Book your place at the Swim England Water Polo Coaching Conference

The Swim England Water Polo Pathway Coaching Conference is returning in 2024.

It takes place on Saturday 25 May at the SportPark, Loughborough University campus.

The conference is aimed at water polo coaches of all levels and will feature guest speakers and presentations specifically for the water polo community.

This includes a presentation from Hungarian national team coach Gergely Lukacs, leading coach developer Paul Connelly and a member of the successful Great Britain’s women’s team from this year’s world and European Championship squad.

There’s also updates from Swim England and Aquatics GB (formerly British Swimming) around the plans for water polo coach development going forward.

Aquatics GB’s CEO, Drew Barrand, will share their organisational strategy and how water polo fits into that broader vision for aquatic sport, while Aquatics GB board member Piers Martin will discuss how to maximise your coaching potential.

‘Extremely valuable’

Andy McGinty, Swim England water polo talent and inclusion officer, said: “We’re delighted to see the return of the Swim England water polo coaching conference.

“Following the work we’ve done with the talent centre programme, it’s really important to us to support our coaches so that we can continue to help drive the sport forward in this country.

“We have some excellent speakers lined up, who will share their knowledge which will be valuable to your personal development. We encourage clubs and coaches to come along and use this as part of their coaches’ CPD training.

“It promises to be an excellent day which I’m sure will be extremely valuable to all those that attend.”

If you’re interested in attending, make sure you sign up before the deadline on Thursday 18 May 2024 to secure your place.

You can book your spot at the conference here and if you have any questions, please contact either [email protected] or [email protected].

Outline of agenda

  • 9:00am – Arrivals and refreshments
  • Conference introduction: Swim England staff (Richard Blackshaw – head of performance, Anna Garside – head of performance operations, Craig Figes – water polo programme lead, Andy McGinty- water polo talent & inclusion officer)
  • Maximising Coach Development: Piers Martin, Aquatics GB board member, discusses how to maximise your coaching potential.
  • What is our Why?: Experienced coach developer Paul Connelly will discuss ‘What is our Why?’ The importance of our ‘why’ when coaching. What are we trying to achieve? And why is important not to lose sight of our end goals in everything that we do.
  • A member of the Great Britain’s senior women’s team: Fresh from the European and world Championships, a member of the GB women’s team will speak about their water polo career and development that led her to the World Aquatics Championships in Doha.
  • Gergely Lukacs, key note speaker: Hungarian national team coach Gergely Lukacs will share his experience in coaching which he has gained over a number of years in Hungary following a successful playing career and has delivered water polo coaching clinics for World Aquatics.
  • Drew Barrand: Aquatics GB CEO, Drew Barrand, will share the national governing bodies organisational strategy and how water polo fits into their broader vision for aquatic sport.
  • 4:30pm – Reflections and conference close

Click here to find out more and register for the event.

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