Team Barber | Coach Appreciation Month

Seeking a coaching change in 2014, a 22-year-old Kelsey-Lee Roberts selected Mike Barber from a list of high performance coaches with the hope of advancing her athletic career – a move that has eventuated in a World Title, Olympic medal, and marriage to date. 

For almost four years, Kelsey-Lee Barber and Mike Barber have shared the unique partnership of athlete and coach whilst also being husband and wife, but the combination of coaching prowess and personal connection is one that is proving to be a winning formula for the Australian duo. 

“It always comes back to the fact that I have huge respect for Mike as a coach and for what he offers in that area. We keep it as professional as possible to create the right environment, but we both love the sport and the event – so that passion helps us to grow and keep striving,” she said. 

Despite winning the women’s javelin at the 2019 World Athletics Championships with a throw of 66.56m in the final round, Kelsey was seldomly mentioned in 2021 Olympic medal discussions after losing momentum when rehabbing her shoulder throughout 2020.

Throwing well short of distances considered to be world class, it would have been easy for Kelsey to concede that the task ahead was insurmountable had it not been for the unwavering belief of Mike.

“Always in the back of his mind he believed that I could do it. That spark of belief in me meant that I kept the belief in myself, then we just had to find a way to keep building and to keep the process alive,” she said. 

It’s a belief that carried them all the way to a fairytale podium in Tokyo, with Kelsey producing a season’s best by over three-metres when throwing 64.56m to clinch an Olympic bronze medal – a tangible reward that will forever be reflective of the character and resilience of Team Barber.  

“We have been on such a journey and coming through these experiences together has been awesome. It’s crazy to think about how much progress he has made after beginning as a pretty green coach with not a heap of javelin knowledge,” she said.

“From my perspective he has a different way of looking at things. He is always challenging things and trying to make them better, rather than just doing the same thing – he creates an environment that empowers athletes to learn their event and the skills required.”  

Moving from Canberra to Brisbane in late 2021, Kelsey says the pair are now presented with a fresh opportunity to continue to grow and develop – a trait that has been a mainstay of Mike’s coaching success. 

“He’s so good at continually challenging himself to learn more about javelin. He reaches out to other coaches to ask for opinions and to check ideas, he is constantly growing,” she said. 

“There has always been such great caliber of junior throwers coming out of Queensland, so we are hoping to have a little bit of influence and to have a full quota of athletes in 2032 at the Brisbane Olympics in all the throws events.” 

A curious coach who epitomises what it means to be a student of the game, Kelsey says that Mike’s ability to adapt and create dynamic programs will be of great benefit to the next generation of Australian throwers as the pair base out of the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre.  

And for 2022, Team Barber are dreaming big for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games:

“Our plan is to win both. Two gold medals next year thanks.”

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 19/12/2021