Held in Edinburgh on the 26-27 June at Scotland’s national sports performance centre – better known as Oriam – the event saw over 300 delegates from across the whole coaching workforce – coaches, the coaching system workforce, the coach development workforce and senior decision makers in sport and physical activity – congregate to network, learn, share and develop.
The theme for this year’s multi-sport event was ‘The Next Generation’ and focused on helping those in attendance to come together and develop the next generation of coaches, as well as helping current coaches understand how to provide great coaching to children and young people. In particular, the conference provided information on how to involve young people in coaching roles; how to understand the physical development of the growing child; and how to prioritise the welfare, well-being and motivations of everyone who receives coaching.
Notably, Emma called upon the delegation, during her key note speech, to use their collective 4000 years of coaching experience to work towards a common purpose of ‘doing the right thing for the next generation’.
Over two days, delegates attended nearly 50 coaching sessions, saw 125 children experience great coaching and learnt about great coaching through interactive and informative workshops. They were also treated to inspirational key note speeches from the likes of tennis coach Judy Murray and Google’s digital guru Gori Yahaya. The former spoke on how the next generation can be supported through coaching and the latter looked at how technology can be used effectively in coaching. All in all, delegates came away with a greater understanding of how coaching is not just about skills and drills but also an opportunity to develop people, especially the young.
Missed the UK Coaching Conference? Don’t worry, you can catch up via our special event live blog.