In what is now the seventh year of the Go-Ride Conferences, the numbers have consistently grown year on year and this March’s events look set to continue that trend, with the attendance of over 260 volunteers confirmed already.
The largest proportion of attendees to the Go-Ride Conferences are usually club coaches, and this year’s cohort are set to receive a unique insight into a new Continued Professional Development (CPD) workshop which has just been developed by British Cycling’s Coach Education team with funding from sports coach UK.
The ‘Coaching Young Riders’ workshop aims to help coaches to encourage and support their riders to take responsibility for their own development from an early age, not only during coaching sessions but in their life outside cycling.
Understanding the child as a whole, and not just as a bike rider, is an important development according Sarah Cleall-Harding, Senior Coaching and Education Officer at British Cycling.
Sarah said: “When working with young riders, coaches are helping to build the foundations for their future development. Their coaching role is equally important to that of a coach on the Great Britain Cycling Team as their influence may be the difference between a rider continuing to participate in the sport or trying something different.
“When preparing sessions for young riders, it is important to consider how the activities you plan focus on their individual developmental needs, both technically (as a bike rider) and socially and emotionally as individual people.
“It is therefore important that coaches working with young riders have an understanding of how to apply long-term rider development principles in their sessions, how to build positive relationships with their riders and how to promote a positive learning environment, All of these principles will enable the riders to develop to the best of their ability and into happy and healthy adults.”
If you haven’t yet let us know you're coming, please download and the online Invitation and return it via email to: go-ride@britishcycling.org.uk
Held in five superb venues throughout the country in March, the Conferences are split in to five optional areas to attend and in this article; we are going to focus on the workshop specific to coaches.
The 'Working With Young Riders' workshop is made up of four modules, two of which will be delivered at the conferences. The modules will explore how to maximise the development of young people and create high quality coach-participant relationships.
The remaining two modules, which look at areas of managing behaviour and coaching the whole child will be delivered later in the year, with delegates recieving free access to this training.
The day will conclude for the coaches with opportunities to tackle common challenges that community coaches encounter in their Go-Ride clubs. Challenges such as:
— Coaching for both participation and for racing
— Coaching mixed ability groups
— Creating challenging sessions in non-dedicated cycling facilities
This is a unique opportunity to get free access to world leading training and the Go-Ride team look forward to welcoming coaches from Go-Ride clubs to this year’s Go-Ride Conferences. To book your place please contact us direct or download the Invitation here
For further information:
Phone: 0161 274 2070
Email: go-ride@britishcycling.org.uk
