Know the Value of your Coaches

The Martlets is a Guild for Sussex Archery Coaches, looking after their interests and keeping them informed and up to date about coaching matters.   It organises the winter coaching workshops for juniors and for seniors plus other events during the year.  It tries to respond to other requests from various organisations such as Scouts and Guides wishing to run their own archery events. It is represented by its administrator, the County Coaching Organiser (CCO) on the Sussex County Archery Association committee.

The following explains the coaching set-up as it applies to Sussex, which you may find of interest. If you would like to know more, contact the CCO or any other coach:

The Leader grade is intended for non-archers wishing only to teach (not coach) Archery at Leisure Centres for example.   Of the 163 qualified in Sussex, only 19 are GNAS archers.   The Martlets Guild welcomes those GNAS Leaders as members so that they may be kept up to date and supported.

The first coaching grade is the recently introduced Level 1 Coach, which takes about 5 weekends of instruction ending with an exam.   The instruction assumes you are a GNAS archer with background knowledge. We have 21 of these in Sussex. This is the first of the coaching grades to be evaluated and re-named in accordance with the  Sport UK National Coaches scheme.

The next grade is Coach (soon to be re-evaluated as Level 2 Coach) taking in excess of a year to train with a full weekend of exams.  Two years experience is required.  There are 18 in Sussex.

After a further 2 years experience and at least another 12 months course you can be examined as County Coach (due to become Level 3).  We have 5 in Sussex.

The top grade is Senior Coach, which takes more training, exams and 3 years extra experience.  There is only 1 in Sussex.   In fact there are only 3 in the whole of the 14 counties of SCAS.

All grades have to keep a comprehensive “Work Record” which is inspected  before certificates are re-issued after 3 years.

You will see there is a lot of work involved in attaining and retaining coaching status, paid for (usually) by the coaches themselves.   Some (not all) give their time for free, or for reimbursement of expenses.   What they ask in return is that you take them seriously.  None want to waste time on people who don't want their help.   Many coaches, by the way, have insurance through the National Coaching Foundation.

If coaches sometimes appear to be a bit over-cautious in offering their services, it is because it is difficult to detect the difference between those who are too shy to ask and those who need but don’t want help. As a matter of etiquette, coaches should not normally give advice until asked.

Coaches are trained to spot what is wrong and how to correct it.  Also what is right and how to build on it to get the best results.   They don’t have to be brilliant archers themselves, and if they were it would probably get in the way.

Steve Baldwin MNASC, President