Mr Duncan is somewhat vague as to how many years he has been involved with the local athletics club and he couldn’t say how many children he has coached over the years, "I started coaching when I was competing in my early 20s, and it’s just carried on, I suppose."
The sheep and beef farmer from Wedderburn competed nationally in hurdles in his early years and missed selection "by a whisker" to represent New Zealand in the 1990 Commonwealth Games.
Staying loyal to the Maniototo Athletics Club after his three children went off to boarding school, Mr Duncan said he had never considered cutting ties and busying himself with other things. "It’s tough on volunteers, particularly in rural areas, often it’s the same people wearing many hats. Once you put your hand up to help then that’s you for life, really," he said, laughing.
"But if you don’t make the time to support these things, they disappear and then you wonder why."
Mr Duncan agrees the Maniototo "can hold its own" against the big city sports clubs. "You don’t need to look too far to find local kids that have done well in sports at a national level, and they have been up against it with a lot of travel involved and quite often just training on their own at home on the farm. It does breed a type of kid that has self-discipline and a whole lot of ticker."
Taking time off the farm on a Wednesday afternoon to coach children he mostly doesn’t know hasn’t been a hard task for Mr Duncan. "The mental health guys will tell you all day long how important it is to do this stuff.
"I tell guys who have young kids: ‘it goes so fast, it’s over before you know it, so it’s important to get involved and surround yourself with all the great people that are there for the same reason. The hoggets will only be 5-year-old ewes by the time the kids finish high school’."
Mr Duncan enjoys athletics for its inclusiveness. "There’s an event for everyone. You might have a kid that can’t run very fast but can throw a discus and vice-versa."
He particularly enjoys officiating at the local athletics primary school competition held annually with schools from Poolburn, Macraes, Strath Taieri and Ranfurly. "It’s a good day out for everyone, all the families come along, you see parents and grandparents catching up.
"And then to see our local athletes go on to do well against the city schools and break records; there are some impressive records out there, it’s a great thing to be part of," he said.
