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Coaching talent comes together

Thursday 26 February 2004

Around 80 coaches from the Highlands will come together this weekend for the fourth annual coaching conference for the Highlands. The Highland Coaching Conference, which is being held in Inverness on Friday 27 February at the Thistle Hotel and on Saturday 28 February at Inverness College, will offer a quality coach development programme to local and regional coaches from a diversity of sports.

The Highland Coaching Conference is being run by Gael Force Ten in association with sportscotland and the sports section of Inverness College. The additional support from sportscotland has enabled the conference to be extended to two days and will introduce some exciting new features, including the first ever Highland Coach of the Year Awards and keynote presentations and speakers where previously the conference had just run workshops.

The Highland Coach of the Year Awards will take place on the Friday evening and will recognise the achievement and contribution local coaches have played within sport in the Highlands, in the three categories of Male Coach, Female Coach, and Youth Coach. The awards ceremony will be followed by the conference dinner, where Inverness Caledonian Thistle Manager and former Scotland internationalist, John Robertson will be the guest speaker.

The conference programme boasts some fantastic speakers who will share their experiences and knowledge through a mixture of practical and theory sessions. Friday’s programme of speakers will focus on performing at the highest level and the factors that contribute to this winning formula, and Saturday will encompass a series of workshop topics from ‘mentoring’ to ‘what science does for sport’.

The keynote speakers include: Billy Bell, Lead Partnership Manager, Developing Potential, sportscotland; Russell Keiller, Team Coach to the Olympic Women’s Curling Team; and Stuart Turner, Lead Partnership Manager, Achieving Excellence, sportscotland.

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland said: “Coaches have a key role to play in harnessing natural talent and inspiring athletes at all levels, therefore it is paramount that Scotland continues to provide coaches with the opportunity to extend their knowledge and expertise.

“ We are delighted to be involved in the fourth Highland Coaching Conference which will deliver comprehensive and innovative workshops that will ensure coaches have the necessary skills to help athletes realise their full potential. I wish all the delegates a successful and enjoyable conference.”

Alan Hoseason, Coaching Development Officer for Gael Force Ten said: “The expansion of our conference is an exciting development which is a direct result of sportscotland’s recognition of the quality of our previous events. We are extremely pleased to be working in partnership with the national agency for sport and also Inverness College, in an attempt to support our local coaches in the Highlands, no matter what sport they represent. Testament to the quality of the speakers and the interesting programme, we have coaches from Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow booking onto the conference. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to sportscotland and the Sport Section of Inverness College for helping us run what is to be our biggest and best conference to date.”

  • The conference is being held on Friday 27 February from 1330 to 1700 hours at the Thistle Hotel, Inverness and Saturday 28 February from 0900-1730 hours at the Longman Building, Inverness College, Inverness.
  • The keynote speakers and subjects they are covering are:
    • Billy Bell, Lead Partnership Manager, Developing Potential, sportscotland who will open the conference on Friday illustrating the importance of coaches in the delivery of sport and the coaching infrastructure that sportscotland are currently putting in place in collaboration with key partners to ensure we have more quality coaches at local and national level.;
    • Russell Keiller, Team Coach to the Olympic Women’s Curling Team who will take the coaches through his journey as a coach in taking Team GB Women’s Curling Team to Olympic Gold in 2002.
    • Stuart Turner, Lead Partnership Manager, Achieving Excellence, sportscotland who will bring his vast experience from his involvement in performance sport and the factors that have to be considered in order to win at the highest level.
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