On behalf of the Caltaf Board of Directors and Caltaf Coaching Staff, we are excited to announce that Les Gramantik has joined our coaching team as Technical Director for Caltaf, effective immediately.
Caltaf is one of the largest and most dominant athletics clubs in the province. Caltaf has also been making impacts on the national scene. Les’s hiring is an important part of our club’s ongoing expansion and commitment to providing support to our current coaching staff.
Les started his athletic career in the Sports School System in Romania becoming an elite athlete and international pole vaulter. He has been coaching for 44 years, has been selected to coach with the Canadian National Team including a Head Coaching role at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His involvement in athletics also includes all levels of coaching education from NCCP to NCI, a lecturer at the University of Calgary, and provider of numerous clinics around the world for both coaches and athletes. He is a six-time Canada West Universities Athletic Association Coach of the year and 11-time Alberta High-Performance Coach of the Year.
Les is a globally recognized coach making his mark in Canada by coaching two of the country’s most successful multievent athletics athletes in history, Jessica Zelinka and Michael Smith. He is also a leader in developing education programs, including the creation of writing the Competition Development curriculum for athletics. He was a key member of a group of experts in developing the Long-Term Athlete Development model for Athletics Canada. He has also lectured internationally on various subjects from athletic program planning to strength training.
Caltaf is happy to be able to bring Les on board at such an exciting time. There is an amazing enthusiasm around our club; we have a clear drive and vision to become a leading track and field club in the country. Les’s skillset and experience will bring club-wide benefits to our coaches and athletes as we enhance our investment in building our internal programs and expanding our presence. Les will provide support to our coaching staff and assist in further program development, including an expansion of our Junior Development and Cheetah Programs.
