Shireen Higgins
| Contact Details | Please contact Shireen via the Enquiry form on the contact us page |
| Power of Ten Link | Shireen Higgins |
| Events Coached | Middle-distance and Endurance: Track: 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, 10000m, Steeplechase Road: 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon Cross Country |
| Ages Coached | Under 11 (U11) Boys and Girls (School Year 5) Under 13 (U13) Boys and Girls (School Years 6 and 7) Under 15 (U15) Boys and Girls (School Years 8 and 9) Under 17 (U17) Men and Women (School Years 10 and 11) Under 20 (U20) Junior Men and Women Senior Men and Women |
| WSEH specific training days and times | Tuesdays & Thursdays at TVAC -6.20pm to 8.00pm. |
| Any additional training days and times | Saturdays & Sundays at The Lookout, Bracknell – 9:45am to 11:30am. |
| Notable athletes coached | Alexandra Barbour (3000m steeplechase), County champion, represented Berkshire county & Loughborough University & South of England at UK School Games. 2017 – ESAA U19 1500 steeplechase Gold, UK #1 U20 1500m steeplechase, UK #2 2000m steeplechase. 2018 – BUCS 3000m steeplechase Bronze, EA U20 women 3000m steeplechase Gold, GB junior 3000m steeplechase, Manchester International, Bronze, UK #3 U20 3000m steeplechase, 2019 – UK #7 U23 2000m steeplechase, 2020 – UK#6 SW & #1 U23 3000m steeplechase 2021 – #5 U23W 2000m Steeplechase Rachel Clutterbuck 2020 – SEAA Cross Country Silver, 1st Surrey Schools CC 2019 – Virgin Mini Marathon 23rd 2020 – UK#4 U15 3000m 2021 – UK#1 1500m Steeplechase U17W, 1st ESAA English Schools, 1st SIAB Schools International, 2nd English National Championships, 2nd UK School Games (all U17W 1500m Steeplechase) Freya Ruffels 2021 – UK#3 1500m Steeplechase U17W, 2nd ESAA English Schools,1st SEAA Championships, 2nd SIAB Schools International, 3rd UK School Games (all U17W 1500m Steeplechase) Luke Birdseye 2021 – UK #1 1500m Steeplechase U17M, 1st SEAA Championships, 1st England Championships, 1st ESAA English Schools, 1st UK School Games, 1st SIAB Schools Home International Charlotte Dewar (1500m, cross country), County champion & represented Berkshire county, Virgin Mini Marathon SE x 3. 2019 – ESAA CC 8th U15, Schools International CC 6th. ESAA 1500m Bronze, UK #6 U15 1500m 2020 – SEAA CC Gold, Nat CC champs 5th, ESAA U17 CC 8th , Schools International selection Jasmine Young (3000m, cross country), County champion & represented Berkshire county. 2019 – 6th ESAA 3000m, UK #4th U17 3000m 2020 – 19th ESAA cross country U17, Berkshire county 1500m Gold, Berkshire Schools 3000m Gold 2020 – SEAA CC 11th, National CC 16th, ESAA CC 19th Ben Findlay (3k, 5k, 10k, half marathon & marathon), 10k time improved by 7 mins to 32:50, HM from 93 mins to 72 mins, 5k from 20mins+ 15:40. New marathon pb of 2:37:27 in 2021. Sam Hodgson (3000m, cross country), County champion and represented Berkshire county on several occasions 2018 – ESAA CC 7th, Schools international CC 9th, Nat CC 24th 2021 – 1st ESAA English Schools Cup Cross Country |
| Additional Information | The athletes in this group train and compete all year round, with training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at the Thames Valley Athletic Centre, 6.20pm to 8.00pm and on Sunday mornings from 9.45am at The Look Out in Bracknell, with an additional weekly session on Saturdays at The Look Out in Bracknell for athletes when they are experienced and enough and ready. Athletes in this group are expected to race for the club every 2-4 weeks all year round – in spring/summer this is mainly track & field and in autumn/winter this is mainly road running and cross country. This is a very large group (50-60), with a very good and successful coach, supported by 9 assistant coaches. Expectations of being in this group are that everyone starts with a minimum of two sessions a week, before progressing to three training sessions a week as they get older, in order to progress through the squad. I am a retired GB athlete, with over 30 years’ athletics experience and 10 years as a skilled middle-distance coach at National and International Level for young athletes. As a coach I am focussed on athlete centred coaching and racing, ensuring that all athletes have a training programme aligned to the 3 factors of training age (number of years training), chronological age (actual age) and biological age (stage of physical development). Training plans are always progressive in my group with the aim to take athletes through to senior level keeping running as a part of their lives and continuing to coach them as they require through work and university. If you join my group you will have a targeted race plan aligned to periods of focussed training to enable you to succeed. I have a large group of Assistant coaches who help out at training sessions and we always have several different sessions on the go so everyone has an session appropriate for them. Part of our ethos is to help athletes learn how to take responsibility for their training and the link to the results they get when they race, and then take this forward into other aspects of their lives. We are highly successful at achieving county representation for many of our group and have a great track record in school years 8-13 of gaining selection for the highly prestigious ESAA track championships each summer. We also have achieved over a third of the ESAA county cross country teams on previous occasions. We have also had a number of athletes each year who are top 10 ranked in their track specialist event. Plus we have a large number who are part of WSEH teams that win cross country and road medals either individually or as part of a club team. Athletes who want to achieve their potential are welcome to contact me and come for some trial sessions (usually at a weekend). If you are willing to commit to a group, train hard and race regularly (including weekends) for the club and the team, but have fun at the same time then in my group you will be given every opportunity to succeed and have all the support you need to get there. The rest is down to you, with running you really do get out what you put in. What we ask in return is for you and your parents/family team to match the commitment to us (that we and the club give to you). Shireen was a Get Berkshire Active ‘Berkshire Physical Activity COVID-19 Lockdown Hero’, giving over 700 hours to keep over forty 11–18-year-old athletes active and positive during the pandemic. Watch some lockdown training here. |
