This course was organised specifically to train up new coaches at our Rock Up & Ride Project partnering sites. Coach development comes as one of the secondary objectives of the project. This great opportunity will allow cycling activities at the partnering clubs and organisations to carry on even after the conclusion of this year’s supervision from Scottish Cycling. Such continuity is key to ensuring that the positive impact and community engagement does not stop.
It was good to have a representation from different organisations on the day, seeing newly qualified coaches from Glasgow’s ANSAR, Movement Park, and Clyde Cycle Park based in nearby Cambuslang. While some of the participants will be the first cycling coaches at their clubs, many attended after having previously volunteered as assistants at Rock Up & Ride sessions run by more experienced coaches. However, all of them are new to cycling and will be a great addition to local cycling community. Importantly, there was a good gender balance of four male and three female candidates, with two promising under-18s. One other person who couldn’t make it on Sunday will attend another development day on the 9th December to complete the course, bringing the total numbers of new coaches up to eight.
Michael Devine, Rock Up & Ride Project Officer for the Children’s strand, who had done his own qualification over the summer, was there to support the participants on the day and was “delighted to have coaches from our Rock Up & Ride clubs attend British Cycling’s Introduction to Coaching course at the Emirates Arena on Sunday the 26th November. Coaches from ANSAR, Clyde Cycle Park and Movement Park were all in attendance as they looked to develop their coaching skills to help them deliver fun and inclusive cycling sessions as part of Scottish Cycling’s Rock Up and Ride programme”. We are happy to share that all candidates passed the final stage of the course, having also completed three online seminars in the lead-up.
Introduction to Coaching is a first step of the coaching pathway in the recently released British Cycling’s New Coaching Framework. Newly qualified Activity Coaches can independently deliver cycling activities with some restrictions on environment and technique, which is perfect for the purpose of Rock Up & Ride sessions. It provides progression opportunities from a Trainee Coach up to the highest-level Endorsed Coach as outlined in the New Coaching Framework. In the new Framework coaching is positioned as a social process, putting an emphasis on relationships and holistic understanding. As such, coaches are concerned with a wide range of outcomes such as mental, emotional, as well as physical wellbeing. This makes the New Coaching Framework a far more effective approach to coaching in all domains, but especially coaching in community settings where sport, people development and coaching coincide.