Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 2 | Page 16

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2018, Vol. 2
It was also clear that other areas of support were
required in order to allow volunteers and coaches
to further progress. Financial support, in particular,
was seen as a major benefit of the programme.
Those coaches who wanted to set up a club did
not know where and how to access funding
opportunities. One coach explained the importance
of the support he’d received from the programme
and the impact it had on the community.
“They created links and gave us the opportunity
to educate through sport, helping us with funding
and stuff like that. We have an initiative that we
try to tackle where kids go hungry during summer.”
(Donovan, aged 42)
Mentors were also used by the coaches for careers
advice and help with applications and interviews.
From the perspective of a long term development
approach, this level of support was essential in
allowing coaches to progress to the ‘life after’
the programme.
One coach had decided to take a change in career
direction and had sought support from his mentor.
Although his training and initial support was
around sport-based sessions with young people, he
had developed transferrable skills that allowed him
to pursue a career in the fitness sector, working
with older adults.
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“I’m actually still teaching but instead of teaching
kids I’m teaching old people, delivering fitness
sessions. I’ve learnt transferrable skills and it’s
helped me fit in with my new job role.” (Lucas, aged
20).
As well as developing coaching specific
competencies, the one-to-one support was also
cited as being important in learning how to
present yourself correctly in order to create a
positive impression to potential employers. One
coach discussed the advice she had been given by
her mentor:
‘If the time you are supposed to be there is seven,
then he would say that you need to be there at six.
He showed me how to present myself correctly so
the company respects you. I’m absolutely glad I’ve
done this and I just want to go on.” (Karen, aged 37)
Conclusion
The Coach Mate Connectors Programme made it
easy for people from a wide range of backgrounds
to become involved in coaching. The hands-on
and personalised approach at a local level helped
to break down some of the barriers associated
with traditional coach education. Factors such
as varied usage of technology, communication
groups and initial one-to-one support sessions,