Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 3 | Page 12

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 3
and volunteer coaches, aptly titled, the coaching
pill. The benefits of coaching are well known for
participants, but the benefits for coaches are less
promoted.
The session drew from case studies of individuals
who had experienced a positive impact on their
well-being from being a coach. The session
outlined how we as a sector can use coaching
as a vehicle for enhancing well-being.
Presenters Julie Blackwood, a HCPC-registered/
BPS-chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist
and Merlin Van de Braam, Interim Head of Coach
and Development at the Lawn Tennis Association
presented the principles of effective coaching in
British Tennis. This was born out of a project which
developed a set of common principles applicable
across tennis coaching domains. Julie and Merlin
led the delegates through a coaching process
which is aligned with meeting players’ needs and
taking into account the personal characteristics of
the coach.
Dr Alex Twitchen (Open University), Michael
Antrobus and Ciara Allan (The Football Association)
and Alice Weaving made an impactful case for
coach well-being through a peer-to-peer research
project aptly known as creating a ‘peer to peer’
learning culture: the UEFA B ‘Vets’ project. The
‘Vets’ project has been designed to provide an
innovative solution to the challenge of the ongoing
development of coaches. Sixteen coaches who
participated in a UEFA B qualification during
2017–2018 acted as mentors to the cohort of
coaches undertaking the qualification in
2018–2019. The idea was to provide a form of
mutually beneficial support to the coaches.
The project is still in its infancy at nine months
old, but Alex Twitchen stated that there isn’t
a need to see formal qualifications as isolated
learning opportunities. “The ‘Vets’ group is another
network for coaches to access for support and
development…and useful to coaches who don’t
have an extensive learning network.”
The challenge to care in sports coaching was
energetically and articulately presented by
Dr Colum Cronin. As well as being a lecturer
at Liverpool John Moores University, Colum
has also worked as a volunteer basketball
coach for 15 years. Colum introduced to the
delegates the concepts that are fundamental to
caring relationships; for example, engrossment,
motivational displacement and reciprocity, and
examples of how coaches in basketball and
athletics implement these concepts.You can read
more about this research later in this journal.
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After lunch
After lunch, delegates were able to take part in
a well-being panel discussion; the second of the
keynotes. The panel included Dr Pippa Grange
(Sports Psychologist); Liz Burkinshaw (UK Coaching’s
Development Lead Officer); and Prof. Alan Currie
(Consultant Psychiatrist NHS and Visiting Professor
at the University of Sunderland). The discussions
began with an opening question on how the sector
can better support the mental well-being of coaches.
Pippa opened by suggesting that there is still a
‘taboo’ that needs to be removed. She said, as
a sector, “we need to create environments and
cultures where care pathways for coach mental
well-being flourish”.
Liz went on to remind the audience that “one in four
people [every year] will experience a mental health
problem and that includes our coaches”.
Alan said that although the industry has “worked
very hard in recent years to make sure the care
pathways are there for athletes and that the care
pathways for mental health problems have a
parity with physical health problems”, we are still
somewhat behind in terms of support from support
staff.
Further in the discussion the panel suggested
practical steps that coaches can take to ensure
their mental well-being is taken care of. Simple
yet overlooked lifestyle changes such as going to
bed on time and not drinking too much alcohol
were messages from Alan. He also advised against
perfectionism.
Time for you
As an extension of the well-being theme, delegates
had the opportunity to take time out for themselves
and attend a selected ‘time for you’ session. Sessions
included talk and walk, chair yoga (Fiona Adamson),
MindfullySTRONG (Dave Hembrough), love to move:
cognitive enhancement gymnastics (Patrick Bonner)
and bat and chat (Table Tennis England and UK
Coaching). The delegates could also choose to have
free time to simply wind down.
Delegates thoroughly enjoyed the sessions, giving
them a chance to put into practice boosting
well-being.