Coaching Conference

[bewildered]

The 2013 Coaching Conference details have come out today. It is 18th, 19th and 20th January at Lilleshall National Sports Centre.

I'm not sure how many will go as the cost is £150 for the weekend, up from £50 last year.

Apparently BO don't wish to subsidise it.

[mikey]

Hopefully clubs will pay for most of the cost as they benefit from having well trained coaches.

[King Penguin]

Didn't I recently see another topic about valuing and suppoirting volunteers ?
Where is the future of the sport without coaches ?
Left hand / right hand ?

[Paul Frost]

Didn't I recently see another topic about valuing and suppoirting volunteers ?
Where is the future of the sport without coaches ?
Left hand / right hand ?

Unfortunately there seems to be a misconception that most coaches are paid, so they, and coaching in general shouldn't get any financial support.

In Scotland there are about 130 coaches and probably none being paid to coach orienteering. Based on the Scottish numbers I would guess that there must be at least 500 in the UK.

One of the few orienteering jobs that do get paid is Community O leaders (but I understand that some of those are volunteers as well). They are normally orienteering coaches but some may come from other coaching backgrounds. There were about 80 Community O projects until recently, but I understand that number is likely to drop to about 50 due to funding cuts and not being sustainable without subsidy.

So the overwhelming majority of coaches are volunteers, and most that I know put in a lot of hours, both in delivering coaching activities and in maintaining their qualification with CPD.

When you ask "Where is the future of the sport without coaches ?" I think you are spot on, but unfortunately it seems that the people in charge of distributing the cash don't think coaches or coaching are important.

There was a subsidy for the 2012 coaching conference which reduced the cost to £50 per delegate. But 2011 charged £100 and made a loss of £25 per delegate.
Every delegate pays to attend, even if they are giving a presentation.

It's interesting that the Major Events Conference for the last 2 years only charged £25, as that is subsidised. I'll admit that it only runs from Saturday am to Sunday pm compared to the coaching one that starts on Friday evening, so saves one nights accommodation.

The suggestion that clubs will/should pay is sort of valid, but if a club sends more than one person it can amount to a large amount of money by the time you add in travelling costs. It's not just Scotland that's a long way away from Lilleshall.

I guess we are back to same old chestnut, we need to pay more to take part in our sport if we are going to have enough money at club and national level to fund the support we want for training coaches and other officials.

[awk]

I was thinking of going this year, although I'm not prepared to pay those sorts of sums, and am very reluctant to ask my club to support (I'd rather the money was used to support others more in need). In the meantime, and before deciding definitively, anybody seen a programme?

The juxtaposition of this with British Orienteering's professed intention to focus on supporting volunteers is somewhat ironic!

[Big Jon]

Try this:


Draft Programme as on 26/11/12

Friday January 18th
16.00-18.00 IV standardisation Pat Mee & Hilary Palmer Seminar room 3
15.30-22.30 Room allocation, informal discussion Bar area
Saturday January 19th
7.30-8.30 Breakfast Dining room
9.00-9.15 Welcome, introduction Lecture theatre
9.15-9.45 Whole sport plan 2013-17 Mike Hamilton Lecture theatre
9.45-10.30 Coaching and talent squads – how the junior regional squads can support and link into the talent programme Jackie Newton Lecture theatre
10.30-11.00 Coffee
11.00-12.15 Practical session -Strength & conditioning Richard Lecky Thomson Ford Hall
12.15- 12.30 Shoes Ian Kevan Ford Hall
12.30-1.30 Lunch Dining room
13.30-14.00 Developing personal training plans & periodisation Jackie Newton Lecture theatre
14.00-14.30 Breakout groups working on training plans for different types of athletes Lecture theatre, seminar rooms 1,2&3
14.30-15.30 Nutrition/hydration for multiday events, competitions & training camps tbc Lecture theatre
15.30-16.00 Coffee
16.00-17.00 Using a sprint area for coaching – practical session – bring head torch and outdoor shoes Bill Stevenson Outside
17.15-17.45 Discussion on practical session Lecture theatre
17.45-18.00 An athlete’s view of coaching tbc Lecture theatre
18.00-18.30 Sharing of training plans from earlier session Lecture theatre
18.30-19.30 Dinner Dining room
19.30-20.00 Game sharing/video clips for coaching
Ask people to bring with them Lecture theatre
Sunday January 20th
7.30-8.30 Breakfast Dining room
9.00-9.30 LOC coaching in the club Jo Cleary/Heather Burrows Lecture theatre
9.30-10.00 MAROC coaching in the club Jon Musgrave Lecture theatre
10.00-10.30 WOC2015 Dave Peel Lecture theatre
10.30-11.00 Coffee
11.00-12.15 Practical session - physical training – part 2 Paul Murgatroyd Outside
12.15-12.30 Feedback & ideas for future conferences Lecture theatre
12.30-13.30 Lunch & depart unless involved in afternoon session Dining room
13.30-15.30 UKCC update for current CEs & assessors
Pat Mee, Hilary Palmer, Keith Marsden Seminar room

[SeanC]

In Scotland there are about 130 coaches and probably none being paid to coach orienteering. Based on the Scottish numbers I would guess that there must be at least 500 in the UK.

We've paid coaches from other clubs for occasional coaching mornings. It's worked out very well. What we found was that people were very happy to pay £10-£15 for 2-3 hours coaching by a good orienteer with interesting exercises and good feedback. If the right (ie no land cost and reasonably technical) area is picked and it's advertised to a few clubs then I think it could be a nice part time business for a few people, at least in regions where orienteers aren't too spread out.

Perhaps the agenda could squeeze in "turning your coaching into a part time business"? Would be a good thing for a student looking for a part time job maybe?

[awk]

Thanks Jon. Where did that come from please - did I miss that on line?

[Big Jon]

Thanks Jon. Where did that come from please - did I miss that on line?

I was sent a copy after I'd been approached about a Maroc club coaching talk, and subsequently another with a hint I actually book a place

[NeilC]

For the second year in a row I was invited to present, and then politely uninvited when I explained what I would be presenting. Looks like Big Jon may have got that slot.

[AndyC]

For the second year in a row I was invited to present, and then politely uninvited when I explained what I would be presenting. Looks like Big Jon may have got that slot.

I believe the soapbox ("nopebox"?) here may be available - what did you want to say and why do you think they uninvited - or was it just that Big Jon will be brilliant? (Will you Jon?)

[NeilC]

The conversation has been the same both times

"I hear you are doing some interesting things at your club night.. could you come and tell us about them?"

"Yes we do (see http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/home/Neil_Crickmore/SARC/SARC%20Activities.pdf ) and I'm happy to talk about them, but they are not really coaching activities"

"You're right, not quite what we are looking for, thanks but we will try someone else"

[AndyC]

I on the other hand find it very interesting -and will be stealing with little retraint!
and they are coaching activities IMHO

[SeanC]

It depends what your definition is, but most people think of coaching as one to one instruction. This stuff sounds more like an event, but it's not an event in the traditional sense with results etc.

It would be very handy for the sport if there was a third category, coaching, events and activities not run by a coach. Then someone in Brighton wanting to organize this kind of stuff once a year wouldn't need to spend weeks on coaching courses, first aid courses and fruitless attempts to fulfill the 'continuing professional development' criteria.

[Paul Frost]

I've been involved in several conversations recently about coaching, and frequently find people use coaching and training as interchangeable terms, when I don't think they are. I'm sure there are conflicting dictionary definitions, but in a sport context I see it this way:
Coaching is provided by a qualified coach who gives feedback to individuals to aid improvement.
Training is an opportunity to practice things/skills that that may have been given to you by a coach.