Secondary School Student Coaches Given the Tools to Grow

Secondary School Student Coaches Given the Tools to Grow

MEDIA RELEASE

11/04/17

Hundreds of secondary school students had the opportunity to develop and gain confidence in their coaching skills across a number of workshops held throughout the Wellington region last week. Over 320 secondary school students took part in Sport Wellington’s ‘Getting Started in Coaching’ courses held in Taita, Porirua and Kilbirnie.

Sport Wellington and College Sport Wellington have been working in partnership targeting secondary school student coaches and officials with the goal to develop student leaders using coaching and officiating as the context for learning about leadership.

“Coaches play a vital role in ensuring that athletes enjoy and continue to participate in sport. Being able to give these first-time coaches support along with growing their knowledge provides a great platform for them to start their coaching career” says Kelly Curr, Sport Wellington’s Community Coach Advisor.

Developing student coaches, officials and leaders has been identified as a critical need by College Sport Wellington and secondary schools. The wider Wellington region has the fourth highest rate of secondary school sports participation in NZ (61%), the highest of the major metropolitan areas, as identified by the NZ Secondary School Sports Council.

However, Wellington has the second-lowest rate of school staff involvement in coaching (13%) which requires students to fill coaching and officiating roles to provide other students with the opportunity to participate in sport.

Delivered in partnership with College Sport Wellington, the three day-long courses covered the core principals of coaching, introduced the students to ACC’s SportSmart warmup, and ended with sport specific coaching sessions.

Regional Sports Organisations, including Capital Hockey, Wellington Rugby, Capital Football, Capital Basketball and Netball Central Zone delivered sport specific sessions to the students. These sessions allowed students to develop knowledge for drills and skills, teamwork and match dynamics in their chosen code.

College Sport Wellington Executive Director, John Hornal was hugely impressed with the engagement and passion shown by the students. “These opportunities help equip students with the tools needed to grow and share during their careers,” he said.

Since 2015, 26 secondary schools and 920 students have taken part in the courses resulting in an impact on over 9,000 children. Future Getting Started in Coaching courses for secondary school students are scheduled to be held in the Wairarapa in May and in Wellington in September for summer codes.

ENDS

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