Had he been coming in from the outside the scene that greeted Mark Munro might almost have been intimidating as he turned up at the Scottish National Cross Country Relays last weekend.
Taking on a top job can, after all, be a lot easier when the immediate predecessor has struggled or left under a cloud, whereas Nigel Holl’s tenure ended with his effective promotion to a broader role as director of strategy and partnerships for UK Athletics after six transformative years in Scotland.
With hindsight, however, the parting comments issued by the out-going chief executive of Scottish Athletics look to have offered insight into the choice of his successor, Holl having noted that for all the pleasure he had taken from performances at Olympic and Commonwealth Games, he had taken greatest satisfaction from the cultural change that had taken place during his time at the helm.
As Scottish Athletics’ head of development for most of that period Munro had full professional and emotional investment in that process and after five months as interim CEO that gathering in Cumbernauld Park last Saturday offered further opportunity to take stock.
“When I walked down the hill at Cumbernauld at the weekend and saw the tented village up and felt the buzz around the place it was a great moment,” he said.
“Sixty two clubs and record entries… that success is down to clubs, coaches, athletes and officials.”
He is in no doubt that the strategic approach that has led to Holl’s increased status and influence within the sport brought about vital change.
“What we did back in 2011 was put the clubs at the forefront of what we are doing,” Munro noted. “We were probably fortunate that the investment came in from sportscotland at that stage for that level. Prior to Nigel coming in there had been much more (focus on) talent pathway and performance as well as events, but we took the opportunity to concentrate on investing in coach and club development and have started to reap the rewards. It’s the people on the ground that make the difference.”
As other sports blighted by less visionary leadership became increasingly centrally driven and focused on the elite, they looked to help clubs understand how they must help themselves.
“We placed an emphasis on modernisation and what that means for clubs,” Munro elaborated.
“That involved spending a lot of time looking at things like management structures, legal status, planning, marketing, social media. Athletics clubs have been extremely proactive in those areas, but while we’re five years into the project I feel like we’re still only just starting.
“The numbers involved in the sport have increased by 45 per cent in the last four years and all of that means clubs are having to act a lot more professionally. We’re always looking at ways of increasing capacity at clubs. You’ve got to invest in sport and people.”
While they knew staging major events in Britain would raise the profile of their sport, Holl and Munro understood the importance of putting the infrastructure in place to accommodate demand.
“We warned clubs that if interest was raised as we expected then more coaches would be needed so we did a lot of preparatory work. Almost every club has grown its membership,” he pointed out.
That success has played a huge part in the unprecedented number of athletes sent to Rio this summer and while Munro knows those numbers cannot rise indefinitely, he cites other potential measures of improvement.
“You have to look at things across all levels,” he noted.
“I was part of the transition from the tough times through to where we are now. The number of athletes qualifying for major Games may not increase on what was achieved this year, but we can looking at getting more into finals and more contending for medals.
“Look at Mark Dry and Chris Bennett in the hammer. Their target was previously getting to the Commonwealth Games but they are now focused on getting to the Olympics, while their aim in the Gold Coast should now be medals.
“We now have 21 role models with six Paralympians and 15 Olympians. It’s absolutely brilliant. We’ve got three in the medal zone in Laura (Muir), Eilidh (Doyle)and Lynsey (Sharp) and the two men emerging in the endurance events, getting into the top 10 at the Olympics.
“In the early noughties Lee McConnell pretty much stood alone, then Eilidh raised the bar, Laura and Lynsey have responded and now we’re starting to see the males coming through with what Callum (Hawkins) and Andrew (Butchart) have achieved.”
The reception Hawkins and Butchart received at Cumbernauld only heightened his enjoyment of that gathering.
“When was the last time athletes were crossing the line at a Scottish domestic meeting and signing autographs?” Munro asked rhetorically.
He jokes that he and his brother were disappointments to their family since their grandfather was an international footballer but they chose to pursue rugby and athletics. However in speaking of the need to develop plans to provide improved facilities across the country, notably at the likes of Dundee’s Caird Park, at Meadowbank and in Inverness, it is clear that he would be far more genuinely upset if he failed the Scottish athletics family.
“It was my sport growing up, so the love for it is there and it is great to work with athletes and be CEO of the governing body,” said Munro, who describes himself as having been ‘an average middle distance runner.’
His observation, as our conversation concluded, is meanwhile telling in terms of his recent appointment.
“Sport is about people… putting the right ones in the right places,” he observed.
A combination of that deep-seated love of his sport and the knowledge accrued as Scottish athletics has begun its process of recovery suggests he should fit that bill in pursuing his determination to continue to seek improvement in all areas.
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