Coaching Scholars Visit Scottish Rugby Union
British Cycling's Coach and Education Officer Andy Kirkland and coaching scholars Belinda Tarling and Michael Vickers, right, recently visited Murrayfield, the home of Scottish Rugby, to gain an insight into the coaching structure of a different elite sport.
On the first day of the visit, Scottish Rugby's National Fitness Co-ordinator Ken MacEwan gave an overview of the performance pathway, coach and education and strength and conditioning structures within the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU). The scholars then observed the Edinburgh Rugby Professional Squad training session, with Head Coach Rob Moffat explaining the aims of the session and how it was designed to prepare the players for the following day's Heineken Cup match.
Finally, National Academy and Scotland Sevens Coach Graham Shiel then provided an insight into performance development, training structure and prescription for Academy players and how it was designed to progress players towards their long-term performance goals.
Belinda commented that she was struck by how specific to the game all the training was and the attention to detail of all the coaches. She said that seeing what the SRU did would impact on her coaching because it would make her question what the purpose of a particular session or exercise was. It also re-enforced that excellence is only achieved through practice, so coaches should not be afraid to repeat - to make riders repeat activities until they have mastered a skill or technique.
British Cycling would like to thank Ken, Graham and the SRU for providing our scholars with such a worthwhile and inspirational experience, which arose through a pilot coaching scholarship scheme which began in early 2010 with the aim of developing grass roots coaching in cycling.
Over the last year, the successful applicants for the scheme, Amy Willoughby, Belinda Tarling, Michael Vickers and Pollyanna FitzGerald have all been provided with unique opportunities to aid their development. These opportunities include working with World Class staff at races, Regional Schools of Racing, training camps and coaching sessions.
In addition, scholars have been provided with funding to add to their British Cycling Coaching Qualifications, attend conferences and other relevant courses. Subsequently Amy has been awarded an internship within British Cycling as a Schools Development Officer, which is funded by the Youth Sport Trust.
Applications for the 2011 scholarship programme will be advertised toward the end of February on the British Cycling website.
For more information contact: coaching@britishcycling.org.uk
