Coaches selected for Pathway Coach Development Programme 2018

Swimming News

A group of 17 coaches have been selected for the Swim England Pathway Coach Development Programme for 2018.

These include Kevin Schofield from City of Leeds, Lesley Batson of Putteridge SC and Greg King of Mount Kelly.

The aim of the programme is for coaches of age group athletes (10-14yrs) to get together, share best practice and develop their technical and soft skills. They will then be able to take what they have learned, and use it to benefit their swimmers. They will also pass the knowledge on to other coaches in their club, and the local club network.

Five workshops will be delivered over the 14 month programme. These cover topics such as self-awareness and reflective practice, coach athlete relationships and more.

Swim England Coach Development Manager Joanna Jones said: “We view the Pathway Coach Development programme as an integral part of our coach development pathway.

“This programme will provide the opportunity for coaches to discover, discuss and develop their coaching philosophy and practice within their coaching and competition environments amongst their peers.

“It will also give an awareness of the important issues that we need to address to enable us to have a successful and sustainable talent development system within England and Great Britain which we hope ultimately will lead to national team success.”

  • Click here to find out more about the Swim England Pathway Coach Development Programme.

2018 cohort excited to start

City of Leeds Lead Regional Age Group Coach Kevin Schofield commented on his selection: “I am very excited and a little overwhelmed to be one of the 17 coaches selected for the programme. It came as a bit of a shock.

“I hope to take the skills learned over the course of the programme back to my home club and share it with the other coaches and swimmers. I’ve been part of City of Leeds SC for 12 years and never had the opportunity to interact with coaches from other clubs in an environment like this.

“I think I will learn a lot about myself and develop the tools I need to be a successful coach.”

Greg King, Mount Kelly Performance Swim Coach, has been working with the Swim England Talent Pathway for a number of years. He said: “I was very pleased to be selected onto the 2018 Pathway Coach Development Programme.

“I am particularly looking forward to developing my self-awareness as well as connecting with and learning from a variety of coaching peers from around the country.

“The opportunity to increase my technical knowledge alongside the development of my soft skill set will be invaluable in improving my day-to-day coaching.”

Lesley Batson, Head Coach at Putteridge SC, said: “I feel extremely privileged to be chosen to join the programme. I’m really excited by the prospect, and feeling slighting nervous by what will come.

“I hope to gain more knowledge of coaching practices that I can pass on to my swimmers and club coaches. This should also help to develop my confidence and belief in myself as a senior coach. I am also looking forward to working with other, like-minded coaches.”

Full list of coaches selected for 2018

  • Marc Foster (Ellesmere SC)
  • Chris Littler (City of Birmingham SC)
  • Joshua Atkins (Wycombe)
  • Matthew Smithurst (Sevenoaks SC)
  • Rachel Aldington (Millfield School)
  • Greg King (Mount Kelly)
  • James Richards (City of Gloucester SC)
  • Catalina Arasa (City of Leicester SC)
  • Jess Wilkie (Preston SC)
  • Karen Pinniger (City of Norwich SC)
  • Matthew Williams (Hillingdon SC)
  • Gavin Povall (Waltham Forest)
  • Kevin Schofield (Leeds)
  • Marc Williams (Bristol)
  • Lesley Batson (Putteridge)
  • Emily Dart (Truro)
  • Craig Oliver (Aylesbury)
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