Coach Development

Coaches are a vital component to sport in New Zealand. The aim is to provide quality opportunities for coaches to develop and improve their knowledge, methods and performance.

Coach Development

Recruitment, retention and training of sports coaches through an athlete centred education programme that aligns with each coaching community from early childhood, youth, adult and competitive adult groups as designated in the National Coach Development Framework.

Coaches will have access to a range of both formal and informal learning opportunities. Learning areas are grouped into generic and sports specific principles and broken down into knowledge and skill modules.

NSOs and RSOs will co-ordinate and offer all sport specific courses and modules, and Sport Canterbury offers generic modules to support RSOs with delivery. We focus on the following areas:

• Athlete development
• Leadership
• Effective Coaching
• Managing People
• Teaching Games for Understanding
• Programme Development
• Communication and Active Listening.

This allows for flexible delivery and the potential to accumulate knowledge according to the indivdual coach/athlete needs and development.

Click here for NZ Coach Magazine and further links.

Click here for a schedule of coach development modules for 2011

Coach Mentoring

Coach mentoring is a process that aims to support and advance coaches and coaching at all levels of sport.

Mentoring, in its simplest form, is people helping people; it means helping, advising, teaching, counseling, instructing, and guiding another person.

Mentoring is a highly effective way for new coaches to learn the “how” of coaching, and apply theory that they may have learnt in a classroom or through independent study.

Mentors will work with the coach to develop and strengthen their coaching skill, be a sounding board for problems, help to identify some weaknesses or just be a source of motivation and a reminder that you are doing a great job. Mentors will / should not act as Master Coaches!

Mentoring relationships can be formally structured, with mentors assigned to coaches, or they can be informal, growing out of a chance encounter with a like-minded coach. They can be equally useful for those just starting out in their sport and those with many years of experience.

We offer training for anyone wanting to become a mentor and especially for our RSOs who wish to set up mentor programmes to develop their coaches.

Coach Recognition

Sport Canterbury West Coast co-ordinates the Canterbury/West Coast Sparc Volunteer Coach of the Year Award. This is a national campaign that recognises the involvement and commitment to sport by hundreds of volunteer coaches throughout New Zealand.

The volunteer coaches are nominated through a coordinated national process, and Sport Canterbury/West Coast judges and announces a regional winner at their awards function.

The regional winner then represents Canterbury/West Coast at the National Awards function.