UK Sport is delighted to announce the 12 emerging high performance coaches who will form the second intake of their Elite Coaching Apprenticeship Programme (ECAP), which begins today.
Following the success of UK Sport’s Fast-track Practitioner Programme and Elite Coach, ECAP aims to work closely with the participating sports to accelerate the development of emerging coaches already working within the High Performance System. During the two year programme, each coach will build on their current knowledge and experience to create a bespoke development pathway towards coaching excellence, based on the needs of the coach and their sport.
Following a typical apprenticeship model, the 12 coaches will benefit from ‘on the job’ training by working alongside a ‘Master Coach’ from within their sport while also having access to a Mentor. This will be complimented by a workshop programme, delivered by experts in coaching, non-technical coaching skills, sport science and sports medicine.
UK Sport’s Director of Performance, Peter Keen, said: “After the first year of running ECAP, we are delighted to be able to extend this exciting development opportunity to the second group of up and coming high performance coaches. It is impossible to overstate the fundamental role that coaching plays in determining success in elite sport and given UK Sport’s aspiration to invest in and support the development of a truly world-class elite sport system, we recognise the need to have the best coaches and coach development process in the world.
“I would like to wish these new recruits every success and look forward to seeing them develop over the coming two years as well as the impact they will have on British athletes in the future.”
One of the coaches selected, Paul Darby-Dowman from GB Canoeing, said: “I’m really pleased to be joining ECAP. I expect the tailored workshops on the programme as well as working closely with my master coach and mentor to be valuable in improving my effectiveness as a coach. I’m also looking forward to interacting with other coaches on ECAP and gaining an insight into their sports.”
World Class Performance Manager for eventing, Yogi Breisner who supported Clive Milkins’ nomination for ECAP commented: “It is great for equestrian sport that Clive has been accepted onto the Elite Coaching Apprenticeship Programme. Having had some involvement with the Programmes run by UK Sport in the past, I have always been very impressed by the quality, it will therefore be of real benefit, not only to Clive but to equestrian sport in general.”
A full list of Apprentice coaches, along with their respective Master Coach and Mentor, is detailed below.
Apprentice (sport) - Master Coach, Mentor
Craig Keegan (Hockey) - Peter Nicholson, David Bunyan
Emily Parker (UK Athletics) - Derek Evely, Tom Crick
Hayley Ginn (UK Athletics) - Peter Eriksson, Tom Crick
Jean-Paul Bell (British Judo) - Patrick Roux, Penny Briscoe
Joanna Eley (Speed Skating) - Nicky Gooch, Mike Rotheram
Clive Milkins (British Equestrian) - Michel Assouline, Jane Goldsmith
Chris Newton (British Cycling) - Dan Hunt, Shane Sutton
Mark Ratcliffe (Canoe Slalom) - Jurg Gotz, Alan Olive
Paul Darby-Dowman (Canoe Sprint) - Eric Farrell, Alan Olive
Nathan Hilton (Swimming) - Mark Perry, Chris Martin
Jon Rudd (Swimming) - Dave McNulty, Chris Martin
Jenny Leeming (British Diving) - Edwin Jongejans, Julian Bellan
Take a look at how the first group of coaches to benefit from ECAP are getting on.