Rosemary Ryan (Rosie) has had an extraordinary career for many, many years as a builder and coach for the sport of Athletics in Newfoundland and Labrador. She has worked tirelessly with countless athletes throughout that time and her impact has been far reaching on the local, provincial, national and even international levels.
Rosie has been President of the NL Athletics Association for the past 7 years and the Western Region representative for the past 20 years. She has been instrumental in growing and developing all aspects of athletics in the province for over three decades, whether it be track and field programs, cross-country running or even race walking.
In youth cross-country programs in the Bay St. George area of the province, Rosie’s impact on young runners has been immeasurable. Her local school teams have won more than 40 banners for Junior and Senior High School in both the male and female divisions.
Rosie’s involvement in track and field for local schools dates back more than 35 years. She has coached young athletes in Legion Youth Track and Field National Championships, NL Summer Games and Canada Games among others. Throughout her career as head coach for track and field, Rosie’s Junior and Senior High Teams have won numerous titles.
Rosie has also been the head coach for Team NL Athletics in partnership with the Aboriginal Sport and Recreation Circle for the North American Indigenous Games for the past 4 International Games, the most recent being the 2023 Games in Halifax, NS. In that competition, the NL Athletics team won 22 medals, had 49 top ten results and countless personal bests.
As for her involvement with the Canada Summer Games, Rosie has been a member of the coaching staff for the past 4 competitions, those hosted by PEI in 2009, Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2017 and Niagara, Ontario, in 2022. On both the National and International levels, Rosie has coached Special Olympic teams, the most recent being those hosted by Berlin, Germany in 2023.
Throughout her coaching career, Rosie has been the recipient of numerous awards including Sport NL Female Coach of the Year, 2024, the Evan Ash Builder Award-Special Olympics NL, 2024, and the Petro Canada National Coaching Excellence Award, 2023, for having athletes excel at world championships.
Rosie’s impact on the sport of athletics in this province has been and still is second to none, and her commitment and dedication to the sport, to the athletes and to her coaching partners is most inspiring.
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