Coaching Better Every Day through CoachSG

Coaching Better Every Day through CoachSG

Singapore, 31 October 2018 - Local accredited sport coaches to be future-ready through additional support from CoachSG's programmes and initiatives. This was announced at the annual CoachSG Conference by Minister for Culture, Community & Youth, Grace Fu that saw over 200 local coaches come together to connect with and learn from one another.

Enhancing Capabilities

Since the launch of CoachSG in 2017, it had enhanced the Continuing Coach Education (CCE) programme which gives coaches a platform to continuously upgrade themselves in their area of coaching. This is part of CoachSG's goals to strengthen the coach education system and pathways in Singapore by involving coaches in the peer-to-peer learning and inviting subject experts and organisations (e.g. Singapore Physical Education Association, Employment & Employability Institute, leadership guru Dr Ralph Pimm and more) to share their knowledge. To date, more than 2,700 coaches have participated in 90 workshops.

One such coach who has participated in delivering the CCE to their peers is Table Tennis coach, Beatrice Chan who conducted a workshop on rules and regulations of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and MOE's inter-school championships for 20 fellow table tennis coaches. Such courses are not available commercially, hence it is important for coaches like Ms Chan to share their knowledge and experience with others through the CCE. Ms Chan shared that "As a National Referee and International Umpire, I proposed to have a CCE workshop to update coaches on the latest rules and regulations of table tennis. Throughout the CCE workshop, I was glad to see that the coaches showed interest in knowing the rules better and also using the practical session to simulate different scenarios that they have encountered before for our group discussions. The CCE workshop brought value to the coaches and was also a very good experience for me. I was very impressed with the outcome and through this workshop, coaches from different backgrounds and school teams had a chance to learn and share their experiences with one another. This is a very good platform to gather coaches and upgrade themselves together."

Another initiative that has provided support of S$24,000 to 13 coaches from 6 different sports is the enhanced Coach Development Grant (CDG) which was launched in December last year. The Grant provides financial assistance to individual sport coaches (including provisional) who wish to upgrade their coaching knowledge and skills by attending coaching attachments, conferences, short-term courses or pursue a degree or diploma either locally or overseas.

On the employment front and to promote viability of a coaching career, CoachSG had partnered the NTUC Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit, Employment & Employability Institute (e2i), and NTUC Learning Hub to support the Tripartite Workgroup Recommendations for self-employed persons, deliver SkillsFuture Advisory Workshops and SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace for coaches, and developed bite-sized learning modules on the ULEAP (Learning Enabled through Active Participation) mobile application. CoachSG is also appreciative to have received the Partner of Labour Movement in May from NTUC together with Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and Sports Coaches Association of Singapore (SCA).

Mr Troy Engle, Director of CoachSG shared "Since the launch of CoachSG in May 2017, we have collaborated closely with our coaches to co-create a programme to support their professional development, to improve the standards in coaching and also to promote the viability of career in coaching. We will continue to work with all our partners on coaching development and employment matters so that coaches can continue to grow and provide a safe environment as well as be the inspiration for their athletes."

SafeSport

Beyond promoting the viability of coaching as a career, Sport Singapore through CoachSG, has been working closely with Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Ministry of Education (MOE) to form the SafeSport Commission in 2019 to develop guidelines to help the sports fraternity have an understanding of best practices to practise safe sports.

Minister Grace Fu shared in her opening address, "I want to emphasise that, at the heart of the issue, everyone - coaches, teachers, parents, officials, and the athletes themselves - has a part to play in SafeSport. First, we have to be vigilant and pay attention to what is happening around us in training and during competitions. If we see or sense something amiss, we need to raise this with the appropriate authorities. Second, we need to ensure a safe space for those affected to share their concerns without fear or discrimination. Everyone in the fraternity has a responsibility in ensuring a safe environment in sports and to uphold the public trust that has been emplaced on us."

In May this year, 150 participants from the sporting fraternity participated in the inaugural Safe Sport Forum and 59 National Sports Associations (NSAs) pledged a "zero tolerance" stance towards sexual misconduct in sport. The NSAs are working with SportSG to develop the individual NSA's commitment statement as well as appointing a Safeguarding Officer by 2019.

CoachSG Conference 2018

The two-day CoachSG Conference 2018 - "Coaching Better Every Day: Made In Singapore..." took place from 31 October - 1 November 2018 at Republic Polytechnic. This annual event, the second year in the running, saw renowned ex-national coach of the Australian Women's and Men's Hockey Team, Dr Richard Charlesworth speak about the 'Powerful Lessons from Coaching Life' on the first day of the conference.

The Conference took a critical look at the achievements of local athletes and coaches of the past and present and evaluate those successes from the lenses of Coaching Pedagogy, Coaches' Professional Development, Character and Leadership in Sport and Sports Science and Technology.