We must inspire, develop and value Scotland’s coaches to help deliver a more healthy, active and successful sporting nation.
Coaching and The National Strategy for Sport
Reaching Higher: Building on the Success of Sport 21, identifies well trained people as a national sporting priority:
“People are our most important resource. Well trained, motivated, confident and capable coaches, officials and volunteers are core to the delivery of our vision.”
The National Strategy for Sport recognises the challenges facing coaching in Scotland. To address these challenges the Scottish Executive have created an agenda for change, which identifies the following specific coaching actions:
- Build a professional infrastructure of paid and voluntary coaches.
- Empower coaches through training, support and development of career paths to enable them to help participants in all their diversity to develop their skills and reach their potential.
- Support innovative approaches to coaching, such as peer coaching for young people.
sportscotland’s Role
Our role is to advise and support partners to develop and implement their coaching plans in line with Coaching Scotland, our plan for the delivery of coaching in Scotland, as part of the emerging UK Coaching Framework.
We provide leadership, support and investment for delivery partners, in particular governing bodies of sport and local authorities, to develop coaching at local, regional and national levels. In doing this we are supporting the recruitment, training and career development of Scotland’s coaches.
We continue to work in partnership with local sports councils, the higher and further education sector and others to implement a wide range of coaching services and activities.
We are also responsible for co-ordinating and implementing all Sports Coach UK services in Scotland.
Current Situation
We are continuing to develop Coaching Scotland in line with the UK Coaching Framework.
Coaching Scotland is designed to support people who are, or want to be, sports coaches. It has been informed by recent research into coaching in Scotland, which has identified a number of key issues that we need to address:
Coaching in Scotland: Key Issues
The workforce
Education & training
Paid & unpaid coaches
Systems and structures
Profile of coaching
Scottish sport needs a greater quality and quantity of coaches.
We don’t know enough about the current coaching workforce and we need to be better informed in order to plan for the future.
An integrated coach education system is required.
Coaches want to learn from other more experienced coaches.
We need a sustainable coaching network that embraces continuous professional development.
We need to balance the desire for more paid coaches with the continued, invaluable, contribution of volunteers – both must be supported.
Changing Scottish coaching starts with education - deployment and support for coaches thereafter will be vital.
A coach education system that develops high quality coaches for all levels of the player pathway will deliver this.
Coaches need to be recognised, valued and rewarded for the work they do at every level of sport.
We need to make sure that all coaches feel part of a bigger, supporting coaching community.
