ENGLAND HANDBALL: COACHING AUDIT 2013

In early 2014, England Handball audited nearly 10,000 coaches, young leaders and teachers who had qualified to deliver handball since the inception of coach, leader and teacher pathways as introduced by the NGB. The rationale was to gain a greater understanding of the workforce, where they are being deployed, what they are doing and what they wish to do going forward. The responses provide a snapshot of what the coaching and workforce landscape looks like, for handball in England today. This document provides key data and context with which coach education and development programmes will be improved going forward. For further information, detail or queries; please contact Coaching and Workforce Development Manager, Liam McCarthy at 2013 Coaching Audit Data (Handball)

Male (63%) White (65%) British (24%) Would not consider themselves to have a disability (96%) The NGB Level 1 Coaching Award is their highest level of qualification (59%) Active within the last 12 months (78%) Delivering as part of their current job role, e.g. teacher (52%) Not undertaking any other roles in sport, such as a mentor, coach educator or assessor (79%) Hold a UKCC coaching qualification in another sport (69%) Unsure if they would take another award or qualification with England Handball (49%) Keen to learn using a hybrid method of digital, plus hard-copy resource (52%) Meet the ‘typical’ handball coach…

Demographics of handball coaches in England The handball coaching workforce is young in comparison with the all sport average across the UK. 75% of all handball coaches in the country are 34 or under. This poses both challenge and opportunity, as research shows coaches under 35 are twice as likely to drop out of coaching due to major lifestyle changes. The opportunity England Handball have is to retain these coaches through appropriate training and deployment. The number of female coaches has rise from 2012, by 34%, to 37% which is pleasing and can be linked directly to the Girls4Gold female leadership programme. England Handball possess a much higher percentage of qualified female coaches than the all sport average of just 18%

Where are handball coaches from? A national picture

Where are handball coaches from? A local picture

Which the highest level award/qualification a handball coach has? The make up of the England Handball coaching workforce is predominately NGB Level 1, although this doesn’t mean they are novice coaches. Just under 70% of all handball coaches, hold a UKCC coaching qualification in another sport. The task facing England Handball is to continue the transfer of coaches to Level 2 in Handball.

Next step for handball coaches in England Almost 70% of the handball coaching workforce have ambitions to progress to become Level 2 qualified. This trend was seen in the 2012 coaching audit and as a result the number of L2 coaches increased in England Handball will work hard to translate this clear interest in to education opportunities for the learner coaches.

How often are handball coaches coaching? Just under 1 in 5 coaches are delivering handball twice or more per week, while over 3 in 5 coaches aim to be delivering handball twice or more per week in the next 12 months. There is a desire to be deployed, the challenge for England Handball is to ensure these opportunities exist. The shift from less frequent delivery to more frequent delivery of handball by the coach, in the next 12 months, is common across every sector. England Handball need to provide a range of deployment opportunities to suit the needs of all coaches.

Where are handball coaches being deployed? Delivery is skewed heavily toward to education setting which would be expected due to the increase in school competition and continuation of programmes such as Change4Life and Sainsbury’s School Games. Our continued partnership with Street Games and the initiation of the Doorstep Sport Club programme would account for some of the rise in handball delivery within a multi-sport club setting. Opportunities exist to increase the deployment opportunities within the HE/FE sector given the recent increases in participation.

What elements of their coaching are handball coaches keen to improve on? England Handball are working hard to meet the needs of their coaches and in response to the above, are training 9 coach educators to be able to deliver the sports coach UK workshop ‘Delivering engaging sessions for young people’. This will become part of England Handball’s core education and training offer from March 2014, to all clubs and coaches. Meeting the needs of coaches through partnership working will be a theme for 2014.

Level 1, but not a novice coach. Although the typical handball coach is only at Level 1 on the coaching pathway, this does not men they are a novice coach. Research tells us that 69% of handball coaches hold a UKCC coaching qualification in another sport.

For any questions relating to the data, the research methods or use of the data, please contact Liam McCarthy, Coaching and Workforce Development lead at England Handball /