Community Sports Coaching Scheme
What is the Community Sports Coach Scheme?
The headline objective for the Community Sports Coach Scheme is to establish paid, qualified Community Sports Coaches working at local level and to increase the number and range of coaching opportunities according to strategic and local need. It is intended that the scheme will result in a step change in developing a career structure for coaching, an increase in the number of qualified coaches employed at a local level, quality standards for the recruitment, employment, management and development of coaches; managed, quality continuous professional development support for employed coaches and high-quality coaching with a focus on young people.
The development of a pool of high-quality Community Sports Coaches will not only contribute to enhancing the quality of existing activity but also provide the opportunity to generate substantial new activity over time.
How does it fit into Cheshire & Warrington?
Work around the development and delivery of the Community Sport Coach Scheme started in September 2004. Working with key partners, such as schools, sports clubs and Specialist Sports Colleges, we began to discuss what, where and how we would best benefit from this very exciting initiative.
As a sports partnership we were keen to develop a coaching workforce that was both reflective of the local community and reactive to the needs of sport, physical activity and social inclusion across the partnership. This meant talking to as many partners, key agencies and of course our participants in order to find the best possible 'fit' for the coaches across our county.
Why is it here?
The Coaching Task Force Final Report identified a number of issues relating to the employment of coaches in England:
- Limited opportunities for coaches to develop coaching as a career;
- Few active professional coaches; and
- A lack of professional development of coaches
At the same time that there is a need for greater numbers of high-quality active coaches to service demand, the current lack of employment opportunities makes it difficult to promote coaching as a viable profession.
What is a Community Sports Coach?
A Community Sports Coach is:
- A qualified National Governing Body coach with the relevant experience for the coaching role·
- Committed to continuous professional development;
- Agrees to abide by a code of conduct; and
- Has been checked by the Criminal Records Bureau.
- Employed on a full or part-time basis by an employing body operating to minimum standards, Community Sports Coaches will be deployed with a core focus of work across schools, clubs and local authorities to:
- Coach young people, predominantly outside of curriculum time, to develop core movement and sport skills across a number of sports or with a particular focus on one sport;
- Coach at a local level with a focus on the FUNdamentals/Learning to Train or equivalent development phases of NGB player pathways; and
- Retain young people in sport by ensuring a high-quality, enjoyable, young-person-centred experience and providing guidance on progression opportunities based on the young person's interests and abilities.
Who will employ the Community Sports Coaches?
A range of employing bodies (including County Sports Partnerships themselves, specialist sports colleges, local authorities, NGBs and clubs) may be identified to employ the Community Sports Coaches.
How much will Community Sports Coaches be paid?
Salary scales and the specific job title of coaches may need to be flexible to reflect local need, job role and employment market. The recommended salary range for Community Sports Coaches is £17,000 to £25,000.
How do I find out about Community Sports Coach job opportunities?
Information on Community Sports Coach posts is available from the County Sports Partnerships.
Posts are also often advertised via the Leisure Opportunities publication www.lesiureopportunities.co.uk, the Sport England website www.sportengland.org and the UK Sport website www.uksport.gov.uk/.