Athletics: Local coach Jay Stone on his life and coaching career

The 42-year-old spends his days working as a software developer, which he has done for nearly 20 years.

But since childhood, it was obvious that Stone's real passion was running.

"The driveway on my mum's farm was about 450 metres long," Stone said.

"So when I got home from school, I'd drop the bag off and sprint down the end of the driveway to collect the mail, then wait a few minutes to turn around and sprint home."

That, he believes, was the "foundation" of his running career, which burgeoned in his early 20s after he formally began athletics at Coonabarabran High School.

Born in Sydney, Stone's parents moved to Rocky Glen when he was eight.

The "tiny little place" was roughly 20 minutes northeast of Coonabarabran, but farm life suited the youngster.

It instilled a love of activity in Stone which never dissipated. Years later, while studying computer science at the University of New England, his passion for running was renewed after a brief hiatus.

"I took a little bit of a break from running after school while I did my university degree, and I was actually watching the Sydney Olympics," Stone said.

"That made me want to get back into it ... At that point, I thought athletics was just a sport that you played at school. I didn't really know [what opportunities] were there."

It was then, as he began laying down roots in Armidale, that Stone found the Armidale Athletics Club and began training seriously.

In 2004, he was selected to represent Australia for the first time at the Oceania Championships in Townsville. He went on to compete at that same competition seven times as an open athlete, and since turning 30 has forged a hugely successful masters career.

Though his best chance at Commonwealth Games selection, in 2006, was scuppered by a foot injury, it gave Stone the chance to discover his next passion - coaching.

Stone has since become a highly-regarded coach in Armidale, and has quickly developed a similar reputation in Tamworth since moving to town a year ago.

He made the move for personal reasons, but the decision was "definitely" influenced by the opportunity to use the "amazing" Tamworth Athletics Centre.

"We definitely need more people out there using it," he said.

This, he hopes to achieve by encouraging local youngsters to get into athletics.

There is "plenty of talent" in Tamworth, Stone said, but the difficulty is keeping them engaged with the sport.

"The key is getting that talent the opportunity to help them excel," he said.

"There are fast kids, talented kids everywhere ... the Tamworth club is strong as a Little Athletics Club, but trying to encourage kids to stay on to it in their teens and beyond [is the challenge]."

Registrations for the 2022/23 Tamworth Little Athletics season are currently open. Anybody with further enquiries can contact the club through its Facebook page, or Stone directly via email at info@carvedfromstone.net.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: