and pillars of the community. Their involvement goes beyond athletic development and performance to personal development, growth, and opportunity. It’s a continuous process that has motivated them over so many years.
‘I suppose it’s just about giving back to a sport that gave me quite a lot,’ says Anne.
‘A lot of people just get hooked up on athletes who go to major championships which is great, but winning a Scottish Schools title could be the Olympics for one individual. For me, it’s just about trying to get the best out of people. You can only coach what’s on front of you.’
Photo by Bobby Gavin
John tells of how he started late in the sport and lacked the knowledge and background of others around him.
He approached a coach – who he later found out was a Great Britain junior coach – and asked if he’d guide him in the long jump. It was a decision prompted entirely by the fact that the only trophy in his house was an old army long jump award belonging to his dad.
‘I’d always wanted to be a long jumper but I never knew how (until that point),’ he says.
‘And that’s always stuck in the back of my mind, that if somebody comes along and is interested, it’s just so important to give that person hope or to let them enjoy what they’re doing – regardless of their standard.
‘Some people are just better at going further or faster than others, but it’s hard to turn anyone away.
‘I got my break in athletics by someone taking a chance and I’d hate not to give someone else that same chance.’
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Tags:
Alyson Bell, Anne Scott, coaching, Edinburgh AC, Features, John Scott, Stephen Mackenzie
