Coach Mentor - West Midlands in Home Based

Home Based

West Midlands

£2000

24 Jan 2025

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Coach Mentor - West Midlands

About Us

This role is located in the West Midlands and will be managed by the Swim England West Midland Region. Comprising of the counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcester County, Swim England West Midland Region is one of eight regions in England. Regions form the middle of three tiers of national, regional, and county swimming governance, each with specific areas of responsibility.

The Region is managed at a strategic level by a Management Board, with the day-to-day responsibility for the aquatic disciplines lying with its volunteer managers and committees. Swim England West Midland Region works in partnership with Swim England to ensure that we have compatible strategies and development plans.

The region employs a small team comprising of two full time officers, one-part time administrator and one full time manager. It engages others on a contract for services basis, to ensure that our clubs, athletes, coaches, and volunteers are able to access the support, training and education they need to reach their full potential. As such, the advertised role(s) is considered a self-employed freelance role and not an employed role within the regional team. We are confident that by investing in development, and the growth of aquatics, the West Midland Region will continue to improve and achieve the Vision detailed above.

About The Role

Coaches matter. Great coaches shape and enrich the lives of those participating in our aquatic sports. They are the lifeblood of our clubs and sports programmes, providing guidance, support and encouragement to help people achieve their personal goals and aspirations.

Following the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, a funding pot was created to ensure a lasting legacy of the Games. Part of this funding has been gifted to the West Midlands region with a focus on developing the coaching workforce and ensuring that our people and audiences have lifelong enjoyment and participation in our sports. As a region, we are proud to have launched our new strategy earlier this year. Within the ‘People’ strand, we have committed to developing a Coach Education Plan that incorporates soft skills and inclusive thinking, aligning well with the funding objectives and the planned legacy of the Games.

Great coaching is central to our Regional Strategy, the headlines of which can be found below:

Vision
Inspire, empower and unite the communities of the West Midlands through the benefits of aquatics.

Mission
We will be participant-centred, safe, inclusive, well-run and sustainable. Through partnerships, we will grow aquatics by enabling diverse and accessible opportunities for all.

Guiding Principles

To realise our vision, we will grow aquatics in the region by;

Being participant-centred
Being safe, well-run and sustainable
Being inclusive of all communities
Providing education
Growing aquatics
Working in partnership

Strategic Themes
1. People
2. Participant Journey
3. Governance
4. Marketing and communications

We are therefore seeking to engage a number of Coach Mentors to work across our region to assist with the development of our coaches. Messaging and resources to support this objective will be provided via the region and Swim England nationally. The role will have a focus on participant-centred coaching, developing soft skills and providing a safe and fun environment in aquatics, through a highly skilled workforce.

What are we looking for?

Experienced coaches or mentors (aquatics experience is desirable but we welcome applicants from outside of our sports)
Someone who can effectively support the holistic development needs of coaches and their athletes. Ensuring that they have a positive sporting experience and are given the best opportunity to realise their full potential in line with Swim England’s values, culture and strategy
A passion for people development and enhancing the coaching landscape
A good understanding of the current challenges faced in aquatics and coaching
Someone who is open minded and wants to have a positive impact
A commitment to undertaking and completing a mentor qualification
commitment to learning and the support of up to 4 mentees

What will the Coach Mentoring programme look like?

Initial phase:

Engage 4 coach mentors
Coach mentors to complete a mentoring qualification that will be provided, free of charge (1st4sport Level 3 in Workforce Mentoring)
Upskill mentors with relevant aquatic knowledge and key messaging to work with coach mentees (up to 4)
Upskill mentors in soft, coaching craft skills to support the mentees

Second phase:

Shape the programme with the coach mentors, gain insight and best ways of working
Agree key messaging and resources to support coach mentors
Identify coach mentees
Agree a plan per mentor which is overseen and managed by the Regional Operations Manager, through agreed reporting mechanisms
Agree tutor/assessor support for completing the qualification

About You

In order to be shortlisted for the next stage in the process you must demonstrate within your application how you meet the following essential criteria:

The potential to mentor, motivate, support and empower individuals to thrive
An ability to be objective and offer a unique perspective to balance points of view
Exceptional people skills which make people feel valued, supported, and listened to
Have an excellent understanding of coach education and coaching.
Hold experience in providing feedback and evaluating individual plans
The ability to be a role model

Desirable

Previous experience of mentoring coaches would also be advantageous

What is the time commitment?

You must be able to commit a minimum of 12 months to this programme, with a potential view to extend, funding dependent
Travel across the region to complete a number of visits with your allocated mentees – these will be allocated according to individual need of the mentees and the most suitable fit, rather than based on geography
82 hours over a 12-month period (4 x mentees per mentor with 20 hours per mentee). This time will be used as contact time with mentees
number of hours to complete the educational tasks associated with completion of the Level 3 Workforce Mentoring qualification

We welcome mentors/coaches external to aquatics. Please note, the provided Workforce Mentoring qualification is transferrable to other sports if future opportunities arise.

The rate of pay for this contract is £2,000 (based on 4 mentees) plus travel expenses as agreed with your engaging manager.

So if you feel you have the suitable skills and attributes for this position then we would like to hear from you.

Please be advised that we cannot offer visa sponsorship and that you must have right to work in the UK to apply or be considered for this role. If you are a non UK/EU National, you must have an appropriate working Visa to undertake employment. You must also be working within the UK to apply or be considered for this role, due to the public liability insurance Swim England holds.

Swim England West Midlands Region together with Swim England is committed to inclusion and embracing the spirit of all equalities legislation. As a Disability Confident Employer, we actively encourage applications from disabled people. We recognise that the diversity of our workforce is not reflective of today’s society and we are currently operating a pilot scheme whereby applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds can opt into our guaranteed interview scheme. Candidates that have opted into the scheme will be guaranteed an interview provided that they have demonstrated, within their application, that they meet the essential criteria for the role. When completing the application, applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds are encouraged to ‘Opt In’ to the scheme, by ticking the box.

Where possible, Swim England will always make reasonable adjustments for accessibility to anyone who requires it. If you would like any of the documentation in a different format or would like to apply in a different way please get in touch via [email protected]. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process, in line with the Equality Act 2010. However, the organisation may employ positive action where candidates from underrepresented groups can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.

Swim England is also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Amanda Swan, Regional Operations Manager via [email protected].

Please be aware that we use parsing software to extract key information from your CV, which you are able to review and edit within the application form. It is advisable to provide a simple text CV (i.e. no tables, images of text etc.) to aid the transfer of information. Please review the information in your application form prior to submitting.

No Agencies Please

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