Nine participants on UK Sport’s Elite Programme, which aims to take high performance coaching the in the UK from world class to world leading, have now graduated from it.
The graduates are: Andy Flower (Cricket), Andy Banks (Diving), Ben Bright (Triathlon), Greg Baker (Para Table Tennis), Hugh Styles (Sailing), Jack Maitland (Triathlon), Pasan Kularatne (Paralympic Shooting), Stephen Jennings (Taekwondo) and Stuart Wilkinson (Wheelchair Tennis).
The nine coaches, who work in a variety of Olympic, Paralympic and non-Olympic sports, took part in a rigorous three year programme of personal and professional development from 2014-17, both as a group and individually, with unparalleled access to expertise, technology and experiences from within and outside the sports industry.
The group are the second cohort of participants to complete UK Sport’s Elite Programme after an inaugural group of nine coaches that included Rob McCracken (Boxing) and Eddie Van Hoof (Gymnastics) graduated at the end of 2016.
Chris Stott, Elite Programme Coordinator at UK Sport, said: “Congratulations to this fantastic group of coaches, who have both supported and challenged each other through this fantastic learning opportunity.
“Coaches are the crucial backbone of our high performance system and this group will continue to provide world class support and direction for their athletes, as well as now using the wisdom they have gained on the programme to help us take British coaching from world class to world leading.”
There is currently a third cohort of coaches on the programme who are due for graduation in April 2019.
The third cohort includes leading coaches such as Gareth Southgate (Football), Mel Marshall (British Swimming) and Paula Dunn (British Athletics).