Review of Community Sports Coach Scheme

Sport England appointed Prospects4Sport to review the Community Sports Coach Scheme in the East Midlands and identify the schemes which warranted future support.

Our work involved:

• identifying with each CSP how many CSCS coaching positions there were, how many individual coaches were employed in these positions, the number of hours they worked and when the funding for each coach finished.
• identifying criteria and using this to measure the effectiveness of existing coaches - telling us which positions within each County area were worth maintaining beyond the end of the funding period
• outlining the impact of losing the identified positions in terms of coaching workforce and the impact on the levels/quality of sports activity delivered locally
• identifying sustainability options for the continued funding and employment of coaches beyond the CSCS funding
• exploring the link between the emerging regional coaching centre and the ongoing sustainability of Community Sports Coaches.

We collated all the existing data made available by the CSP, then we talked with Coach Managers - and from there we were able to put together a full picture of the status of the CSCS across the counties, together with a position statement on how the numbers of coaches would be affected through the loss of continued funding. The impact of losing coaching positions was also assessed through analysis of KPI data and anecdotal evidence collected through the study.

The key success factors for CSCs included:

• ensuring that each coach had a dedicated Coach Manager from the outset and that their role is clearly explained to coaches on appointment, ensuring they are experienced line managers, offering the support, guidance and regular contact a coach requires
• ensuring the coach had access to CPD and that this was regularly reviewed. Central to this was assisting CSCs with access to training courses and sports specific qualifications to allow them to develop as coaches
• promoting the coach as an integral part of the employing agencies' teams and ensuring they received the same support and benefits as other members of staff
• ensuring the coaches were observed regularly and provided with feedback to assist in their personal development
• incorporating feedback at the end of the individual programmes delivered by the coaches to ensure they take account of comments from both leaders and participants and that this was reflected in revised programmes
• the need for coaches to use innovative approaches to encourage greater participation by the young people to guarantee that all young people receive a high-quality experience.