T he Prospective Coaches : I ’ ve been working with King Williams AS ( KWAS ), who coach new and young anglers on a weekly basis from the lakes at Boggart Hole Park . Like any good organisation , they rarely rest on their laurels , constantly identifying prospective Level 1 coaches from their group of volunteers . I spoke with two from distinctly different backgrounds .
Jamie Clayton , 37 , started out by helping as a volunteer bailiff looking after the KWAS waters . As he became more familiar with fellow club members he encouraged several into the specialised area of carp fishing and helped many catch their personal best fish . Jamie told me , “ I had such a buzz from helping and seeing others catch fish that I told myself : ‘ Now ’ s the time to take this more seriously and gain a qualification through the Angling Trust ’. The Level 1 award is my first goal and I ’ d like to do the Level 2 as soon as I can after that .”
I asked Shirley Walsh , in her early fifties , why she was interested in becoming a Level 1 coach . “ I ’ ve only been fishing for four or five years , but I really love it . If I ’ m not out on the bank I get my fishing fix by reading about it , on Facebook or by watching angling on TV . I suppose you could say I ’ m a dryland angler if I ’ m unable to go .” Shirley , already welcomed into the club , said she intends to help with their weekly coaching sessions during the summer season supported by Julia Mottershead , the club ’ s female lead Level 2 coach .
The Established Coaches : KWAS currently have four volunteers , all of them ready , eager and signing up for one of the Angling Trust ’ s Coach Educator Level 1 courses , as well as several Level 2 coaches embedded in the club . I caught up with two of the Level 2s at Boggart Clough .
Julia and Duncan Mottershead are a husband and wife team who work on the development of their club by running coaching sessions at Boggart Hole . I asked them how they got into coaching and what their duties are . “ The club needed a boost ,” Duncan recalled . “ Our committee looked at achieving Clubmark but to do this we needed some coaches attached to the club . We had several members who put their hands up to do a coaching certificate . We ran our Level 1 and 2 courses here at the park in the Café .”
Julia had a different story to how she became involved , saying : “ I was volunteering to help with the club ’ s open days about six years ago . I really liked helping with the coaching and one of our members asked : ‘ Why don ’ t you do the course yourself ?’ So I did ! I took my Level 2 almost straight away after , which meant our club would always have someone to oversee coaching days .” I asked Julia what goes into delivering a morning ’ s angling coaching . “ On the morning we do a risk assessment , set out the tackle and bait and if we ’ re using a lesson plan , we ’ ll share this with our Level 1s and volunteers so that everyone is working on the desired goal .”
The bigger picture : Before we opened the doors to the Spring Into Fishing event that day , I spoke with Tony Campbell , a fellow Coach Educator . We talked about how it ’ s difficult to describe your “ typical ” angling coach , they can be ( and are ): 17 to 70-plus , male and female , work voluntarily for their club or community , as well as working as professional coaches , usually specialising in a specific field such as fly fishing , match or competition angling , carp , predator or even kayak fishing . If there ’ s a type of angling then there ’ s a coach to teach it !
The Environment Agency supports clubs and fisheries to develop angling infrastructure through the AIF . As part of that , places are made available to run angling “ Coaching Bursaries ”. Email us for more information . 7