To coincide with the start of UK Coaching Week 2020, UK Coaching is encouraging parents, players and athletes through its #GreatCoachingPledge campaign to recognise and support the people who provide great coaching to their communities by pledging their own time – or by simply saying thanks – to the millions of coaches who keep Britain active.
Three million people coach nationwide, and the COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the remarkable people positively benefitting the physical and mental well-being of communities across the country.
The #GreatCoachingPledge will be part of a national awareness campaign that empowers athletes, coaches and the public to showcase how Great Coaching can play a greater role in building a happier, healthier nation. And the campaign has already been backed by some of sports biggest names, including England Lioness and Manchester City Captain Steph Houghton, former England Rugby Captain Chris Robshaw and 12-time World Champion Hannah Cockroft.
UK Coaching knows how hard and testing the last five months have been for coaches, therefore its #GreatCoachingPledge is to continue to provide accessible learning and development, and a wide choice of products and services that support coaches so that they are appropriately informed and ready to welcome participants back to sport and physical activity.
This includes waiving the fee of its essential, highly regarded mental health training – Mental Health Awareness for Sport and Physical Activity – until the end of September, which was developed in partnership with Sport England and Mind, the mental health charity, and communicating to more coaches about its Duty to Care Toolkit and digital badge that will ensure coaches are equipped with the knowledge and skills to provide great coaching experiences to others, and support them as coaches to better look after themselves as they return to coaching after COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed.
UK Coaching’s CEO Mark Gannon, said:
“The coaching community is the heartbeat of grassroots sport within the United Kingdom, and the #GreatCoachingPledge is a fantastic way for the public to support coaches who have given so much during these turbulent times. Offering your own time to wash kit, helping your local coach out with some of the organisation of training sessions or even a small thank you can mean so much to our coaching heroes.
“Great coaching was here before the coronavirus crisis, has been here through it and will be here as we recover. That’s why we’re calling on the entire sports sector and the nation to collaborate with us and help us celebrate and support coaches. And, as the voice for coaches in the UK, we will continue to listen to coaches’ needs and react to these by doing all we can to support coaches’ well-being, as well as continuing to develop their coaching skills.”
UK Coaching is encouraging the UK public to pledge their support in several ways:
- Recording a 10 second video, explaining how you are pledging your support to grassroots coaches and how you will give your time and thanks to support the coaching community, and sharing it over your social media channels.
- Posting UK Coaching’s #GreatCoachingPledge graphic or a photo of your local coach on your social media channels.
- Downloading UK Coaching’s #GreatCoachingPledge template, printing it off and hand writing your pledge, before taking a photo of yourself holding your pledge and posting the photo on your social media channels.
To find out more about UK Coaching Week 2020, visit www.ukcoaching.org/coaching-week.