Jessica Huddleston did so much good work with Pembrokeshire Harriers up until nine months ago and since she left Pembrokeshire it has been a whirlwind of action for this talented young athletics coach.

Currently, she works for Cardiff Metropolitan University as a Sport Activator in the Cardiff Region.

As Jessica told us:

“The area I cover specifically is very multi-cultural and the diversity in culture has really challenged me to think how we can get Sport Wales to lead strategies for minority ethnics, women and girls, people with disabilities, and others from socially deprived areas, to become more active.

“I have also taking up football again in Gloucester (only a local team!) to which I am proud to say I have within a short time captained for the Cup games. This is a huge privilege and the women and manager in the squad were very welcoming from the beginning.

“Unfortunately I am currently recovering from a head injury so hopefully I’ll be restarting again next season. Also congratulations to my previous club Camrose LFC for reaching the cup rounds and going against the very tough team that is Cardiff City!

“In addition to this work with Cardiff Met, Welsh Athletics Ltd approached me regarding coaching a commonwealth athlete named Gareth Winter. This was a huge surprise, but the organisation expressed that they wish to see more female ‘throws’ coaches in the sport and considering the level that my previous athletes had risen in the UK rankings, they wished to see how I would get on at senior level.

“I honestly believe that the dedication and attitude that the athletes, James Tomlinson and William Hughes, had (and still have to this day) is what got them to the level that they are at today. They are both extremely talented and I wish them both the very best for their future.

“Gareth Winter is very talented athlete and I feel extremely proud to be part of his coaching team alongside Zane Duquemin and have learnt so much during a short period of time and he has already been improving in his throws.

“He is currently travelling every three weeks to Loughborough in order to meet up with Zane and go through his strength and conditioning, and technical programme. So far, Gareth is hoping to achieve selection for 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

“I would like to say a massive thank you to Adrian Palmer (Field Performance Manager in Welsh Athletics) for providing me this fantastic opportunity.

“With this level of coaching, it led to British Athletics coaching conferences (coaching legacy programme) in England, which I start attending in January 2016. I am ecstatic to be part of this pathway but if it wasn't for Pembrokeshire Harriers with the resources, time and financial support they have provided me, I would not be where I am today - so I am very grateful to them all.

“Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents Jenny and Tony, for supporting me throughout all my choices. My dad Tony is a huge inspiration to me when it comes to coaching in sport as he has "gone there and got the tee-shirt", sharing his wealth of knowledge by giving me his old strength and conditioning journals from rugby has shaped the way I interpret my coaching sessions in athletics.”

It seems a long way since Jessica’s appointment as the Club Network Officer for what is designated as the old Dyfed area from Aberystwyth across to Llanelli, which included being charged with the responsibility of raising awareness and the profile of the sport in our county.

Jessica originally hails from Pembrokeshire and had been a more than useful athlete in her own right as a discus thrower in school, for Pembrokeshire Harriers and Cardiff Met University, where she gained a 2.1 Honours degree in Sport Development.

At St Davids School she was encouraged by Rachel Thomas to join Pembrokeshire Harriers.

“I was lucky there to be influenced by Peter Freeman, Liz and Nigel Rowland, Huw Morgan, Richard Thomas and Liam McCarthy, who helped me tweak my discus-throwing technique so that I improved my best distance thrown from 25 metres as a teenager to 35 metres by the time I had left university.”

“Primary schools cross country is where it first started for me,” said Jessica, “and not only have I had the privilege representing Pembrokeshire Harriers, but also in the British University Championships (BUCS) in the London 2012 Olympic Stadium for Cardiff Metropolitan and also Internationally (Wales) twice in Under 16 Celtic Games (coming 2nd overall in the Discus) and Under 23 team in discus and shot putt.

Jessica has always wanted to be involved in sport and to that end she worked as a volunteer with Sport Cardiff for ten months and did some work as a 5x60 Officer, where her remit included working with the Gold Ambassadors, students who had been appointed to encourage and stimulate other school pupils to get involved in sport.

After graduating she saw the ‘Club Field Officer’ job advertised and when she was called for interview had to make a presentation, stating her experience and outlining her ideas – and got the job!

She is full of praise for the work done at Pembrokeshire Harriers and there are also thriving clubs at Aberystwyth and in Aberystwyth University, which mainly deals with cross country and fell running but hopes to develop its own track in the future.

“One of my jobs was to help stimulate interest in schools so that we could increase the numbers of young children taking part,” said Jessica.

“We focused on two clusters which were at Tasker Milward and Milford Haven and were aiming to expand in the next couple of years. Sport Pembrokeshire has also been a massive help – but we also encouraged more volunteers to qualify as coaches, timekeepers and other officials - and even to getting involved right down to making the tea!

"Like me they were guaranteed a warm welcome and they enjoy being another cog in an important machine that will see athletics go from strength to strength in our area.

"We have smashing events like the county cross country races and then the athletics championships – I was so glad to be involved!

I still look back on the time spent with The Harriers as a great time where I learned so much, as well as making a huge number of friends – and I would like to wish everyone there a happy Christmas and more success in competitions.”

We are sure everyone at Pembrokeshire Harriers will remember Jessica Huddleston with real affection – she did a great job there and we wish this likeable and modest young lady continued success in her developing career ‘up the line’!