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Swim England introduces new coaching policy for clubs

Swim England has introduced a new coaching policy in 2022 which now focuses on the minimum expectations for clubs in relation to coaching qualifications.

The updated coaching policy is an expansion of the 2018 coaching and teaching guidance which was created as a resource for clubs and members.

This guidance also coincided with the introduction of the Teaching and Coaching register, which is a comprehensive register of coaches and teachers operating within Swim England clubs.

Now in 2022, the guidance has been rewritten to further assist clubs and coaches in understanding how to operate within the scope of their respective certificates.

Key changes

As a reflection of the development work in relation to Club Affiliation (previously Stronger Affiliation) and our intention to continue to raise standards, the national governing body has revised its guidance to create a policy on the minimum standards of coaching.

The policy demonstrates the strong alignment between the coaching approach and the development approach of Swim England.

It outlines the expectations for coaching in both club activity and the competition environment and is now the minimum expectation for all affiliated clubs.

It is applicable to all disciplines and contributes to a club’s requirements for SwimMark and Club Affiliation.

Other sections within the policy include coaching expectations for masters/adult-only sessions, dry-land training, and open water activity.

‘Improving the quality of coaching practice’

Helen Weeks, Swim England club governance and standards manager, said: “We as the national governing body are committed to ensuring our aquatics clubs have safe environments.

“This policy contributes to these efforts and outlines best practices for coaching across all areas of our sport.”

Lindsay Trimmings, coach development manager at Swim England, added: “Since 2018, there has been an extensive re-write of the swimming coaching certificates.

“This process highlighted the need for greater clarity for our clubs and coaches around the key roles and responsibilities of the coach at each level of the certificate programme: Assistant Coach, Coach and Senior Coach.

“As we continue to periodically review and evaluate our coach education and development offer across all of our aquatic disciplines, we will remain focused upon improving the quality of coaching practice and subsequently the participant experience.”

You can view the new coaching policy here.

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