Young women get set to coach
It is well recognised that women are less likely to take part in sport than men and even less likely to develop a career in sport. The Partnership was recently identified as a national pilot to work with a group of young women and provide a training and development programme designed to support their aspirations in becoming sports coaches. Funding was secured through Sports Leaders UK to deliver the exciting scheme.
The course was targeted at women aged 16 to 19 in a bid to encourage more women to become actively involved in the delivery of sport and physical activity across the Tees Valley area. It also offered the opportunity for participants to gain a number of leadership and sports related certificates.
Young women were recruited from Step into Sport programmes through colleges in the area as well as women who engage in personal development programmes through local provider Fairbridge Teesside - an organisation working in the community with young people who find themselves out of education, employment and training.
The women engaged in three consecutive days of activity where they were able to develop leadership skills, confidence and learn and develop effective delivery styles. The first day involved team building and leadership skills delivered through challenging outdoor activities led by Fairbridge. Day two featured a Sports Leader "Women Get Set Go" course and day three was an introduction to physiology of sport utilising the scientific labs at Teesside University. The women were amongst the first people to get a look inside the new sports science building at the University and had the chance to test out some of the video analysis equipment.
Participant feedback was great, with all the women involved indicating that they had gained confidence, enjoyed meeting a variety of new people from different backgrounds and learned a number of skills in relation to coaching.
So what next for the women? - Throughout the course participants were supported in drawing up personal development plans and identifying ways in which they needed to develop in order to achieve their goals. All the young women identified a number of coaching courses they would like to attend in order to further their experience and now Tees Valley Sport will be working closely with the participants to support to do this and also offer them a bursary to subsidise the course costs.
Women Get Set Go tutor Sarah Bennett said "When approached to be part of the programme I jumped at the opportunity. My remit within my role is to develop female basketball but I see this course as a fantastic way to develop female's full stop. It helps develop their personal skills and confidence. Working with the girls was brilliant fun and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the girls and help them through the course and the self discovery path it takes you on. I hope the girls got as much out of it as I did".
Tees Valley Sport officers were thrilled with the development of participants that was visible throughout the course. Several of the women are already involved in coaching and a number of the participants from Fairbridge will now be inspired to think about coaching as a career. One of the girls is a current England boxing international and it is hoped that they will all become inspirational role models and encourage more young women to take part in sport.
