Golf Trade Show invite for ICaP pair

ICaP's Professor Dave Collins and Dr Howie Carson have been invited to present at Europe's largest golf retail and education event.

The Golf Trade Show 2015 (GTS2015) features expert industry speakers who will discuss a variety of topics including management of staff, junior coaching, biomechanics and how to grow the game.

The timetable is devised to help PGA professionals learn new information to help enhance every aspect of their businesses.

David Colclough, PGA Head of Member Education, said: "This year's line-up brings together some of the members' favourite speakers, along with some of the people who have been shaping much of the recent analysis of how to get more people playing golf.

"We also welcome new speakers who have made an impact on the PGA's CPD programme this year, and I'm particularly excited to welcome Professor Collins, who brings so much knowledge from the world of sport.

"I really hope PGA Professionals will take advantage of all these great learning opportunities during their visit to The Golf Trade Show."

The event takes place 6-8 October at Harrogate International Centre. For more information please click here.

As a follow up to GTS2015, Professor Collins and Dr Carson are running a CPD event entitled 'So now you've learnt to do it, how do you make it better?'

The course aims to provide new 'tools' for coaches relating to 'what needs to be done and why' and 'how to do it' when implementing skill refinement.

The PGA National Training Academy, The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, is hosting the course on 11 November. Applications are currently restricted to PGA members, although may be opened to non-members closer to the event.

For more details please email Dr Howie Carson.

ICaP continues to deliver elite service

ICaP focuses on the enhancement of performance, either directly or by developing providers and systems to bespoke needs.

Institute members regularly work across a variety of disciplines, both individually and as members of an integrated support team.

Andrew Cruickshank is currently providing ongoing consultancy services to the British Judo Association, Motor Sport Association and other individual elite performers.

In addition, his recent publications have covered topics such as the dark side of elite team leadership, culture change in professional sport, and leaders'/coaches' professional judgment and decision making.

Andrew recently completed his UCLan DProf examinations and is completing training as a supervisor for the professional preparation of applied sport and exercise psychologists through the British Psychological Society.

He has also conducted invited presentations at The University of Edinburgh on professional practice (performance psychology) and elite team cultures.

For more information about ICaP please click here.

Institute to launch pioneering new coaching course

ICaP has revealed plans to launch a new course which could change the face of coaching education.

The Level 3 programme has already attracted huge interest across a variety of sports. Table Tennis England are the first national governing body to sign up to the programme and it's hoped others will join them in the future.

ICaP currently offers an endorsed Level 4 UK Coaching Certificate, but after a request by Table Tennis England to look at a new approach for Level 3 awards the new course was designed.

Course Leader Bryan Jones commented: "From an academic point of view it's very humanistic. Rather than people coming in and having a pre-prescribed coaching programme, we'll assess where they are at the start and see how that measures with a set of competencies at the end.

"We're personalising the journey so they can fulfil their Level 3 within the domain they're currently working. It will be a pioneering approach to coaching at this level. We've had lots of interest so far, including from Rugby League, and we're hoping many other sports will see the benefit in utilising the programme."

Miriam Beales, Coaching and Workforce Manager for Table Tennis England, said the new course will properly bridge the gap between Levels 3 and 4.

"For us it's about making it more realistic to the coach for the environment they are in," said Miriam. "Rather than giving them formalised knowledge, everything will be contextualised towards the individual."

The course, targeted for an October 2015 start date, will be worth 20 credits and provides a university certificate plus the chance for progression onto full honours degrees.

Bryan added: "We're pushing the Level 3 award towards the first year of a degree territory. This should create a higher level of coach further down the road. We hope people will see the value of a programme which will result in the learning journey being a true reflection of their needs and aspirations."

For more details about the programme please email Bryan.

ICaP Director in big demand

Professor Dave Collins' expertise has been in much demand across a variety of disciplines over the past few months.

In addition to ongoing consultancy work in Premier League football and Super League rugby, Professor Collins recently advised top British actor Idris Elba during a 'big air' acrobatics challenge for an upcoming television programme.

He has also delivered a Keynote presentation looking at 'Scienceiness' in Talent Identification to students at the University of Bath, completed PhD examinations in Denmark and Norway, and released numerous publications across different sports including Freeskiing and Snowboarding.

At the beginning of May Professor Collins, along with ICaP's Dr Áine MacNamara and Mark Adamoulas, will conduct a training day for RFL Academy staff as part of our ongoing Knowledge Transfer Partnership project.

Future plans include working with London Business School and a collaboration with Professor Carlos Goncalea from the University of Coimbra in Portugal.

For more information about ICaP please click here.

Sports Coach UK Talent Seminars

The Institute of Coaching and Performance (ICaP) will welcome Sports Coach UK to UCLan for the first of a national series of Talent Seminars.

Aimed at high performing coaches in talent and performance, the day will consist of two workshops with the addition of a guest speaker who will deliver the talent topic from their expertise, all utilising current research and applied practice.

The seminars are targeted at Level 2 UKCC qualified coaches or those working within the talent pathway and/or identified talented performer.

The event takes place on Saturday, 16 May. For further information please click here.

ICaP member climbs the BASES ladder

ICaP's Dr Howie Carson has successfully completed his British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) Supervised Experience course.

Conducted by Professor Dave Collins, the course lasted over three years during which Dr Carson provided support in a variety of sports including Golf, Motor Sport, Archery and Rugby Union.

He now plans to apply for Accredited status as a BASES Sport and Exercise Scientist and also Chartered status as a Scientist.

Dr Carson worked with numerous leading sports organisations during the course, including Leicester Tigers Rugby Union Club and the English Cricket Board.

He is qualified as a PGA Advanced Professional golf coach and has been invited with Professor Collins to deliver a headline talk at the prestigious Golf Trade Show in Harrogate later this year.

For more details about Dr Carson's work please click here.

Top names gather for coaching event

Bryan Jones and John Trower recently attended a showpiece national conference which brought together some of the world's leading coaching educators.

Hosted by Sports Coach UK at the University of Gloucester, the UKCC Level 4 Conference featured talks from a number of high profile names and gave delegates the opportunity to share ideas and good practice techniques.

Toni Minichiello, who coaches star athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill; Professor Jean Cote, a world leading researcher into sport; and Sports Coach UK's Andy Grant were amongst a range of speakers from across the sporting spectrum.

The event featured a number of workshops, including updates on the latest research, the current thinking behind the process of reflective practice and the challenges of Mentoring in the UK.

Bryan said the two-day event was extremely productive: "It was great to catch up with colleagues who deal with the same issues on a day-to-day basis. We share our approaches to working with high performing coaches and challenge each other to improve what we do.

"There was a brilliant mix of coaches and coach developers in attendance and it's great to get their views. It is clear from the conference that UCLan are performing exceptionally well and changing the practices of coaches."

For more information about Sports Coach UK please click here.