Thursday 1 November 2007
Behind every great sports person there usually lies an amazing coach. At its ‘Partners Meeting’ in Glasgow today, sportscotland is recognising the importance of coaching with the announcement of a £5 million investment over four years to strengthen and improve coaching provision for the future.
The investment, which is from sportscotland Lottery funding, will go towards two aspects of coaching: increasing the number of people able to access quality coaching qualifications and enabling sports governing bodies to employ performance managers and coaches to help athletes improve their performance on the world stage.
Making the announcement Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair, sportscotland, said: “Quality, experienced coaches working at all levels are fundamental to the success of Scottish sport. It is vital we have a pool of qualified coaches across Scotland to meet current and future demands. We also need to make this a viable career option, helping athletes make the transition from talented competitor to skilled coach.
“Enabling coaches to receive the best training and qualifications will go a long way to ensuring that Scotland has more and better coaches in the future, resulting in an improved quality of experience for participants, keen to progress and stay involved in sport throughout their lives. At this exciting time for high performance sport in Scotland it is also critical that we provide coaches to help our elite athletes realise their medal potential. This funding does just that. “
£2.5 million of this investment will enable a number of sports governing bodies to employ performance managers or coaches to prepare, coach and guide athletes up to Great Britain level and ensure they are able to perform successfully as part of world class programmes.
Having more Scots competing at world class level will ensure greater medal winning opportunities at events such as the Olympic Games in 2012, the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010 and hopefully in Glasgow in 2014, inspiring others to follow in their footsteps.
The remaining £2.5 million will target over 8,500 volunteer coaches across 21 sports assisting them to achieve the UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC). New and existing coaches will be able to undertake these nationally certified courses, with sportscotland subsidising up to 75% of the fees.
Endorsing this targeted investment in coaching, Sports Minister Stewart Maxwell said: “Good coaching is fundamental to sport. Without it we will not encourage and sustain participation or develop our stars of the future. This investment will help equip our coaches with the skills necessary to deliver our twin ambitions of increasing grassroots participation and having more Scottish athletes competing successfully at higher levels on the world stage.”
Scotland’s sports governing bodies welcomed the funding announcement and were clear about the impact that it would have on their own sports.
Caitriona O’Shea, Coaching Development Director at Scottish Gymnastics said: “This announcement is excellent news for Scottish Gymnastics and we are delighted with the investment being made to support the development of coaches in Scotland.
“It will enable us to start putting in place a professional coaching structure to support coaches and gymnasts as we build towards 2012 and 2014. For the first time, we are now in a position to employ three full-time coaches. The funding will also assist us with the implementation of the UKCC and the training of tutors to deliver the new courses.”
Scottish Swimming Director of Coaching & Development Richard Gordon added: “We really welcome this funding announcement as it will help us to deliver UKCC across all aquatic disciplines.
“The funding enables us to lock into mainstream education and become part of vocational education in Scotland. Those studying for an HNC or HND at college will graduate with practical experience which will benefit the sport.
“It will also allow Scottish Swimming to adopt a more strategic role in teacher/coach education. Where previously the English Amateur Swimming Association took the lead, we will now be at the centre of swimming teaching and coaching in Scotland. In essence we will be able to have a direct relationship with teachers and coaches and provide for their coaching needs.”
Andy Tennant, Head of Education & Development at Cricket Scotland added his support for the new investment: “The funding is great news as it helps to make the UKCC qualification affordable for coach candidates. At Cricket Scotland we wholly support the development of coaches as they are key to the continued development of Scottish Cricket. This support is crucial in helping us to make coaching a priority.”
- The UK Coaching Certificate is an endorsement of sport specific coach education qualifications that are aligned to an agreed framework. By creating a recognised standard for coach education the UKCC will make it easier to identify a quality coach in any sport at any level and contribute immeasurably to the professionalisation of coaching.
- The UKCC will be ratified by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and will ensure that sports are delivering the best available, athlete centred coaching and in due course reap the rewards of sporting success, both in performance and recreational enjoyment of sport.
- The 21 sports benefiting from UKCC investment are athletics, badminton, basketball, canoeing, cricket, cycling, equestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, hockey, judo, netball, rowing, rugby league, rugby union, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis and triathlon.
- In 2005 sportscotland established a Coaching Scotland Advisory Group to lead the review and revitalisation of Scotland’s coaching strategy. This review led to an updated strategy, which was underpinned by a robust research process and aligned to ‘Reaching Higher’ the National Strategy for Sport.
- As part of this process, Coaching Scotland identified three key goals, the creation of a leading edge community of coaches, ensuring that coaching meets the needs of the player pathway and that coaching success is recognised and valued, all of which are being supported with this new investment.