Coaches: Community Sports Coaches

Originally created with the assistance of funding provided directly by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and subsequently supported by Sport England, the Community Sports Coach Scheme is focused on:

• A step change through developing a career structure in coaching,
• Increasing the number of qualified coaches employed at a local level,
• Providing quality standards for the recruitment, employment, management and development of coaches,
• Providing managed, quality continuous professional development support for employed coaches,  
• Providing high-quality coaching with a focus on young people.

In Merseyside the Community Sport Coach Scheme has enabled a number of partners, working alongside Merseyside Sports Partnership, to invest in the creation of full and part time coaching posts specifically aimed at supporting young people to develop their fundamental sporting skills.

Creating full and part time Community Sports Coach posts has provided the opportunity for coaching to become a viable career option: passionate and committed local coaches benefit from the certainty and security created through a contract of employment, identified programme of work and agreed Continuous Professional Development. In turn our partners benefit from employing dedicated coaching professionals, with specific knowledge, skills and experience who can focus on providing high quality experiences to participants.

From the perspective of the young people who receive coaching the scheme provides continuity: the individuals coaches are able to build an understanding of the young people and develop sessions which recognise the abilities and ensure progression. At the same time the coach is able to build a rapport with the young people participating in the sessions which aids retention and development.

An equally important role which Community Sports Coaches fulfil is the ability to mentor and support the development of other coaches and young leaders who benefit from their experience and knowledge. Through mentoring the Community Sports Coaches are in turn able to raise the standard of coaching delivered in Merseyside.

There has been a few case studies produced in relation to Community Sports Coaches, please click here to view them.