Matt Maher: Passion for people still burning bright for Clova Court

Head down to Tipton Sports Academy on a Monday or Wednesday night, no matter the time of year or the state of the weather and you will find the former Olympian and her husband Howard putting the next generation through their paces.

They are serious about their sport but also conscious success is not only measured in trophies and medals.

“There’s always a competitive element, of course,” says Court, who competed in the heptathlon at the 1992 Olympics. “But the main reason I invest in these young people is so they can achieve in life, no matter their background.

“Even if they don’t become top athletes, they can learn skills which can help them along the way. They learn to fight what they believe in, finding that grit and determination to go out there and ignore anyone who says you can’t do anything.

“To see that in them makes all those hours in the cold, frost and snow worthwhile.”

Court, who during the day works as an inclusion manager at West Bromwich’s Q3 Academy, sees herself primarily as a friend and mentor, with responsibilities which do not start and end on the track.

“I’m not afraid to poke my nose in to pretty much everything,” she smiles. “My job is about managing young people, no matter the issues they have.

“It’s the same with coaching. We always show an interest in how the athletes are getting on at school or at home. If there’s any way we can help, we will. Parents know they can talk to us.

“I love seeing young people with a smile on their face. We laugh together but cry together too.”

Court’s work as a volunteer coach had largely gone unheralded until last month, when she was named grassroots sportswoman of the year at the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year Awards.

The recognition is fully deserved but not something she has ever particularly craved.

“I don’t do this for accolades,” she explains. When first told of her nomination, Court presumed she was the victim of a wind-up, while her reaction to winning was genuine amazement.

“Are you kidding me?!” she exclaimed during the ceremony broadcast online. “Oh my goodness! In my wildest dreams I never thought something like this would happen to me.”

Court’s humble nature can be traced back to her roots and an athletics career which was in its own way inspiring. Born in Jamaica, she moved with her family to Dudley aged 17 and though athletics had always been a favourite pastime, it only became a serious pursuit in her mid-20s.

“I was a late starter,” she says. “These days, I’d probably be put out to grass!”

A record five British titles followed in the heptathlon and one in the 100-metre hurdles. Like pretty much every other athlete in the days before lottery funding Court, who was trained by Howard throughout her professional career, fitted sport around her day job. When preparing for the Barcelona Olympics, she worked as a petrol station manager in Wolverhampton.

“I would get to work for 6am and all my running kit would be in the back of the car,” she explains. “About half 11 I would drive over to Aldersley, do a training session there, go back to work and finish off for the day.

“Then I’d drive to Birmingham, pick Howard up and go to Alexander Stadium for more training before driving home.

“When you look back now you think, my God! It is mad. But then again, I loved what I was doing. It didn’t feel like a burden at the time.”

After retiring from competition, Court helped manage the GB under-20 and under-23 teams. But after giving birth to her first child, Ethan, she returned to the grassroots. The desire to help others, she claims, has been there since a very young age.

“My nan always used to say if you do good to others, it will follow you,” she says. At the age of 61, she still finds time to ‘go out for a plod’ around the neighbourhood.

“My daughter asks me why I still go running?” she remarks. “I tell her I’ll do it until I have no more breath or my knees give out.”

Speaking to Court is uplifting, yet there is a sting in the tail. When the subject turns to the current state of athletics, the sparkle in her voice becomes lost in frustration.

“To be brutally honest, I think the sport is on its knees. I feel like it is dying,” she says. “For me, grassroots athletics has been neglected to the point if we don’t do something to bring it back we are going to lose it for good.”

A lack of facilities, coupled with drastically reduced participation in schools and the rise in popularity of other sports has, according to Court, led to a talent drain and the Midlands is among the regions worst affected. Just nine months from the start of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, her words are particularly jolting.

“People talk of the Games leaving a legacy but where athletics is concerned I’m not so sure,” she says. “They can talk all they want about Olympic athletes and podium athletes but where do they think they come from? If you don’t nurture the grassroots, you won’t have a flower to flourish at the end of it.

“There was a time when we had 18 schools in Sandwell competing against each other, indoors and outdoors. That led to youngsters being picked up and selected for the county and from there, if they were good enough, there was a pathway.

“Now? There is nothing. The clubs are there. There are lots of people running in cross country and park runs. But in terms of track and field it is abysmal. I’d like to see our governing body come back down to grassroots and to invest in young people. It is those young people who are going to bring home that Olympic medal in later life.”

Though fearful for her sport’s long-term future, Court refuses to use it as distraction from working with her own athletes.

“We still have to be there for them. We have to keep their spirits up,” she explains. “Although we are frustrated and angry with people not helping us, we can’t neglect those still coming out in the rain and the snow and trying to keep the sport alive. I always want to help and if I can’t, I’ll do my best to find someone who can. My trouble is I can’t say no. If someone needs me I’ll always be there.”