It’s busy times for the Thorold Elite Track Club. This year alone the club’s athletes have amassed over 100 provincial medals, positioning the club third in team points out of almost 100 clubs in the province.
The success of the athletes can be credited to one man: Coach Steven Fife, who started the club six years ago.
“One of our descriptors is that we’re Niagara’s most active and successful track club,” says Fife, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “We started with four athletes back in 2016 and we now we have a core of over 120 members.”
To be able to train all of his athletes Fife relies on a trusty team of coaches.
“We’ve had a lot of growth to our coaching roster this year,” he says. “We’re up to almost 20 different coaches which allows us to really specialize in all of the different event groups. There’s so much that we’re doing every week, whether it’s outdoor or indoor, that’s just adding up and leading to really great results.”
Fife says that the Canada Games Park has been a real godsend for the club.
“For years we used to have to drive up to Guelph or Toronto which is minimally a two-hour drive,” Fife says. “There was literally nowhere else that had a closer indoor track or a closer jumping pit or throwing circle. Having something right in our backyard has completely reduced the need to take those kind of trips.”
The club is consistently recruiting new members and Fife prides himself on discovering new athletes.
“One of the things I’m pretty well known for is finding talented people that have never done track before,” he says. “Sometimes that’s where our national and provincial medalists have come from. I actually worked in reality tv for a number of years. That was my job, recruiting people, so that’s where the skill comes into play I think.”
One of those athletes is 17-year-old Hayden Molnar, who specializes in 800 metres, 1500 metres and the steeplechase.
“I was casually track running at Centennial by myself and Fife actually came and found me,” Molnar tells ThoroldToday. “I’ve made a lot of friends, that’s for sure. They’re like family to me now.”
Molnar says he takes a lot of inspiration from Coach Fife.
“He dedicates his entire life to the track club—it amazes me,” he says. “He’s been able to train me and push to the point that I’m now able to compete against the high level athletes and really prove myself.”
In spite of his athletes' many successes, Fife is not one to hog the spotlight. All he is focused on is getting as many kids involved in track and field as possible.
“We’ve really created opportunities for kids where there were none,” Fife says. “We’re just trying to remove as many barriers as absolutely possible, whether it’s financially or transportation or just giving kids a chance to try something that they never would have tried before.”
So what’s next for the Thorold Elite Track Club?
"We are just going to continue doing what we are doing,” Fife says. “Success breeds further success and we are just going to continue providing the best experience and opportunities we can and let that speak for itself. As long as we can keep getting as many kids into track and possible and giving them a great experience we will be happy."
If you're interested in joining the Thorold Elite Track Club, click here.
