Communication to Junior Club Coordinators and Club Development Officers

EHB would like to provide some background to the decision to proceed with the policy change of level 1 coaches coaching independently and the recent change to the statement. The original statement “From 1st January 2012, no coach except those licensed at UKCC Level 2, or above, will be permitted to coach independently” and policy was presented to and approved by the EHB Board in March 2008 and the Board considered at length the implications of such a change, what interventions would EHB have in place and they supported the implementation within 4 years, hence the original date of 1st January 2012. The intent is always for EHB to continue to raise coaching standards and the awareness and benefits of coaching good practice.

EHB issued a statement to all clubs after the Board approval in 2008 and have had ongoing communication direct with all coaches, including level 1 coaches who have taken the VRQ course, clubs through the affiliation packs, e zines and our web site over the past 4 years. A specific communication went with the 2010 and 2011 club affiliation pack and it was an agenda item at our May 2011 national coaching road shows and the topic was discussed at length at each of the roadshows. The statement was updated in August this year and is supported by an extensive FAQ.

EHB received communications from clubs regarding the statement specifically related to the insurance implications. EHB was also been informed by our insurance brokers Perkins Slade that they have had a few enquiries on this matter but they also advised us that a number of other sports are in the process of limiting the activities of Level 1 coaches. Our guidance has been as follows for level 1 coaches:

• Level 1 coaches can supervise teams at matches ; match day duties are covered in level 1 coach award
• Level 1coaches can oversee small game play
• A level 2 Coach can supervise four level 1 coaches who are taking small group practices. EHB supporting statement confirms that level 1 coaches can be insured for what they do, - match day, coaching groups where level 2 coaches are on site

Since 2008 EHB has been focusing on interventions to support coaches and coach development which has included:

• Fast track level 2 coach award has been available.
• Since 2008 EHB through the regions have put on 78 level 2 courses of which 15 were fast track.
• Since 2008 EHB have qualified 683 level 2 coaches and our registered pool now stands at 3859, 21.5% increase. What we cannot tell you is how many are these are active but our intelligence is improving through the Single System player registration system. A License/membership scheme would also enhance this which is being reviewed.
• Level 2 APEL (Accreditation of Prior and Experiential Learning) - an average of 8 candidates per year over the last 2 years have taken this opportunity
• Level 2 bursaries – these were promoted through the regions and we supported 61 candidates of which 7 were in the South
• We have put in place more workforce support totalling over 30 as well as introducing the Centrally Contracted Coach Educators to support individuals achieving the level 2 and level 3 awards
• Coach development model has been introduced to support coach work plans and identify coach needs analysis
• EHB coaching clubs started in September 2011 at performance and development levels with the latter aimed at club and school coaches
• As a key part of workforce development, Jane Powell has begun work with Worcester University to develop a specific course of up skilling old level 1’s to level 2 and this would be completed in 3 days. The pilot course for this will be in January 2012. Resources for future courses will be made available online and specific clubs/universities for example can hold their own course and EHB will provide the workforce to deliver and assess.
• Only level 2 UKCC coaches and above work at JRPC and JAC and we are working towards JDC

The EHB coaching group considered clubs recommendation to re-consider the Statement and give urgent and due consideration to issuing a replacement Statement that makes the policy not mandatory but a recommendation and delaying the effective date until the 1st September 2012, to facilitate the continuation of many club’s insurance policies. EHB also considered all the interventions that have been put in place to support the development of level 2 coaches and our performance since 2008.

The EHB coaching group placed the following options to the EHB Board to consider:

1. We keep the statement and implementation date in place
2. We change the statement to ‘From 1st January 2012, we recommend that no coach except those licensed at UKCC Level 2, or above, should coach independently'
3. We move back the implementation to the 1st September 2012
4. We move back the implementation to the 1st September 2012 and change the statement to ‘From 1st September 2012, we recommend that no coach except those licensed at UKCC Level 2, or above, should coach independently '

The EHB coaching group recommended to the EHB Board option 4, which was supported. The group also felt this will allow those clubs whose insurance renewal date was before August to put the necessary coaching structure in place and by changing the statement it will be an acceptable insurance position. Perkins Slade support this position and statement and believe the delay is a practical help to clubs and the change to a recommendation from mandatory is still a step forward. We believe we have clearly demonstrated the coaching interventions we have put in place to support CPD and awards over the past 4 years and the delay of implementation by 9 months will allow us to extend that communication, offer a level 1 up skilling course after the pilot in January 2012 and add additional resource for level 1 coaches covering appropriate small game play.

We have issued the full statement on the EHB web site confirming:

From 1st September 2012, we recommend that no coach except those licensed at UKCC Level 2, or above, should coach independently