Joan Merrilees and Megan Gibbons form a rare partnership: a mother and a daughter coaching athletics together.
They have a high-powered squad that includes New Zealand junior representatives and national champions.
Their work together has been recognised at higher levels by being chosen as part of the Sport New Zealand Performance Coach Advance programme.
It is a national programme that is being delivered in six regions. A total of 102 coaches are on the programme, and 12 - representing 10 sports - are from Otago.
''It is special being on the course with my daughter,'' Merrilees said.
''I like coaching with Megan because we complement each other. I concentrate on conditioning and injury prevention and looking after athletes with injuries. Megan is the technician.
''For me, Megan is the bridge between the generation gap.''
Gibbons is happy working with her mother.
''We have our own strengths and we get on well most of the time,'' Gibbons said.
''I have a young family and can't be here all the time. It means we can share the load.''
The pair have a squad of 30. Fifteen athletes train throughout the year and the others just in the summer months.
Merrilees (nee Atkinson) grew up in Kaitangata and played netball for Otago Country and later coached in that sport.
The 62-year-old started coaching athletes 23 years ago when her children were competing in the sport.
She specialises in the jumps and has produced New Zealand junior champions. These include Gemma Radford (hurdles), Mariah Meagher (pole vault) and Louise Thayer (high jump, pole vault).
Her most noted sprinter was Blair Grant, who competed at the Commonwealth junior championships at the Isle of Man three years ago.
''It is special for me to get on this course,'' Merrilees said.
''It is important as a coach to keep opening yourself up to opportunities. The course will give us the chance to network with coaches from other codes. I'm sure that coaching issues are similar regardless of the sport.''
Merrilees, who has an IAAF qualification to lecture coaches at level 2 standard, is studying for a masters degree at the University of Otago. Her thesis topic is ''Women becoming elite coaches in track and field.''
Gibbons is looking forward to joining coaches from other codes.
''We tend to get a bit insular within our own sport. To have the interaction with other codes will be valuable.''
Gibbons is married to Paul Gibbons, who won 10 New Zealand senior men's pole vault titles and represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 and the Olympic Games in 1992.
Megan Gibbons (40), a lecturer in nutrition at Otago Polytechnic, gained a PhD in bio-medical science at the University of Auckland.
She was a talented hurdler in her youth and represented Otago in the hurdles at national championships.
Gibbons started coaching in 1996 and has produced 10 New Zealand representatives at senior and junior levels. Her internationals include hurdler Christina Ashton and Canterbury triple jumper Bridgette Pateman.
In addition to the mother-and-daughter coaches, Merrilees' husband, Alex, has been a long-serving official, son Craig won the New Zealand senior men's pole vault title in 2002, and daughter Nicola won a New Zealand secondary schools triple jump title.
Joan and Alex Merrilees, along with Bruce Cowan, were made life members of Athletics Otago at its annual meeting last week.
Performance Coach Advance was introduced to improve the quality of coaching provided to pre-elite emerging athletes between the ages of 15 and 21.
It is expected to provide a sustainable and ongoing regional coach development system to support the high performance coaches in each region.
The leader of the programme in the province is Mike Weddell, from Sport Otago. Former All Black assistant coach Tony Gilbert will be guest speaker at the programme launch in Dunedin next Thursday.
Sport NZ programme: Otago coaches
Megan Gibbons, Joan Merrilees (athletics), Jon Andrews, Katri Laike (bike), Evan Roberts (bowls), Mark Bracewell (cricket), Hayley Sterling (football), Alan Rose (golf), Alice Conrad (netball), Dave Broughton (rugby league), Gennadiy Labara (swimming), Lauren Farnden (rowing).
