Badminton England, in collaboration with UK Coaching, is pleased to announce the first cohort of coaches accepted onto the Female Leadership and Performance Coach Programme, starting this month.
The programme is designed to support the development of influential and upcoming leaders within coaching, ready to act as role models to inspire a generation of future athletes and coaches.
Badminton England want to make Badminton more reflective of those who play the sport and the communities they are based in and become the nation’s most accessible, diverse and inclusive sport through an unrelenting focus on equality, diversity and inclusion.
Accepted onto the programme were the following coaches:
- Atu Rosalina Sagita (Leicestershire)
- Hayley Adcock (Surrey)
- Helen Calverley (Yorkshire)
- Jess Cranfield (Cornwall)
- Lesley Uphill (Kent)
- Melanie Vickery (Wiltshire)
- Mhairi Armstrong (Bedfordshire)
- Nicola Cerfontyne (Hampshire)
- Shamira Naidu-Young (Warwickshire)
The programme aims to support coaches by increasing the competence and confidence of coaches, so they are able and willing to transition through the pathway, while being positive role models to drive the development of female coaches and players at all levels of the sport.
This will be achieved by:
- Providing opportunities for coaches to connect and build their network of support.
- Providing opportunities to share, challenge thinking, make sense and reflect on lived experiences.
- Utilising the Coach Learning Framework to develop knowledge, skills, and coaching behaviours for coaching in a performance pathway environment.
- The interactions, face-to-face and virtually, will be practical, reflective and highly relevant, underpinned by expert research.
“We are excited to have such an inspiring group of coaches from a variety of backgrounds accept a place on the programme” said Lee Bent, Coach Education Manager at Badminton England.
“Over the next 12 months we look forward to supporting the continued growth of these coaches together in collaboration with UK Coaching, whilst raising the profiles of such great role models for the sport across our platforms to drive the development of female coaches and players at all levels of the sport”.
Pete Fitzboydon, Interim CEO at Badminton England, added: “We look forward to welcoming this talented cohort of coaches onto this new programme, which will invest in their development and support them to continue to drive the long-term health of our sport.
“The Female Leadership and Performance Coach Programme is one of many initiatives cited in our response to the recent UK Sport Culture Health check, which will help us to develop a successful and positive elite performance environment. This programme also reinforces our commitment ensuring diversity and inclusion in every area of the sport”.