The Regional Coach Mentoring Programme is a coach development opportunity for coaches working in club and pre-pathway environments across jumps and combined events.

The programme provides light-touch 1:1 mentoring, event-specific guidance and access to coach-athlete outreach/applied lab opportunities. The aim is to support coaches to develop their practice, reflect on their decision-making and better support athletes with future pathway potential.

The programme will support coaches working in:

• Long Jump / Triple Jump
• Pole Vault
• High Jump
• Combined Events

The programme will initially operate across three regions:

• North (North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humberside)
• Midlands (East Midlands, East, West Midlands)
• South (London, South East, South West)

Each event area will have a regional mentor where available.

The programme is intended for coaches developing their practice in long jump and triple jump, pole vault, high jump or combined events within club or pre-pathway environments.

This includes:

• Coaches working with athletes, including U16s, who have the potential to progress towards the talent pathway; and
• Coaches committed to establishing or improving regular event-specific coaching within their club.
• Every participant should be open to reflection and challenge, willing to engage with their mentor and the wider coaching community, and able to apply their learning in practice.

Existing pathway involvement is not required. Selection should focus on the coach’s potential and readiness to develop, informed by their athlete and club context.

Each regional coach mentor will support up to five mentees per event per region.

For example, there may be up to five High Jump coach mentees in the North, up to five Pole Vault coach mentees in the Midlands, and so on, depending on mentor availability and demand.

Not necessarily. The number of available places each year will depend on:

• mentor availability;
• the number of existing mentees continuing;
• whether mentees have completed or ended their support;
• whether a mentee has progressed into another part of the pathway;
• regional and event-specific capacity.

Where places become available, new coaches may be selected through application and/or recommendation.

A coach can normally be supported for up to two years, depending on engagement, development need and programme capacity.

Support may end earlier if:

• the coach completes their development objectives;
• the coach no longer wishes to continue;
• engagement is limited;
• the coach progresses into another part of the pathway, such as having an athlete accepted onto the Youth Talent Programme.

In some cases, support may be extended for an additional year where there is clear mentor/mentee engagement and further development objectives have been agreed. The maximum duration would normally be three years.

A coach may progress through the pathway in several ways:

• Event Development: through application or recommendation into the Regional Mentoring Programme.
• Talent Development: by coaching an athlete who is accepted onto the Youth Talent Programme.
• Performance Development: by invitation or nomination from a Talent Event Lead, where the coach demonstrates performance potential, strong engagement and future system contribution.

Progression is not automatic. It will be based on coach engagement, athlete context, development progress, event need and pathway relevance.

Each selected coach will receive:

• light-touch 1:1 mentoring;
• approximately one mentoring conversation every 8 weeks;
• support to identify 2–3 coach development objectives;
• event-specific guidance linked to their own coaching environment;
• access to an outreach/applied lab opportunity;
• reflection tasks and agreed actions between mentor conversations;
• an end-of-year review and next-step recommendations.

Outreach days, or applied labs, are practical coach-athlete development opportunities.

They are not simply athlete training days. They are designed as applied learning environments where coach mentees come together with a specific development objective and work with the mentor around live coaching practice.

The aim is to help coaches observe, discuss, apply and reflect on technical, planning or development themes that they can take back into their own coaching environment.

An applied lab may include:

• a pre-brief from the mentor;
• a shared technical or development theme;
• practical coach-athlete activity;
• coach observation and discussion;
• reflection on decision-making;
• identification of next steps for each coach;
• follow-up through the next mentoring conversation.

For Combined Events coaches, applied labs may focus on integrated themes such as event prioritisation, planning balance, athlete profiling, competition preparation or technical transfer across events.

Coach mentees are expected to:

• engage fully in the mentoring process;
• attend agreed mentoring conversations;
• attend the applied lab opportunity where possible;
• be open to reflection, challenge and feedback;
• bring real coaching examples and questions to discussions;
• agree and act on development objectives;
• apply learning in their home coaching environment;
• complete end-of-year review activity.

No. The programme is not a formal coaching qualification.

It is a coach development and mentoring opportunity designed to support coaches in their own environment. It may, however, help coaches identify future development needs and potential next steps, including future formal learning opportunities.

No. The personal coach remains the lead coach for their athlete.

The mentor’s role is to support the coach’s development, provide guidance, ask questions, challenge thinking and help the coach reflect on their own practice. The programme is designed to strengthen the personal coach, not replace them.

The primary focus is coach development. Athletes may be involved in applied lab activity, but this will be used as a practical learning environment for the coach mentee.

Any athlete-facing input should be appropriate, agreed and aligned with the purpose of the programme.

At the end of the year, the coach and mentor will review:

• progress against development objectives;
• engagement across the programme;
• changes in coaching practice;
• impact on the coach’s home environment;
• recommended next steps.

The review may lead to continued support, progression to another tier, signposting to other development opportunities, or completion of the mentoring relationship.

If a coach’s athlete progresses onto the Youth Talent Programme, the coach may move from Event Development Coach Support into Talent Development Coach Support.

This would connect the coach more directly with the YTP coach support offer, while ensuring continuity in their development.

Coaches should contact the National Jumps and Combined Events Manager, Darren Ritchie for more information.

Further details will be shared as part of the application and onboarding process.

Yes, in some circumstances. This may happen if a coach is not engaging with the mentoring process, does not attend agreed touchpoints, or if the support is no longer appropriate.

The programme relies on active engagement from both the mentor and mentee.

Coaches can apply through the regional programme application process. Coaches may also be recommended by clubs, regional contacts, Talent Event Leads, mentors or England Athletics staff.

Application does not guarantee a place, as spaces will be limited and selection will be based on programme fit, regional/event capacity and coach development need.