Written by RH/PL   

Coaching at Kingston AC & Polytechnic Harriers

The "Club"

The following information about Coaching and Coaching Practices is for all competing Members of the Club who use the training groups, and is particularly important for the parents of Junior athletes to understand the protocols involved with preparing their children for competition in the activities the club participates in.

Essentially, coaching falls into two parts within the Club:

• 1. Evening groups.

  These are for Senior and our more experience (generally slightly older) Junior athletes. We have a large number of Coaches who between them cover the full range of events.

  Some are volunteer Coaches and others work for Momentum Sports, a coaching company closely associated with the Club. Most Coaches are qualified under UKAthletics, with younger Coaches under supervision and preparing for accreditation. All coaches are required to hold current Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) certification with Cashel Riordan as the designated DBS verifier.

  Training is generally on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, but can be at other times too in some groups.

• 2. Kestrel Club.

  This training group is for junior athletes who are beginners or younger athletes and offers a general grounding across all events in a fun and fast moving way.  Athletes are exposed to every athletic event and also learn to improve general co-ordination and speed, attributes which youngsters pick up very well.

  After a period of time athletes progress first to High Flyers within Kestrels (and get a slightly more advanced level of coaching) and then are invited to join one of the evening groups.

  The ages for the various Kestrel groups are set out in the link below, but across the course of the week there are sessions for all ages from those in school year 2 up to 13.

  See www.kestrelclub.co.uk for full details.

All groups within the Club are focused on getting the best from athletes, in terms of enjoyment, athletic advancement and personal development.

To achieve this we have a set of agreed standards we adhere to which is based upon the Coaches Code of Conduct.

For details of this see 

http://kingstonandpoly.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1998