Hannah Riley has been appointed as Isle of Man Athletics Association’s new development officer.

The (IoMAA) is the national governing body for athletics in the island and comprises members of the five athletics clubs: Manx Harriers, Northern AC, Western AC, Veterans AC and Manx Fell Runners.

Riley’s vast experience in the sport has been gained through two decades of competing for the Isle of Man at national and international level.

Her athletics resume includes 21 Island Games medals - including eight golds - numerous Manx records and more recently Great Britain recognition.

The association felt that Hannah’s background in teaching - at QEII High School - and athletics made her the ideal candidate.

Speaking to the Manx Independent earlier this week, Hannah admitted she didn’t expect to get the job but is excited about what the future holds for Manx Athletics:

’I was quite surprised to get the job to be honest as there were quite a few candidates for the role. It was one of those things: I’ve been in teaching for 11 years and the job came up, so I was humming and hawing wondering "Do I want my hobby to become my career as well?" but everyone wants their hobby to be their career.

’It’s quite an exciting time really because we haven’t had an athletics development officer for such a long time. The sport has some great athletes coming through, we’ve got some great juniors and we’ve got officials and coaches in the right places.

’I think it just needs to be nurtured so everyone is working together towards the same goal rather than pulling in different directions, so hopefully I can pull that altogether.

’We’ve got to bridge that gap between coming through as a 13, 14 or 15 year old, keeping in that sport and maintaining that success going through as a 17 year old and through to the end of university.

’I think that’s where our drop-off is. If you look at Ollie Lockley, he’s come back from university and he’s carried on, but he’s very unique.

’Sarah Astin’s had her ups and downs but she’s done the same thing.

’But that’s only two athletes out of a large number that have come through as youngsters, so we need to make sure we’re doing the right things to support them even when they’re not here, as well as trying to support them while they’re still here.

’I’m hoping with my background in teaching that I can go into schools a lot more and try and nurture athletics to try and get more kids involved.

’I found as a teacher that not a lot of children are aware of how much athletics and competitions they can do

’Especially down south, we don’t even have a southern athletics club so those kids are having to travel - everyone gets into that Isle of Man mentality that they want it on their doorstep: if they’ve got a boot camp, a football club or a swimming club on their doorstep, it’s more likely that that’s where they’ll end up.

’So we need to try and make that accessible. Castle Rushen have got some great facilities down there - we’ve had some great athletes come through on grass so we can’t use that excuse that there’s no track.

’I think what we’re lacking over here though is an indoor facility because, as a sprinter, we struggle doing an indoor season because you can’t get that intense volume in there. You physically can’t run that fast in freezing cold, windy, rainy conditions because your body won’t let you do it.

’Even if we just had a slight bit of cover on a 60m track would be ideal, but that’s a pipe dream at this point which would take a lot of funding.

’Looking at sprinters coming through, we need to be able to nurture them and still be able to provide the coaching and facilities for them to progress because that’s what we’re lacking.

’Even with hurdlers, we can put a hurdle out on the track on a Wednesday night and it keeps blowing over so you don’t get the work in.

’The middle-distance and long-distance runners are doing tremendously well and that’s because they can run anywhere.

’I think we’ve got some great coaches and we’ve got some people who give up so much of their time - I don’t want to start naming names because I’d hate to leave anyone out, but they know who they are.

’But we need to use those to mentor the younger coaches that are coming through. So many of the kids have got access to Sports Leaders through their schools and Manx Sport and Recreation (MSR) that we can utilise them.

’But at the moment we don’t have as many young coaches coming through as other sports because Sports Leaders aren’t used in athletics.

’We’ve got great coaches coming through but they’re of a certain age and also working part-time - which is great and we also need those people - but we also need that next generation and those who are already established in the sport to nurture those ones coming through.

’Fortunately throughout my athletics career I’ve built up a good network of contacts around the world and I’ve already been in contact with Tom Druce, the athletics development officer of Guernsey.

’He’s the first ADO that they’ve had so he’s come up against different things.

’You’re always going to come up against people who are concerned with change in a sport they have been involved with for so long, but I don’t want push anyone already involved out of athletics.

’I want to try and facilitate as much as I can to make everybody else’s life a little bit easier and more enjoyable in the sport.’

Commenting on the appointment, Isle of Man Athletics chairman Anthony Brand said: ’We are delighted that Hannah is joining us.

’Five years ago we identified the need for a full-time development officer to help grow athletics in the island across all capabilities and circumstances and take it to the next level.

’It has been a long and difficult journey to find the funding and the right person for this role. We are extremely grateful for the support the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation and Isle of Man Sport are providing.’

John Nugent from the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation added: ’We are delighted to be able to support Isle of Man Athletics over the next three years in developing and expanding athletics across the island.

’One of the objectives of the Foundation is to encourage young people to get involved in sport, who may not normally have the opportunity. Isle of Man Athletics have shown us a clear plan to develop this in the future.’