Coaching Strategy launched
We are pleased to have worked in collaboration with UK Athletics and the other Home Country Athletics Federations in the formation of the Coaching Strategy for athletics.
It will supplement and support the work that we have already undertaken in the areas of coach education and development across England, through our coaching networks.
We’ve seen, for example, more than 20,000 coaches and officials engage in our recent online webinar programme. In addition, around 3,500 coaches and leaders have booked on education courses since April this year including over 700 new Coaching Assistants and over 2,000 new leaders in running or athletics. This is more than in any other year.
Events of the last 18-months have seen us delivering a blended approach to the recruitment and development of coaches by providing both online and face-to-face activity, whilst ensuring that resources and expertise are available at an appropriate level for all coaches as well as being easy to access. To this end, we have a range of programmes and support structures in place. These include:
- Regional Coach Leads and coaching networks
- Event Group coaching newsletters
- Regional Coach and Athlete Days
- National Coach and Athlete Days
- Coaching webinars
- Coaching Conferences, for example, Endurance and Speed and Power
- Athletics Hub
- Women in Coaching Programme
- Team staff training programme
- Youth Development
- Para webinar series
We recognise there is still much more work to do to increase diversity in the coaching workforce, increase gender equality and increase opportunities for coaches to develop skills, practice and knowledge with flexibility in delivery and ease of access. In our new England Athletics strategy: “Athletes and runners at the heart”, we identify how over the next 12-years through to 2032 we will be working hard, through ongoing collaboration and consultation across the sport, to tackle these critically important areas for athletics and running in England.