Stuart Pearce talks leadership with ECAP coaches
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ECAP particpants take part in team building exercises
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Grace Cullen 30 September 2011
Coming together for the penultimate workshop of UK Sport’s 2010-11 Elite Coaching Apprenticeship Programme (ECAP), coaches looked at developing their leadership style, while hearing from England U21 manager Stuart Pearce.
With just three months remaining on their ECAP journey, the 12 emerging high performance coaches met at Whittlebury Hall on 28-29 September and took part in discussions and tasks around leadership, motivation and performance under pressure, as well as putting their teamwork to the test in a pit stop challenge at Silverstone Circuit.
Having made the progression from player, to assistant coach, to manager, Stuart Pearce was well placed to talk to the group about how his coaching style has evolved and took part in a frank and honest question and answer session.
He said: “I don’t try to model myself on any individual I’ve worked for, but they’ve all shaped how I manage and also how I conduct my life.
Talking after the session, GB Taekwondo’s Steven Jennings said: “Stuart Pearce was fantastic, a lot of his values and beliefs are similar to mine and I could relate to what he was saying. I like how he flexes his style to suit different people, he’s driven but not afraid to say when he’s made a mistake.”
On day two of the workshop, the ECAP group spent time at the newly renovated Silverstone Circuit and heard from Formula One race engineer, Richard Connell, who discussed the structure of a race day and decision making in high-pressure situations.
“It’s not one size fits all when it comes to management and motivation, everyone has different ways of motivating and different coaching strengths, the important thing is to understand exactly what you are and where you are as an individual.”
UK Sport Coaching Team Co-ordinator, Sarah Craven, who leads ECAP, said: “It has been great to reunite the group for the sixth ECAP workshop and hear some of their highs and lows since we last met.
“The aim was for the coaches to increase their knowledge around leadership, motivation and performance under pressure. We welcomed Stuart Pearce for what was a very open and insightful session, before taking part in a hands-on challenge at Silverstone that brought the group together to put their learning into practice.
“The workshop has been a great success and we look forward to welcoming the group for what will be their final session in December.”
The Elite Coaching Apprenticeship Programme is a two year initiative which aims to accelerate the development of coaches already within the High Performance System, to enable them to have an enhanced impact in the short term, but also to become the elite coaches of the future.
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