UKCC National Angling Coaching Certificate – What is it?
The Federation of Welsh Anglers has been meeting with nominated representatives for all the national governing bodies for angling in the UK, excepting Northern Ireland at present, with the aim of developing one accredited national angling coaching qualification recognised throughout the United Kingdom.
The new qualification will match UKCC criteria, which means angling will provide levels of coaching comparable to other UKCC sports, e.g., football, rugby, hockey, athletics, etc, and will also enable our coaches to, besides working as club coaches or at FWA/Environment Agency events, have the option of a career ladder, if they so wish.
The new qualification, which is recognised by the respective Sports Councils for England, Wales and Scotland, is in response to a Government initiative to improve coaching standards in sport. The introduction of UKCC into angling in Wales is heavily reliant on funding availability as it is a costly process, but, if all goes well, the new qualification should be established in the next year with new coaching levels introduced up to Level 4 in due course.
The UKCC qualification should also have a positive impact on competition angling, the upper levels offering national and international team coaches the opportunity to improve their skills and knowledge, assisting them with the ever increasing demands of their roles.
How will UKCC affect existing coaches or those about to undertake an angling coaching course?In Wales we currently do not have a L2 coaching course, the new UKCC L2 is scheduled for completion from July/Aug summer 2008, existing FWA L1 coaches will be eligible to apply for the UKCC L2 when it is introduced.
Any minor changes will impact on our L1 course, which we will continue to run until the new L1 is introduced, (no timescale available at present). It may be a requirement for current FWA L1 coaches not wishing to proceed to L2, to attend ‘up-skilling’ seminars, covering any gaps, if any, between the old and new L1s, within the duration of their current Licences, i.e., within three years, as at the end of the three years the new licences issued will have to reflect our new UKCC status.
Any current FWA coach with any queries or anyone interested in becoming an angling coach should contact National Angling Coaching Co-ordinator, Helen Peace,
Helen.pearce@btconnect.com, or our Regional Coaching Co-ordinators.