Wilf Paish scholars announced
Published on: 13th October 2011
Academic scholarships to honour one of athletics’ best-known coaches have been awarded by Leeds Metropolitan University.
The Wilf Paish Scholarship Fund was launched earlier this year to enable the University to support talented athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds and help them realise their full potential. The first recipients of the scheme have been announced as Stephen Potter and Robbie Hill, who are both studying for a Masters degree in Sport Coaching.
Yorkshire-based Paish was coach of javelin aces Tessa Sanderson and Mick Hill, with more than 100 of the athletes who came under his guidance becoming Olympians; building a fitting legacy to support athletes in need is something that was close to Wilf’s heart.
Stephen Potter and Robbie Hill have received the scholarship to fund their postgraduate studies, giving them access to some of the world’s best coaches through Wilf’s network and supporting their own coaching ambitions.
Speaking about the scholarship, football coach Stephen, said: “This is a massive opportunity to continue my education and pursue my ambition to work as a professional coach. I love coaching and believe that the role of a coach is very important in sport as well as other areas of life.”
Robbie Hill, who currently coaches at West Park rugby club, added: “I’m delighted to have received the opportunity to continue my studies through the Wilf Paish scholarship and I’m keen to carry his legacy on as I aspire to reach his potential.”
Later in the year, a further seven Wilf Paish Athletics Scholarships will be announced, to assist talented track and field athletes in need of financial aid to help them cover the costs of training so that they may reach their full potential.
Wilf Paish trained to be a PE teacher at Carnegie College, now part of Leeds Metropolitan University, before taking a teaching post in Essex. He then returned to Yorkshire after being appointed as National Coach for the North in the early sixties and has been an adopted Yorkshireman ever since.
His most famous coaching success was with javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson who moved to Leeds after a disappointing Olympics in 1980. Paish’s original thinking and innovative coaching methods helped her to kick-start her career and she subsequently won gold at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
Speaking about Wilf’s influence on his own career, Mick Hill, who now works as an elite coach at Leeds Met said: “I met Wilf 31 years ago when I came to join in a training session with his Yorkshire and Humberside Athletics Squad at Carnegie. From that day onwards the direction of my life changed towards athletics as I was taken under his wing as a promising young javelin thrower.
"His love of athletics was absolute and his knowledge, enthusiasm, coaching and teaching expertise has been experienced by hundreds of thousands of athletes, coaches and teachers all over the globe either through direct contact with him or through his extensive written work.”
