The concept of coach update is based on the BCU Coaching Service actively providing opportunities for personal development and encouraging all coaches to keep up to date with developments in our sport and indeed in general Sports coaching.
Training and experience cover the elements that provide the skills required to make appropriate risk assessments of activities and provide a safe environment for canoeing. So much so, that unless we are regularly practicing and updating ourselves, good practice may not be current best practice, indeed it may become poor practice.
Further to this, with sport and sports coaching receiving an increasingly public profile with moral, ethical, and social commitments, it is important that we can account for and verify the status of all coaches within the scheme.
Keeping up to date place heavy demands on coaches, particularly those who provide their services voluntarily and have family and work commitments which prevent them from being any more involved than they currently are.
Providing a varied programme with a range of update opportunities via a range of forums and workshops regionally can help coaches balance their commitments and allow the BCU to provide important contact opportunities with coaches, particularly with those who are currently not thinking about progressing to the next level.
The self-assessment form provides coaches with a further opportunity to reflect on their coaching activity over the three-year update cycle and their particular involvement in the specified update areas. These areas could include any relevant training, workshops or courses that demonstrate long-term training and sharing of good practise in Paddlesport coaching. The three areas identified as important for coaches to keep up to date in are:
Examples of suitable workshops, courses and training:
1.1 Water Safety
E.g. Water Safety training / Club or Centre safety review / safety training / site risk assessment and or review / pool lifeguard award [Evidence could include: Minuted Club or centre or organisation meeting / mentor or head coach signature].
1.2 HSE and legislative guidelines
E.g. BCU (or other NGB equivalents) 2 – 3 hour Workshop on Child Protection, Disability Awareness, Risk Assessment, Duty of Care, Equity etc. Sports Coach UK (NCF) Courses (as above) Accredited HSE training through college or through CPD programme at work.
1.3 Coaching and Assessment
E.g. BCU Regional / National Squad athlete or coach sports science education BCU (or other NGB equivalents) Assessor Training day FE or University accredited sports coach training e.g.
Sports Science degree, Sports Coach degree / diploma or Key skills training relating to coaching, other academic sports coaching awards
Monitoring:
In order to ensure that the self-assessment process is effective all self-assessment forms returned will be checked to ensure that coaches are themselves following the correct procedure and that they are up to date. Where it is felt that additional updating is necessary to ensure consistency and currency, coaches will be advised of this and recommendation given as to what they need to do. While self-assessments returned will be recorded on our database, only those considered to have indicated that the coach is up to date will be validated and show the coach to indeed be up to date within the current overall procedures
What happens next?
If the form meets the necessary requirements, the coaches’ record is updated from the date the form was signed. From a quality assurance point of view a percentage of self assessment applications will be followed up with declared referees. However, if it is felt that the coach needs to undertake further update work we will write to them with an action plan suggesting where to go from here.
Should you have any further queries in regard to Coach update please feel free to contact the Coaching Service at [email protected]
Useful links and documents:
Coaching Self Assessment Form
Regional Coaching Organisers page (RCOs and LCOs)
Update forum dates
For National Workshops visit: sportscoachuk
For Regional Running Sport workshops contact: sportengland