Triathlon England launches a national network of junior talent identification and coach development
In October 2011 Triathlon England were given the opportunity to work alongside Sport England and eight other Paralympic sports to create an innovative project which would aim to identify young people with the potential to take part and excel in sport.
The bid that Triathlon England submitted covered three key areas that were identified as the most important areas to ensure these projects were able to run successfully and also continue sustainably in future years, these areas were as follows:
- Kit and Equipment
- Coach Development
- Regional coach deployment
Triathlon England was successful in their bid which meant activity started in the middle of January with the Coach Development Programme. This saw five courses being delivered across the country by the country’s leading coaches and experts in the field of paratriathlon. The courses were delivered in:
- Middlesbrough
- Rochdale
- Loughborough
- Hillingdon
- Bath
Around 70 coaches of all levels accessed these courses enabling a new wave of enthusiastic people to have a better insight into how to coach paratriathletes, which is just the start the sport needs if disabled athletes are to be able to seamlessly link with local clubs and events.
Penny Broomhead, who is British Triathlons lead classifier, and has a long history in amputee rehab and disability sport, was the lead tutor on all courses, and was supported by Steve Casson, Fiona Hoare and Andy Bullock, all level 3 coaches, with a good amount of experience working with the British Paratriathlon Performance squad.
Jonathon Riall, Paratriathlon Manager at British Triathlon commented “It’s fantastic to see such a good take up to these courses, and the effect it appears to have on those who attended. People now seem very keen to develop their skills, create projects and develop their clubs and event, which is the first step in creating a truly inclusive sport”
It was identified that to be able to run programmes both now and in the future to attract people to the sport and give them their first step on the paratriathlon ladder, TE needed to purchase a range of kit, as paratriathlon is a kit intensive sport, therefore within the coming months TE will own hand bikes, racing wheelchairs, wheelchair rollers, tandems, Watt-bikes, wetsuits and helmets, therefore enabling a wide range of activity across the country.
The final part of the project to start was the Regional Projects which had an overall aim of attracting people to the sport, developing them to take part in an event and to join a club. The projects are taking place in the same areas as the CPD were help, giving us an active workforce to support and great club links to offer. Each area now has a lead project coach to ensure that the quality of the coaching and local knowledge is maintained across all areas, these coaching leads are as follows:
- North East – Kay Stokes
- Manchester – Tony Jolly
- Leicester – Leigh Archer
- London – Scott Murray
- Bristol – Andy Bullock
These projects are now just beginning, and activity will be happening in these areas throughout the summer, therefore if you are interested in them, feel you or your club could contribute to it, or you simply want to know more, please contact Jonathon Riall who can put you in touch with your local project.
