Arch Jelley

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Arch Jelley
CNZM OBE
Jelley in 2021
Born
Albert Archibald Jelley

(1922-08-13) 13 August 1922 (age 101)
Dunedin, New Zealand
OccupationSchool principal
Years active1957–2018
Known forAthletics coaching
RelativesAlbert Jelley (father)

Albert Archibald Jelley CNZM OBE (born 13 August 1922) is a New Zealand athletics coach who has coached leading New Zealand athletes including John Walker and Hamish Carson. He has been an athletics coach for over six decades and coached at Olympic level up until his mid-90s. Jelley has also been a teacher, an athletics administrator, and a bridge tutor.

Biography[edit]

Personal life[edit]

Jelley was born in Dunedin on 13 August 1922,[1] into a family that was heavily involved in sport. His father, Albert Edward Jelley, was a first-class cricket umpire.[2] Arch Jelley has siblings: Charley, Stan and Effie.[3]

Jelley was a pupil at Mornington School from 1927 to 1935,[3] and joined the Mornington Harrier Club at the age of 18.

Jelley married Rachel in 1953, and she was his partner until her death in 2000. In 2002, Jelley married Jean, whom he had met through playing bridge, and between them have eight children, 16 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.[2]

Jelley celebrated his 100th birthday in August 2022, saying “Turning 100 doesn’t feel any different than how I’ve ever felt – I think it’s just a bit of a shock when you first look at that number”.[4]

Teaching career[edit]

After the Second World War, Jelley returned to New Zealand to begin studies at Dunedin Teachers' College and at the University of Otago. He began his teaching career in rural Wanganui and then moved to Wellington. In January 1957, he moved to Auckland. In 1966, he became the founding principal of Sunnybrae Normal School on the North Shore.[5] Jelley served as principal at Sunnybrae for more than 20 years.[2]

Coaching career[edit]

Jelley began coaching athletics in 1957. He took Neville Scott to the 5000 metres final at the 1964 Summer Olympics and helped Ian Studd win bronze in the mile at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.[6]

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, in addition to John Walker, Jelley also coached Rod Dixon and Dick Quax.[6]

Jelley has coached dozens of other leading athletes during his career, including 1988 Seoul Olympic 3000 m runner Christine Pfitzinger, two-time Olympic distance runner Robbie Johnston, 1987 World Championship marathoner Hazel Stewart, 1990 Commonwealth 10,000 m bronze medallist Barbara Moore, 1978 Commonwealth Games middle-distance representatives Dennis Norris and Alison Wright, and former US mile record-holder Steve Scott, who was fifth in the 1988 Olympic 1500 m final.[2]

Jelley retired from coaching in 2000, to put more time into bridge and lawn bowls. However, five years later, he agreed to coach Hamish Carson,[6] who subsequently represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 1500 metres.[7] Jelley retired from coaching once more in 2018.[8]

Mt Albert Bridge Club[edit]

Jelley’s first wife Rachel knew he was a keen card player and encouraged him to attend the Mt Albert Bridge Club,[8] where he has been involved since 1990. He has been a tutor since 1996 and was president for ten years from 2003.[9]

Honours and awards[edit]

In the 1982 New Year Honours, Jelley was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to athletics.[10] Along with Arthur Lydiard, he was one of four coaches inducted into the New Zealand Coaches Hall of Fame.[6] In 1987, he was awarded an International Amateur Athletic Federation Diploma.[2]

In 2007, Jelley received a Sparc lifetime achievement award for coaching excellence, and an Athletics New Zealand merit award in 2009.[11]

Jelley was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2021 New Years Honours, for his work as a coach and an administrator in athletics and bridge.[12][13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Births". Otago Daily Times. No. 18632. 14 August 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Landells, Steve (2020). "Arch Jelley". athletics.org.nz. Athletics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b McMurran, Alistair (22 March 2014). "Athletics: Happy memories for Jelley". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021.
  4. ^ Earley, Melanie (13 August 2022). "Aotearoa's oldest Olympic coach, Arch Jelley, celebrates 100th birthday". Stuff. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  5. ^ "History". Sunnybrae Normal School. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Burgess, Michael (3 July 2016). "Big read: The oldest Olympic coach in the world?". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021.
  7. ^ Alderson, Andrew (15 July 2016). "Athletics: Julian Matthews and Hamish Carson make NZ Olympic team". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021.
  8. ^ a b Reid, Felicity (31 December 2020). "Arch Jelley: 'Who would nominate a 98 year old'". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  9. ^ van Royen, Robert (31 December 2020). "Super coach Arch Jelley: Who would nominate a 98-year-old for New Year's Honour?". Stuff. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021.
  10. ^ "New Year's honours list 1982" (PDF). Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette. No. 3. 18 January 1982. p. 105.
  11. ^ "Athletics stalwarts recognised in New Years Honours". Athletics New Zealand. 31 December 2020. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021.
  12. ^ "New Year honours 2021 – citations for Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  13. ^ "New Year honours: the full list of 2021". The New Zealand Herald. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
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