Welcome to Riversdale Athletics Club

Our Coach of the Month is Alison Klassen. Alison became a part of the Riversdale family when her son joined years ago. She decided to train while he trained and fell in love with track and field. After striking up a conversation with Doug Boyd and talking about their love of coaching experiences, he asked if she would join his coaching team for the Junior Development group. Alison got busy coaching high jump and hurdles and then got more involved with sprint training and long jump. After Doug’s sudden passing, Alison had the emotional task of taking over as Lead Coach of the Junior Dev group and has loved watching the young athletes grow. While she waits for training to commence, she’s keeping busy taking online clinics to add to her tool box. She looks forward to getting back to focusing on skill development and working with her Junior Dev group to demonstrate skill proficiency, discipline, and a passion for athletics that will last for a lifetime. Her favourite Riverdale moments are seeing her athlete’s faces when they surpass their previous PB’s. Their joy is her joy and she’s always excited to see them set, meet and beat goals. Alison trained in high jump and hurdles as a high school athlete and competed in short sprints, relays, long and triple jump and finished off a multi-sport youth by playing volleyball in her college years.

Alison loves music, particularly singing, musical theatre and sitting at the piano. She enjoys canoeing, camping, and outdoor activities. Alison is married to Gil and together they have raised four children, one daughter (and son-in-law) and three sons (and a daughter-in-law).

Thank you Alison for sharing your love of the sport with the future athletes of RIVA!