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Former Pac-10 Champ Richotte Making Mark as Coach

Published by
Martin Bingisser   Jan 21st 2010, 8:56pm
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In 2008, Brian Richotte left the world of throwing to join the "real" world.  After the former Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional hammer throw champion narrowly missed the finals at the Olympic Trials, he accepted a position as a sales associate with Ferguson Enterprises Inc. in his hometown of Detroit.  But as luck would have it, his new life allowed him to keep in touch with his old one.  One of his former coaches, Scott Corrado, was working as the throws coach at the Unviersity of Detroit Mercy, just two miles from his office.  Almost immediately he began volunteering to help coach the school's throwers.  And almost immediately, his throwers began to improve.

In his first year of volunteering, all of Detroit Mercy's hammer and weight throwers set personal bests.  One of his athletes, Brittany Horne, even won the Horizon League championship in the hammer throw.  "It was nice to be reunited with Corrado through coaching," Richotte said.  Working with someone familiar allowed him to make an easy transition to coaching and learn more about the shot put and discus.  While Richotte achieved the most success in college as a hammer thrower, he also threw the shot put and discus in college and wanted to continue to learn more about those events.

However, after one year of volunteering, Coach Corrado accepted another position with his full-time employer, and no longer had time to coach this year.  The open coaching position was quickly offered to Richotte, who jumped at the opportunity.  He immediately continued to produce results in the new role. Horne, now a senior, threw a five-foot personal best in her first meet of the season last month (see video here).  Richotte has high hopes for her this season. "She is a very athletic person who has the ability to throw as far as she wants," he says.  "Once she understands what you are trying to teach her she can apply it to her throw."

Coaching has come easily to Richotte in part because he has learned from some great coaches.  Throughout his college career, he attended three different schools (Detroit Mercy, Radford, and Oregon) and learned from some of the best minds in hammer throwing: Harold Connolly, Lance Deal, Stewart Togher, Brent Chumbley, and Scott Corrado.  Those experiences allow him to look at the same problem from multiple angles, finding whatever cue an athlete will respond to.  Or, as Richotte puts it, "One of my favorite quotes from Corrado is ?You?re not coaching if no one is learning. Find a way to teach.?  For Richotte, finding a way to teach is the challenge and that often involed picking up a hammer.  Being a recent thrower allows gives him the option of demonstrating to athletes that are visual learners.  Teaching and transferring his knowledge is what makes it worthwhile for Richotte.  "I loving being able to stay in touch with the sport that has given me so much.  It is a great way to give back."


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