Coaches Coming Forward From the Online World To Life After Lockdown

How we are now and how we’ll be once the lockdown restrictions are lifted is a very different scenario. 

 

We may feel ok but our general mental  health and physical fitness could be waning. There is, however a strong positive contributor in the form of coaching. They have played a pivotal role providing online training and they could also play an even bigger role once we’re all able to return to some form of normality.

 

Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive Officer at Sport England expressed his views last Thursday ( 21st May ) in relation to coaches and how they are  building up the community,

 

“Coaches are key workers for the sports and physical activity industry. My job takes me around the country to see projects and I am always slightly in awe of the work coaches do. The quality of what I see in front of me leaves me taken-aback because it’s a very different skill set from that which I possess. That ability to make the session real and meaningful – and also to provide improvement in a technical sense – will be absolutely critical for us moving forwards.

 

Mental Health Awareness Week took place last week and online discussions helped in the following ways:-

Mark Gannon, Chief Executive Officer at UK Coaching, reflected on the impact of the corona virus on people’s mental health and how coaches will equip the community with a positive mindset,  

 

“Coaching is about people and great coaching is people-focused. One of the things we are very aware of is what will have happened to people during this period of restriction owing to coronavirus. There will be health and well-being issues and, as a result, we have worked with Sport England and Mind to make available mental health and well-being training for all of the coaching workforce - free of charge. This will upskill the coaching community to better deal with and recognise the signs of someone who has, perhaps, struggled through this period and may be struggling to reengage.”

 

The research statistics reveal that from the organisation’s own Twitter polls, around 50% of coaches want their learning and home CPD opportunities through online workshops and webinars.

 

This means that the transition from lived in lockdown environment to an open engaged gym based work station will be much harder to achieve knowing that many in the community have already become more acquainted with online training. 

 

Despite this, the next several weeks will see an stronger inclusion from the enhanced learning and development platform - ukcoaching.org – which  will  recognise people from certain areas within England, whereby they will get subsidised or potentially free coaching resources by registering on the website, as Gannon says, “to invest in communities that need it the most.”

 

Hollingsworth is aware that the disruption caused by the tragic events of the pandemic has provided an increased awareness in the UK of the need for sport and physical activity. Thankfully, many of us have benefited from being able to have a ‘daily exercise’ routine at our local parks, but there still  remains a real challenge across different areas of society to drive an uplift in participation.

 

Hollingsworth expressed his concern about the relevance of sport in our community, 

 

“Sport England is finding that people are understanding that sport and physical activity can be important in their lives and is important to their health and well-being and we have to collectively build on that. We will seek to be more collegiate and responsive and [show] that physical activity, and the benefit that sport plays in society, is at the centre of our thinking.”

 

The podcast featuring Tim Hollingsworth and Mark Gannon is now available to listen to at ukcoaching.org.

 

^Alex Ashworth CCG UK Blogger