...there seem to be certain barriers. There only seems to be one coaching standard recognised by the BAofE, and I'm worried that if I try and go for it, they'll reject me because I'm not a county player or something.

The courses are miles away too. All I want to do is to encourage new blood to play (for a very small commission!).

What should I do?

Aleik.

hi Aleik

I don't why they'll reject you at all i'm in the same position as you u can start off by going on a Leaders course. It's Basically a days work showing you how to coach and helps you to improve your game too. It's basically like a coaches helper. :)

Do they start at leaders in England as well?

The leaders award is a show up and get it sort of thing there is no real badminton knowledge or skill required. It mostly shows you how to deal with groups of children and to keep them entertained adn motivated by keeping their attention.

Where do you go from there?

In Scotland it is:

1. Leaders
2. Instructors
3. Club
4. Advanced

There is one other, I think it is premier national and you have to have played for Scotland to get into the course.

Over here in Singapore, two organisations run courses. known as the National Coaching Accreditation Programme (NCAP), leading to the award of a coaching certificate. The NCAP Theory is conducted by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) and the NCAP Technical by the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA).

Both the NCAP Theory and Technical courses, which comprise three learning levels, must be successfully completed before a complete and recognised certification at each level of NCAP is attained. The 3 levels are:

NCAP Level 3 (Master Coach) - designed to help coaches apply the principles of planning an annual training and competition programme for elite athletes and teams, after acquiring advanced level knowledge in sports science. Total 64 hours (SSC 39 hr; SBA hr).

NCAP Level 2 (Senior Coach) - designed to help coaches prepare athletes for competition. The process of developing training programmes to prepare athletes in the physical, psychological, technical and tactical domains is taught. Total 50 hours (SSC 30 hr; SBA 20 hr).

NCAP Level 1 (Coach) - designed to help coaches understand the various approaches to coaching. Basic skills are introduced and coaches are taught how to design a safe, enjoyable and challenging practice. Total 37.5 hours (SSC 22.5 hr; SBA 15 hr).

Apart from the above requirements, practical attachments under the SBA programme are not included.

On 16 Dec 2002, the SSC has launched a National Registry of Coaches (NROC) drive to recognise and raise local coaching standards and assist the public in making informed choices when engaging coaches. The NROC is a comprehensive database of coaches who have completed the NCAP programmes and registered coaches have to subscribe to a Code of Ethics and commit themselves to self-improvement through the Continuing Coach Education programme. In addition, they must possess valid First Aid/CPR certification.

It is still a long way for Singapore to develop a professional pool of qualified coaches but a start has been made. I believe an Elite Level may be introduced at an appropriate time to develop coaches who are good enough to coach the national players. Right now we are relying on foreign coaches.

Bare minimum racket skills are all that is required. Most of the instructors of the coach awards were not county players.

The BAofE coaching awards are concerned with your ability to teach badminton, not your ability to play it. Of course, you need to have playing skills appropriate for the skill level of your students: you can't coach an England international if you're only a club-level player.

The leader's award qualifies you to introduce badminton to beginners. It does not qualify you to run your own introductory course, however. Also, you may not represent yourself as a coach, although you may assist a fully qualified coach. You must demonstrate adequate racket skills, but the required level is very basic: you just need to be able to perform all of the basic shots to a competent standard. That is, you need to be able to serve high and low, perform forehand overhead clears, drops and smashes, net shots, lifts and drives on both sides of the body. It doesn't matter if you don't perform these shots very well, and you certainly do not need to perform overhead backhands or sliced shots etc.

The main requirement for a leader's course is to pay attention and show enthusiasm. You may be surprised by the high quality of the instructors, and you will probably learn some playing tips from them. To be honest, you would have to try quite hard to fail a leader's course. The leader's course is a day course.

The next level of course is coach part one, which is a three day course. I have not yet found time to take my coach part one, but I understand it is much more serious. They will pick apart your game and make sure you correct any bad habits; you do need to have a reasonable standard of basic shots for this one, although you will not be required (say) to clear baseline to baseline with a backhand. After this course you will be a fully qualified coach, able to teach independently within your experience level.

You can enter the coaching programme at either leader's or CP1. I recommend starting with the leader's course - you're almost guaranteed to pass, and it's just a day course. It cost me £55.

Further to what Gollum said, with the coach part 1 award, you need be of a reasonable standard to pass - for example good enough to be able to demonstrate movement and shots fairly well. But you don't necessarily need to be a county level player. You will also need to coach several sessions after the course and keep a log book which will be assessed.

The BAofE coaching awards will probably be changing later this year though. Out will go the leaders/part 1/part 2 etc structure to be replaced with a new scheme. I don't know any concrete details yet (and I probably shouldn't say anything even if I did ;) )
but I think the first couple of levels are (nearly) finished and will be started fairly soon.

I see! Thank you for your insights which I am unable to obtain anywhere else!

Well I went to the BAofE website, and they don't give a lot away. Ttktom - we're from roughly the same area...do you go through the BAofE for the leaders award or is there a governing body for the North West?

I'm just not keen if the nearest course is a long distance away...

Thanks again.

Aleik.

CP1 seems to be the same as the second level in Scotland (Instructors) all you need is a cetrain ability to teach the shots well, not always play them well yourself - it is more of an explanitory ability that is looked for. As long as you can get the people you are coaching doing the shot and correcting the mistakes they make.

Some people on my course could barley hit a clear or a smash.

Dill, the CP1 in England is quite a bit more advanced than the instructors in Scotland, I have done both awards now.

If I remember correctly the instructors course was done in one full weekend - Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday morning, and the final assessment was on the Sunday afternoon. We had to draw a shot out of a hat which we then had to try and teach to a group of children. I got the smash, and the kids couldn't have been older than 10 or 11, so it was not easy teaching them to hit the shuttle down as it would have gone in the net!!

With the CP1 I think it was over 2 weekends, with a separate assessment day later on. At the assessment day we had to demonstrate proficiency in coaching tactics to a small group, in a one on one coaching session, where you had to locate the most obvious faults in the player and work on them, and in a large group session 15+ kids I think. You then also had to complete your logbook on coaching sessions after the course. The detail and range of shots covered was also greater on the CP1. Having said that, it did cost considerably more than the instructors!!

Aleik, if the cost is an issue it may be worthwhile asking your county association if they will fund the course for you, in return for you providing some coaching for them after you have passed. I don't know about the leaders course, but I would certainly say the CP1 was worth it - you will probably learn a lot about your own game as well, and if the coach taking the course is fairly advanced, you may be able to get some extra freebie coaching out of them. We managed to do this on the one I attended!

The CP1/2/3 courses wil go out the window by september. I have completed the CP1 course, all but the assessment which is also in September.

Just some food for thought for all you English coaches...with the new system approaching:

How will the existing awards be looked upon?
Are you content with keeping your current qualifications?
Will you go for the new set as well?
Will, for example, CP1 Award and the new doubles coaching award overlap?
What are the requirements for taking the new courses?
Is it worth taking the new courses if they may just change again within 5 years?

Aleik.