Angling Trust's The Coaching Angle Issue 10 | Page 11

ANDY BRADSHAW, COACHING MANAGER (TALENT AND PERFORMANCE) AT UK
COACHING, DISCUSSES HOW HE SEES COACH DEVELOPING EVOLVE IN 2018.
This article originally appeared in Coaching Edge, UK Coaching’s membership magazine, and was edited by Ian Slattery.
The focus is not on sport-specific
discussions necessarily, more the
“who, how and what” of coaching
in general.
“
“
As Karen says, there is definitely more of a move towards systems and people put in place to
support coaches. We are part of that, recruiting and deploying three new full-time coach developers
recently (working in Performance Foundation environments) and the sense from their early
interactions is that coaches do sometimes feel a little isolated and value personal support.
We aren’t talking about a replacement for existing support – the qualifications system, current
coach education and development, and possible mentoring provision – but having correctly skilled
individuals to support coaches really helps them make sense of courses, workshops and theory.
Having coaching conversations and reflecting effectively allows the coach to work through things
themselves with support (sort of like a scaffold or a set of stabilisers on a bike). If a coach goes back
into their workplace with a new qualification, or even just some new knowledge, but without that
support, effective application and learning becomes less likely.
Our coach developers come from a variety of backgrounds so the focus is not on sport-specific
discussions necessarily, more the “who, how and what” of coaching in general. It’s much more about
asking good questions, checking for understanding, exploring options and alternatives, and
reflecting with a critical eye.
The function of someone coming in and building a relationship with a coach is not about telling
them what to do. It’s not “I have what you need, let me give it to you.” It’s “You have what you need
and we’ll find it.” This approach focuses on the understanding that the coach often has plenty of
knowledge and experience but they may need help making sense of it or constructing new elements.
We want to encourage curiosity and build autonomy. Our aim is to support the coach on their
coaching journey, not be seen as judging or assessing them. The concept of a coaching conversation
is very much around helping the coach to make sense of their coaching practice by asking questions
such as “can you talk me through this bit of the session?” It is very much around helping the coach to
reflect effectively on their intentions and their actions, their behaviour and that of the players or
athletes.
Coach developers tend only to be full-time roles at the top end of sports pathways at the
moment – The FA for example having just appointed Paul McGuinness as National Coach
Developer. We are currently looking at how they can come in at earlier stages, and in environments
that are not just talent. We are now discussing how this relates to grass-roots sport because the skills
of coach developers should not just be confined to talent pathways. The value of people supporting
people, coach developers supporting coaches, is what Karen articulates so well and is hugely
important across sport.
The next steps are how we look to grow the number and reach of coach developers and what
implications that might have for sports and other partners in the sporting landscape.
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