London Legion T&F Alliance is very proud to announce that Coach Bud Willis has agreed to lead all of London Legion’s Middle Distance and XC Programs. Bud will be starting the transition of the current elementary, high school and high-performance training groups, effective immediately working closely with current coaches Linda Findley & Janet Takahashi. Janet Takahashi will be leaving London Legion in August to pursue other interests. We will be celebrating Janet’s contribution to London Legion Track later this year.
“We are thrilled that Bud Willis has accepted this new Head Coaching position for Endurance and XC programs for London Legion T&F” says Joe Ryder, General Manager London Legion T&F in a statement issued by one of Canada’s premiere T&F clubs, “Bud has been a leader, in Canada, in building successful grassroots elementary and high school middle distance & XC athletes. Over 90% of the TVRA and LDCSB Record book has been rewritten by Bud’s athletes. This year alone, almost every athlete in the top 5 at TVRA and WOSSA High School Middle Distance rankings, were developed by Coach Bud Willis. Bud was a former NCAA athlete on scholarship with Western Washington University and he is a certified L3 Middle Distance Coach and track official. Bud’s priorities for 2018, and beyond, is to expand his coaching staff and to building a high-performance distance program that will compete at the best T&F meets indoor and outdoors in Canada and across the United States.”
Bud has already started to build the distance program and coaching plan to realign London Legion T&F Middle Distance & XC programs. “It has been an honour to work with the wonderful coaches, athletes and families of London Legion Track & Field & XC. We have always been leaders in Track & Field and Cross Country, for over a decade I have helped develop our organization throughout teamwork and continuous improvement. Our history of high performance and results is unparalleled in Canada with 19 athletes chosen to represent Canada at World T&F Championships. We have accomplished this through leadership and collaboration. Our holistic approach of building independent, all round and confident athletes, is working and I am proud to accept this expanded leadership role to help our coaches, athletes and their families.”
In the next few weeks London Legion T&F will be hosting a team meeting to share our exciting new plans for the fall and for the 2017 competitive season.
