Engagement and participation for young people and coaches Lindsy Gray, Andy Lockwood and Craig Collins

Overview Local context and situation Working with young people differently Coaching process – upskill, diversify and support Range of offer What does engagement mean? Young people and coaches Success?

Local Context - Participation PESSYP Secondary specialisation – Traditional sports Drop off – Post 11 and Post 16 Club exit route – Traditional activity Coaching specialism – Traditional focus and outcomes A closer look at what the local picture looked like back in 2008? PESSYP – Low take up of 3 hours – around 40%, schools commenting that the same young people participate in all activities Secondary Specialisation – All departments tended to concentrate on traditional activities linked to the curriculum – Football Cricket Rugby all liked to competition, 1 team in each access? Linked to above – Very traditional town for sport – Football, Rugby, Athletics, Cricket and Hockey. No netball clubs or alternative club opps Coaching Specialisms – LA Council Database – 100 coaches of which 90% held the above qualifications as there main sport. Only Dance considered as alternative Issue with capacity to generate interest and then to grow the interest in the community through sustained participation

Step 1 - Consultation Young people focus Needs / wants / barriers Student voice Consultation Evaluation of Previous programmes – “Always do what you have always done............. Traditional Activities, Poster Promotion and no input from the people we are targetting Young people focus – Starting a project made by young people for young people – Consultation (leadership, and in curriculum) Ownership of the programme and ensuring that it meets their needs, young peoples voices are powerful when listened to!

Step 2 – Delivering Need Range of activity Coaches – Technical or Personal? Promotion and marketing Outlets for participation Results of Consultation in Secondary Range of Activity – Traditional Sports are very elitist and teachers/coaches have opinions already developed about ability and potential. Young people want quick, fun games where everyone is on a level playing field FUN? Fast, Unrestricted, Nice Coaches – Move away from very technical coaching, more personalised instruction and support. Promotion – NO MORE POSTERS! Relate to the mediums young people operate in – Facebook and You Tube! Give young people the opportunity to become involved and be innovators! Outlets – Community Clubs not competitive clubs – Central Academies more social activity rather than performance coaching Example of digitALL

Step 3 – Roll Out and Programme Development Secondary coaching programme Young persons officer and alternative activities coach Effective community links Training and development (Sustainability) Development of the programme Links with other types of areas linked to coaching and sport. Input of PF and how their coaching methods can relate and inform sports coaches on how to engage with difficult young people? Role Development – Training up a number of casual coaches was not am option as these activities had never been tried in our area. Development of 2 posts Alternative Activities Officer and Young Persons Officer. Drive Participation, Engagement, capacity building and the development of exit routes Range of Offer and Experience – The 2 posts initally centred around providing young people with activities they had asked for ie street kicks. Those people then had to go out and bring the alternative to the masses! Our team now deliver – Boot Camp Fitness, Rock-it-Ball, Ultimate Frisbee, Handball, Tchukball, Parkour amongst others. The experience has changed too, our coaches have driven a rise in intra and inter competition, developed leadership courses for young students and have now developed central academies for young people to attend. The experiences on offer have to meet young peoples demand! The days of training into fixtures have gone social participation is where the masses attend and where disengaged young people want to participate. Secondary Provision as of 2011 -

Step 4 – Developing Effective Coaches and Coaching Strategies Technical – Knowledge (Easy) Personal – Situation based coaching (Not so easy) Development – Identification of strength and weakness (Not Easy) New Approach to coaching and coach management Personal Development through coaching? Can it come from within? Flying High process – PDP, WDP and CPD Belief – Good coaches are good coaches not because of the technical knowledge or past experience playing the game. They are good coaches because of their personal attributes. Leadership, Communication and ability to relate, so why as coach managers do we insist on identifying numbers NGB awards as coaches CPD? More effective coaching comes developing personal skills and getting coaches to identify areas for personal development. Engagement is all about being ability to relate and listen to young people. Difficult situations arise on a daily basis yet not one level 1 award touches on this subject. How can we develop confident coaches without this knid of training. Technical – Easy – Identification of want then need Personal – Challenges of coaching not what they are coaching – Behaviour management, engagement, motivation Development – Goal Setting, what will it look like, issues and Action Planning. 1:1 based on personal performance rather than number driven outcomes. Training given – Assertiveness, mentoring young coaches and performers, Tutor awards, behaviour management and organistional skills (work programming etc)

Step 5 – Success Measures New Monitoring and Evaluation system Engagement matrix Attendance and improvement Demand after funding cuts Monitoring and Evaluation – Monitoring progression not Numbers Behaviour, Leadership, Motivation, Confidence, Teamwork, Sport Specific Skills and effort measurements Craig to speak about engagement matrix Schools Voting with their feet! All coaches fully booked with paid school workl

Engaging Young People? Consultation and Delivery Skilled Coaching focused on the skill of coaching rather than technical knowledge Exit Route and Progression Personal Development not Statistics

Any Questions