Development of water polo coaching courses in full swing

The past six months have been extremely busy for coach education and development in water polo.

The formal qualifications for the water polo assistant coach (formerly level 1) and the water polo coach (formerly level 2) are now being delivered.

Course resources have been adapted and developed with the support of the IOS Learning Solutions Team. These include technical videos to support the syllabuses with presentations and tutor resources to enable a more streamlined approach to delivery.

Water Polo Coaching Courses

Need a reminder of the new water polo coaching structure?

Click here to head to our introduction to water polo coaching page.

These resources will continue to be reviewed and developed and will be made available in due course.

A new workshop is also being written for level 1 qualified coaches who wish to progress to the new level 2. This workshop will ensure coaches are up-to-date with changes to the syllabus before they progress on the coach education pathway.

The next step in developing the coach education pathway is to pilot a brand new senior water polo coach course (formerly level 3).

The new syllabus will be finalised and piloted with a select group of coaches in the next six months.

This will be aimed at senior and head coaches and will include mentoring and coach development.

Recognised Prior Learning (RPL)

Several queries have been received regarding RPL; a process which allows candidates to be awarded coaching certificates based on previous experience.

After carefully reviewing the new course content and previous RPL applications, it has been decided that the RPL process will be available for the water polo assistant coach course only.

Any candidates seeking the water polo coach certificate will have to attend a course, regardless of prior experience.

Complimentary Coach Education Workshops

A series of four to six hour workshops are currently being written that will complement the water polo assistant coach and coach courses around the following themes:

  1. Positional play
  2. Coaching the centre forward and centre back
  3. 6 v 6 tactical awareness
  4. Extra player / Player down
  5. Coaching counter attack / counter defence
  6. Coaching the goal keeper

These are expected to be completed and released in the next 12 months and will be available to book onto via the IOS website.

Learn to Swim Stages 8-10 Water Polo

Learn to Swim Stages 8-10 Water Polo have been re-written to focus more on the technical skills needed to play water polo, alongside the development of the game itself.

Once launched, this will have video footage of each water polo skill being taught to enable more understanding for teachers and coaches.

There will also be a Stages 8-10 Water Polo workshop for teachers and coaches to attend before they are able to deliver this in swim schools or clubs.

The purpose for the new Stages 8-10 Water Polo workshop is to support coach education and development for those teaching the sport at the start of a player’s water polo journey.

We want to ensure players come out of the Learn to Swim scheme technically able to join clubs and continue with their development.

Once Stages 8-10 Water Polo have been launched, the next focus will be on re-writing and relaunching ‘mini-polo!’ that will precede these stages as the very start of the water polo player pathway.

Coaching Course Calendar

The calendar for water polo coaching courses for the next 12 months will be published in September 2017.

If you have a demand for coaching courses in your area, please let your local Swim England Club Development Officer (CDO) know.

Confirming the coaching course calendar has been challenging due to the limited numbers of water polo tutors and their availability in a busy water polo calendar.

The tutor workforce is starting to grow and there are currently three water polo tutor trainees in the programme, who are working towards qualification by 2018.

National Squad, Regional & National Academy Coaches

The England Senior Squad coaches will be continuing their professional development with Andrei Iosep in the coming months.

They will be exploring advanced themes including tactical water polo and game management.

Staff and Managers across U17 and U19 age groups will also be supported to begin developing greater understanding of the softer skills of coaching and team management, including effective communication, programme planning and working with elite athletes.

A development programme for Regional and National Academy coaches will be created across the next season under the guidance of UK Sport and Sports Coach UK Coaching Consultants.

The programme will include coaching the young player at an elite level, player assessment, team assessment, giving feedback and working as a team.

Thank you

The advances and changes that have been made in coach education and development for water polo could not have been achieved without the leadership of Sarah Dunsbee, Coach Education and Development lead for the Water Polo Management Group and her technical team; Martyn Thomas, Jim Caulfield, Julie Allsopp and Andy McGinty.

Water polo is privileged to have a base of dedicated and committed volunteers willing to give up their time.

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