INSTITUTE IIS High Performance Coach, New Programme Launch

High Performance Coach Pursuit of Excellence Programme (PEP)
Programme Introduction: A message to Coaches...

The Pursuit of Excellence Programme (PEP) aims to engage you to consider your personal and professional growth. To facilitate and assist you to explore areas of development and experience that provide you with learning opportunities that assist you in realising your coaching potential.

It has been my experience as a coach and working with coaches that our search for continuous improvement in our athletes/players doesn't end and our need to be adaptable in dynamic environments is ever present. I pose a thought I often have, how proactive are we at taking the time to reflect on our own improvement needs? Constructing a development path for ourselves, I would argue, is essential if we are to keep pace not only with our athletes/players development needs but also those developments critical to success at a high performance level.

My experience and that of the coaches I've worked with, was that the pursuit of performance improvement in our athletes/players was our continuous purpose. This purpose was certainly enhanced by our commitment to our own journey of performance improvement.

I believe powerful relationships are developed through a high performing coach who values the people they work with. They aspire to have qualities that inspire and they share with and empower the people around them. They recognise the diversity of needs of their athletes/players and understand that goals are accomplished by bringing together and collaborating with, the wider support team. Most importantly high performing coaches recognise the significance of the athlete's/player's contribution to the coaching process.

As high performance coaches, your skills and knowledge are your currencies, equally so it has been my experience that the ability to engage with and develop effective working relationships impacts high performance in us as coaches and the athletes/players we work with. The team at the Institute of Sport very much look forward to supporting you on this journey and should you be successful in this application, we will offer you among other things guidance to develop your own high performance coaching career plan.

If you decide to apply for the PEP we ask that you consider the following and give yourself some time to reflect and take some written notes before you continue to the application:

• Consider your goals as a coach; what do you need to develop to give you the best chance of achieving them?
• Where you are, right now, in relation to your goals, in other words what is your current starting point?
• If the athletes/players you work with were to describe you in your role as a high performance coach, what would you like that description to include?

Finally at the back of the application you can explore some examples of courses and activities. These are not intended to influence your choices or decisions but only to provide you with some examples and ideas.

Best Wishes,
Gary Keegan

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