Coaches play a crucial role in Netball and have significant influence on the participants they coach, helping them to reach their full potential. They are responsible for training athletes and providing them with the skills and competencies necessary through structured, enjoyable and safe practices.

As the coach is responsible for guiding and mentoring athletes the responsibilities of this role can vary significantly. The roles a coach will and can undertake are inclusive of Instructor, Assessor, Mentor, Demonstrator, Advisor, Friend, Motivator and Counsellor. The list is endless and does not stop there. Therefore it is important to acknowledge that the role of coach does not stop when the session or fixture is over, it is continual.

Most athletes are highly motivated and therefore the task is to maintain that motivation and to generate excitement and enthusiasm. The coach will need to be able to assist athletes to prepare training programs, communicate effectively with athletes, assist athletes to develop new skills, use evaluation tests to monitor training progress and predict performance.

Therefore, you can see that being a coach is a very difficult task and requires a very special person.

This Coaching Section has been designed as an informative tool to help you develop and reach your full potential as a Coach. If you do not find the information you seek here please contact Patsy Colvin or Danny Neill Co Chairs of the Education and Training (E&T) Working Group.

Education & Training

Previously the Education & Training Working Group (E&T) organised workshops on Observation, Core Strength and Multi-Skills. With the introduction of the coaching CPD workshops being organised across the region the group will look to support the regional office and county officers to run these courses.

If you feel as a coach that you have other training needs outside these CPD workshops and any local training currently being provided, please let the group know so that they can look to provide a solution to your need. Please do this by emailing Sarah Casselden on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Excel Workshops

We are also holding a number of Coaching CPD Workshops throughout the region in 2011/12.

Coaching Female High-Performance Athletes

Sports Coach UK and the Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation have produced a series of factsheets for those coaches who coach women or intend to coach women in the future. The recent factsheet discusses research on ‘Coaching Female High-Performance Athletes’. To read this and the rest of the series please follow the link below;

http://www.sportscoachuk.org/index.php?PageID=3&sc=270&uid

Other factsheets cover the following topics;

• Coaching Female High-performance Athletes
• Coaching Myth Buster
• Developing Female Coaches
• Female Psychology and Considerations for Coaching Practice
• Female Physiology and Considerations for Coaching Practice
• Socially Inclusive Coaching