About Our Club

Our club objective is to encourage good sportsmanship in the sport of track & field and to provide training and competition at all levels and age groups for the club members.

For Track and Field events we train indoors in the winter months at
Queensborough Middle School, Burnaby South Secondary (Indoor Track) and Queen Elizabeth Elementary school gyms, and outdoors during the spring and summer at Mercer Stadium. Our practices range from 2 to 4 times per week depending on the season. Special camps and clinics are also available for members in the summer.

For Cross Country events, we start training in September through November, 2-3 times per week at Moody Park and Queen's Park.
For the most up to date times and locations please visit our on-line calendar.

Our high calibre coaches Besnik and Tatjana have been training junior development athletes since starting the JD program with the Royal City Track and Field Club (RCTF) in 2000. Their success continued with RCTF until February 2007, when many of the athletes and volunteer parents who had been involved in RCTF decided that they wanted to work with the Meces in a new direction, and the New West Spartans club was born.

Head Coach: Tatjana Mece

Tatjana has over thirty years experience as an athlete, a full-time dedicated teacher working with children from grade three up to university level, and as a dedicated Track and Field coach. In addition to the  New West Spartans, Tatjana also coaches at Douglas College, and the University of British Columbia. Moreover, she has been a high-level athlete herself, earning many national championship titles in her homeland of Albania, and having participated in various international events, including the European Championships. In addition to her practical experience, her educational background includes a university degree in Human Kinetics. Her coaching expertise is exemplified in many of her current athletes who have achieved outstanding results in the areas of hurdles, jumping, and sprints at a provincial and national level. Tatjana was the recipient of the 2007 JD  Excellence in Coaching Award.

Technical Director: Besnik Mece

Besnik has over thirty-five years of experience as an athlete, teacher, and dedicated coach. His career started early in his life with athletics as a top middle distance and cross-country runner. Achievements include national champion titles in the 3000m steeplechase and participation in many international track and field competitions. Having worked as a teacher with youth from the elementary levels to coaching university athletics, Besnik is regarded as an extremely qualified coach with wide ranging experience. This vast background and expertise allows him to recognize and develop young talented individuals. Among the many clubs that he is currently overseeing, Besnik is coaching Cross Country and track and Field at Douglas College and the University of British Columbia. Besnik is the recipient of the 2010 JD Excellence in Coaching Award.

Past President, Life Member and Masters Head:
Don Benson

A former Mr. Sport and both soccer and lacrosse Coach of the Year, New Westminster’s Don Benson is a founder of both the Royal City Track & Field Club (1996) and the New West Spartans Track & Field Club (2007) and Honorary President of the latter for life.

A person with varied interests, Don is Canada’s first Poet Laureate Emeritus, the author of three books and an accomplished Masters Pentathlete in the 75-79 age division. In 2007 he was awarded the British Columbia Community Achievement Award by the Lieutenant Governor for outstanding contributions to athletics and the written arts.

In 2008 at the Canadian Masters Championships held at Regina, Don made history by winning the bronze medal in the Outdoor Pentathlon (200m, 1500m, long jump, discus, javelin) and winning the gold medal in the Throws Pentathlon (javelin, discus, shot put, hammer, weight throw) completing the total of ten events in a mere six hours as the schedules for the two very different Pentathlons overlapped.

Don Benson was selected by VANOC to be the final New Westminster torch runner and to light the 2010 Winter Olympics cauldron at Queens Park before 10,000 cheering citizens.