UKCC Paddlesport coach
or canoeing instructor? I understand the title is causing confusion and frustration
among some water sports professionals out there. Being labelled instructors is
becoming a derogatory term used to describe those of us who qualified before
the BCU went down the UKCC route of qualification. Four letters don’t make a
coach, it’s the years of experience and depth of knowledge that we bring to our
sport that defines a coach.
Just for the record I
started coaching in 1992, in cricket and not paddlesports! There’s a revelation.
When I was a young newly qualified teacher the Lord's
Taverners put money into schools to pay for coaching and to train teachers to
teach cricket. We had a very inspirational coach come to our school in the form
of Gordon Lord – a former Worcestershire player who would go onto to coach the
England under 21 side. Gordon not only taught our pupils how to play cricket,
but instilled into them the values of fair and sporting conduct. Values that
were sadly amiss out on the housing estate where most of the pupils came from. Gordon
also taught me how to assess movement and adapt coaching models to meet
individual needs. The most dramatic of these adaptations was a tiny 10 year old
girl who could bowl fast, but always bowled wide. Solution? Bowl round the
wicket, rather than over the wicket – Shane Warne style! This resulted in some
ball tearing deliveries that put fear into even the hardest year 6 boy.
Gaining a teachers certificate in cricket
allowed myself and a likeminded colleague (who coached cricket and ice hockey)
to feed into the National Coaching Foundation courses available locally. These
courses gave us a basic grounding in physiology and sport psychology. Okay, we weren’t
going to be Olympic coaches, but at least we now knew what made an athlete tick
and how to motivate.
It wasn’t long after this that I returned to
kayaking – one fateful Friday when Pam threatened to burn my boat if I didn’t
paddle it again. I then ran into a coach called Tim who laid down the basics
that I still incorporate into my coaching. Tim also gave me the confidence to
go after coaching awards and I entered the BCU scheme directly at level 2 –
like many experienced paddlers at the time.
Once qualified I met Phil Russell and was
dragged into founding Shropshire Paddlesport Club. Phil and I didn’t always see
things the same way, but the club would go on to dominate the youth competition
scene for many seasons and produced several British team members. I perhaps
didn’t appreciate Phil’s input at the time, but he certainly gave me breath of
experience. Phil’s philosophy was simple – if you’re coaching, you should be
able to paddle any boat put in front of you. You should also give your athlete
the best possible chance of success. Watching the Olympic slalom this week Pam
and I joked that we’ve finally found out what happens at the end of the start
countdown. 3-2-1-GO! We were never around to hear GO! We were on our way to the
first gate after 1.
Phil encouraged us all to take part in
competition and I think every paddler should try it at least once. It gives a
different view to the sport – just ask Pam what it’s like to tackle Jackfield
in a white water racer. Competing in slalom made me learn to use river features
to get around the river, rather than just trying to power down it and paddling
a sprint C1 was just ridiculous.
It is this “can do” ethos of coaching that I’ve
now taken into AR Kayaking. Some mornings I take a complete novice and put them
in a boat, usually by the afternoon they’re running their first grade 2. Steep
learning curve? Or just 20 years of coaching experience coming into play? Coach
or instructor? You tell me.
