Leading School Sport
Purpose of Leading School Sport Programme:
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Provide support, upskill and connection for school Sport Leads (people leading sport within their school).
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Schools providing quality experiences of sport and activity for tamariki and wider school whanau
We hear time and time again, “I just can’t get parents to put their hand up to coach” or “I’m just super busy” or “jeepers parents are hard to deal with.” Sound familiar? You are not alone, as these are comments we are hearing throughout the country.
Leading sport in schools can be challenging, especially for time poor people immersed in the hustle bustle of school life. And even though we are hugely passionate about providing quality experiences for our tamariki, we are sometimes at our wits end or sometimes don’t know where to turn to for help or ideas. We here at The Coaching Gig are aiming to help. The ‘Leading School Sport’ programme aims to support school Sport Leads to ‘feel the love,’ to build confidence, capability and capacity to spend time in an impactful way. The ultimate outcome being to deliver quality sporting experiences for tamariki and the wider school whanau.
As the sporting landscape, young people and family demographics change, so too does the way we deliver our sporting experience. So get in touch to find out more.
What does it involve?
Programme Structure:
The programme lasts 12 months and includes:
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On-line programme: Sport Leads will have access to the Leading School Sport programme (on-line). There are a range of modules, tips and ideas that participants can engage with when appropriate (see below for examples).
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Community of Practice: A place where Sport Leads can share, collaborate, hear from guest speakers and much more. These will largely be done on-line, although potentially face to face within regions and where there is demand.
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On-going Resources: Sport Leads will be provided with regular updates, tips and ideas via email or any other mediums that are suitable and most easily digestible for busy people.
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Access to The Coaching Gig team / network: Just pick up the phone, send an email or a text and we’ll aim to help you out.
We believe in ‘on-going’ programme models… because….they are far more effective than one-off workshops (we don’t go to the gym for a weekend and end up fit do we?). This programme is a holistic approach and caters for a balance of ‘Leading Self,’ ‘Leading Others’ and ‘Leading Sport’ (aka ‘tools of the trade.’), Modules may include:
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Developing Vision
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Building School Sport Culture
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Balance and Purpose
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Strategic Planning (The Game Plan)
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School-Wide Engagement
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Parent / Whanau Engagement
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Influencing Change
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Volunteer recruitment + retention
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Enhancing Relationships
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Managing Stress
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Event Management
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Critical Conversations
Please note that our approach and content may change depending on the needs of the participants. We are agile!
Cost:
$350 + gst per Sport Lead for 12 months. The normal cost of one day’s professional development is estimated to cost the school between $250 and $600, if relief teachers are required. What a bargain!
Case Studies
Case Study 1 – Coach Support
We have worked with two primary schools on a coach development initiative. Both schools identified challenges in preparing their coaches for the Rippa Rugby competitions. They both had 20+ teams, so finding willing coaches was a big undertaking. So, we ran a ‘workshop’ for the parent coaches and their kids (which was a big enabler as no baby-sitters were required). The vast majority wanted to know how to survive the rippa season – ‘what are the rules?’ ‘What does rippa actually look like.’ For an hour we played rippa and built confidence and understanding. But the magic lay at the end of the workshop. The school spent $50 on a few beverages and finger food, and the adults stayed around and chatted, build connections and relationships within their school community. Now they stop and chat at the crossing on the way into school and are more willing to put their hand up to ‘coach.’ So it’s all about building a culture of connection, so the parental community, along with their kids feel like they belong. Any coaches out there that can help? Yes please!
Case Study 2 – Revamping Athletics Sports
Athletics has some deep-rooted traditions, which generally caters for 10% of the competitive kids (which by the way has its place) In Year 1, a local school delivered a traditional approach to athletics. You know… All 30 kids line up at the end of the long-jump pit and do one jump every 10 minutes. What happens is that the kids got bored out of their brains, start misbehaving, the teacher then spots them and punishes them for ‘being naughty.’ And the parents get frustrated as they don’t see their kids involved enough, so start making excuses that the ‘have an important meeting to get to.’ Have you seen this before?
In Year 2 the athletics day was revamped. Instead of long queues, they utilized throwing, jumping and running games. If a queue was needed it was only 3 deep. There were still traditional sprinting races (and finals for those competitive ones). As a result, the kids were involved all the time, behavioual issues non-existent, teachers didn’t have to discipline the kids, and parents stayed for the duration as they could see kids involved (while gossiping with other parents of course).
This change was influenced out of a strong vision and took some planning and ‘buy-in’ with the wider staff. But it got done!