To be a successful coach it’s important to inspire trust and honesty in your athletes, as well as an ability to challenge your own methods and constantly seek improvement, and this is a creed that North Bondi’s Jim Walker certainly lives up to.
The popular Ski and Nipper coach at North Bondi capped a stunning season by being crowned the 2017/18 Coach of the Year Award at last weekend’s Award of Excellence.
Thanks to his dedication his charges have certainly enjoyed a stellar year in the surf, with a personal highlight being four members of his squad contesting the U19 Male Ski Final at The Aussies in April, with two of them storming home to win the gold and bronze medal.
At the State and National Championships, athletes he coached combined to pick up 18 ski medals including 10 gold.
Away from club land, Jimmy had enormous success at State level after he coached the NSW InterstateTeam to glory in January, playing a key role in helping bring back the trophy after a 3 year absence.
Jim is a SLSA Surf Sports stakeholder and was an Athlete representative at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships, while last December he took an Australian representative team of 10 athletes to the World Ocean Ski Championships in Hong Kong.
If his coaching record wasn’t enough, Jim’s still a pretty handy competitor as well, earning plenty of success and medals at the State Masters Championships.
Not a bad effort from the 1996 Olympian.
The 2018 SLSNSW Awards of Excellence are proudly supported by Port Authority of New South Wales with almost 400 of Surf Life Saving’s most outstanding lifesavers, athletes, educators, coaches, and administrators from around the state gathering at Dockside, Cockle Bay to celebrate the season that was.
For a full list of all the winners, and to see photographs from the night, please visit the SLSNSW Awards of Excellence Event Page or our social media channels
Wednesday 29 August 2018