Les Bee, FFA’s National Community Coach Development Manager, believes a key outcome of the Community Coach Coordinators program will be an improved “coaching culture” within Queensland clubs.
Bee recently helped launch the new initiative with induction sessions for prospective Community Coach Coordinators in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast.
The program provides interested coaches with skills and techniques to mentor and organise their peers at community-level clubs.
“We don’t want to create another tier of coaches – we want them to keep coaching,” Bee said about the role of a Community Coach Coordinator.
“Essentially it’s just whether they can provide another one or two hours a week to support some other coaches.
“We see the value of the program itself as building the culture within the clubs so the clubs that buy into it will have a more positive coaching culture.”
Les Bee, FFA’s National Community Coach Development Manager.
An essential goal of the program is to ensure coaches with limited experience or formal training have easy access to guidance and support in the form of a Community Coach Coordinator, which will in turn filter through to players.
“I think the thing is to, one, value them and, two, to provide a go-to person if they’re having difficulty with their coaching,” Bee said.
“Predominantly the aim is to make sure the players have a really positive experience, a good quality football experience.”
Over 50 coaches attended across the first two induction evenings, hosted by Bee and Football Queensland’s Community Coach Development Manager Scott Grimshaw.
While pleased with the intitial steps of the program, Grimshaw says it is important to now begin growing the program across Queensland.
Scott Grimshaw (middle) at the recent CCC induction evening in Brisbane.
“It needs to go state-wide,” he said.
“We’re fortunate where we are in the South-East to get to the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast to here at Meakin Park, but I’ll definitely be delivering the same information, the same program to our friends up north.
“Les Bee has a wealth of knowledge. We’ve got to try to get him up north as well so we can look after the northern zones but it’s really positive having Les on our doorstep to facilitate these workshops.”
To learn more or become a Community Coach Coordinator, contact Scott Grimshaw via ScottG@footballqueensland.com.au.
