Friday 23 July 2010

MLT making progress with coaching qualification pathway

Mountain Leader Training was formally tasked by the Mountaineering Councils with developing a coaching system over the next two years to complement the existing leader and instructor schemes. To date a lot of information gathering has taken place and this article summarises the work done so far and also what is
involved in the UK Coaching Certificate.

This spring and summer we held several meetings with staff from sports coach UK including our coach development advisor, Dr. Gillian Mara (The UK Coaching Framework is explained here http://www.sportscoachuk.org/index.php?PageID=2&sc=5&uid=)
This research was contextualised by the annual coaching summit in Cardiff (June 29-30th) and provided sufficient background information to allow a tentative mapping exercise of the Climbing Wall Award syllabus and assessment methodology against the National Standard recommended for Level 1 (assistant coach) and level 2 (coach) in the UKCC framework.

The UKCC is not a qualification but rather a standard. If we develop coaching qualifications that match or exceed the UKCC standard it makes sense to consider seeking endorsement of them as UKCC qualifications. This is because the UKCC is a recognised national standard that can be used by coaches to clearly demonstrate their coaching competencies. Also, those working within the outdoor industry often coach other sports, such as orienteering, mountain biking, paddlesport and sailing. Therefore, if the various awarding bodies follow common standards it can be easier for prior learning to be recognized.
This can allow a coach in one sport to move more easily into another sport, as they will hopefully not have to repeat generic coach training that they already possess. UKCC awards can attract funding, which is an obvious benefit for coaches wishing to become qualified.

A UKCC ‘qualification’ is an endorsement process, whereby a qualification meets set criteria, and is then endorsed. The preliminary mapping process demonstrated how our existing schemes meet many of the risk management criteria, but are lacking in common coaching skills. Regardless of whether or not our coaching qualifications pathway fulfils the UKCC framework, an audit of the existing coaching workforce and employers’ needs is desirable; this is something that Mountain Leader Training has always done before introducing any new awards. The difference here is that participant needs should also be assessed. This will enable us to gauge the level of demand for coaches at various levels, including assistant coach. It will provide a snapshot of where we are now, so provide a benchmark for monitoring the success of future coaching qualifications supporting both participant and coach pathways.

News integrated into main MLT website

Over the next few weeks you will find progressively less news about MLT workshops and developments in this blog, as we are making more use of the live news bar that runs throughout the MLT website. Be sure to visit the MLT website for up to the minute news about developments in Mountain Leader Training.

Friday 9 July 2010

Moel Famau, WGL Training


This week I joined a Walking Group Leader Training Course in the Clwydian Range of North East Wales.
We had a nice stroll up th track to the summit of Moel Famau and I was able to chat with the Course Director and candidates about the WGL scheme and gaine feedback over its suitability for them. The candidates were from North Wales and thought that the area was a bit limiting for the remit of the WGL, which echoed some comments from providers at the last workshop.

Maybe we should add paved paths, and way marked trails to the remit in the syllabus?

I'm now getting ready for the National Eisteddfod at the end of the month in South Wales, where we will be joining a stand with Clwb Mynydda Cymru and the BMC.

Bryn
MLTW National Development Officer

Sunday 4 July 2010

Coaching summit and reality

Another hectic week, starting with a couple of days in Cardiff at the sportscoach UK annual summit in Cardiff. With representation from many sports as well as representatives from all the home nation sports councils, this was a great opportunity to catch up with the mindset of the policy makers in the new political era. Thanks to Lottery funding, sports coaching is pretty safe financially, but there are potential areas of controversy that we need to be aware of. At MLT our primary aim for a coaching qualification pathway is to create a system that works for our sport/pastime. So if the UKCC model doesn't work for us, so be it. However all my research so far suggests that for at least levels 1 and 2 there is no reason why we shouldn't work within the UKCC model as long as our assessment methodology is acceptable to UKCC. If it looks like it will create mounds of pointless paperwork we'll step sideways but certainly at the moment there is no reason not to stick with it. On Thursday I presented a mapping of the Climbing Wall Award against UKCC Level 1 and level 2 criteria to our designated sportscoach UK rep, Dr. Gillian Mara. Jon Garside and myself were gratified to find that the CWA needs little other than some background understanding on team working and reflective practice/formal evaluation methods to fulfil the criteria for level 1 at least, so I will begin consulting over a proposed syllabus for this over the next few weeks.
I spent a long weekend in the Peak District with my son Sion Idwal and Chris Parkin's family for a coaching induction into gritstone climbing. This was an interesting challenge as we wanted them to sample some mid-grade classics as well as gain some leading experience in preparation for university life in Yorkshire if they get their "A" level grades. I think we pulled it off reasonably well, with various team switches enabling everybody to climb something at an appropriate grade throughout the trip. Routes climbed included Flying Buttress, Flying Buttress Direct, Hollybush Crack, Queersville, Leaning Buttress Direct, Tippler, Dangler, Goliath's Groove, Wall End Flake Crack, Right and Left Unconquerables at Stanage, Embankment Routes 1 and 4, Portland Street, Great North Road, Lyon's Corner House, Knightsbridge and the Mall at Millstone, and Tody's Wall plus Valkyrie at Froggat.