Sports
Tyrone Yen,a Model of Determination
Level Two AthleticsCoach Tyrone Yen
Achievements in athletics for this nationmay not at all times be the greatest in the world, but in consideringthings done by people of the soil compared to nations with populationsin the millions, the Cayman Islands has done well.
Understanding these extra-ordinary featsbecomes easier after meeting someone like Tyrone Yen, a modelof determination whose sense of goal has led him to becoming acoach of recognition in Cayman.
This Caymanian does not boast of great athleticprowess, having been simply a sprinter in the one, two and fourhundred metres at school in Jamaica, but he has displayed thetrue grit that takes performers to becoming world competitors.
Tyrone showed his love for coaching sincehe was an informal helper to National Coach, Kenrick Williamsand today he proudly tells Cayman Net News of how he moved tobecoming a Level Two coach in athletics.
In year 2000 Tyrone elected to join 17 othershere in taking the Level One coaches course offered by the InternationalAmateur Athletic Federation. He and three others were the onlysuccessful ones. Being the sole active coach among the passingfoursome, Tyrone qualified to go to Puerto Rico in December lastyear for Level Two training specialising in jumping events triple, high, long, and pole vault - and emerged among the successfulparticipants.
Now Tyrone, an employee of the NationalArchive, can be found three times a week on weekdays spendingone and one-half hours per session with kids eight to 12 yearsold at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex. On Saturdays his sessionsrun for two hours in the mornings.
Tyrone likes the enthusiasm displayed bythe turnout of about 15 children, some of them brought by theirparents.
"My objective is to get as much childrenin track and field. It's a medium that requires a lot of discipline,"he says.