The Programme
October 29, 2020
Since launching the Women in Sport (WIS) Coaching & Mentoring Programme in 2018, Swim Ireland have supported 89 females to complete coaching qualifications.
From these coaches, we have seen 64% complete Level 1 Assistant Coach qualifications. We continue to encourage females to engage in coaching, but we also wish to inspire females to take on lead coaching roles within their clubs to further their impact upon our aquatic sports.
As a result of this we are now launching an exciting opportunity for female swimming coaches to engage in a mentorship programme with Swim Ireland’s National Senior Team Head Coach Ben Higson, with this taking place within the world class performance environment at the National Centre (Dublin) - NCD.
This is a fantastic opportunity for female coaches who are seeking to supplement their coaching qualifications with real life experience in an endeavour to further their development.
Potential candidates should see this as an opportunity to step on poolside and work directly alongside Ben Higson, his NCD coaching staff and many of Ireland’s potential Olympians preparing for Tokyo 2021 and beyond.
Successful candidates will gain an insight into world class training models, session content and coaching styles across the various training groups within the NCD full-time athlete programme, along with the F4-24 Programme and Project LA initiatives - different groups of athletes who are all striving for Olympic qualification.
Spaces for this mentorship are limited to six and will be filled via an application process. Places will be free of charge and travel expenses will be covered within the mentorship.
The Mentorship
October 29, 2020
December 2020 to April 10th 2021
- Three introductory learning sessions with Ben Higson. These will be completed online throughout the month of December and will be interactive
- One practical coaching session per week for 12 weeks at the National Centre (Dublin) on the Sport Ireland Campus in Blanchardstown. We have an opportunity for six coaches to partake in this programme, with two coaches operating at three different sessions per week
- Practical programme will commence on January 11th 2021 and finish on April 10th 2021, with the session commitment for the mentees coming from Monday & Friday 1700-1900 sessions & a Saturday 0600-0930 session*
- Observe a variety of coaching styles from the full NCD coaching staff, and note first-hand the variance in coaching approaches and delivery that can be adopted for Performance level athletes.
- Each coach successfully completing the programme will receive 6 CPD points.
This coaching mentorship is designed to support skills such as:
- Delivering a competitive training model
- Communication styles for individual athletes
- Smart Swimming: session content, stroke specific skills, race tactics and savviness
- Considerations for outside of the pool
- Arena preparation and skills
*Applicants who cannot attend the session dates detailed above should not apply for the mentorship. Session days will rotate weekly for mentees between Monday, Friday and Saturday to offer a range of differing coach deliveries and athlete training groups
The Applicants
October 29, 2020
- Swim Ireland Club Members
- Minimum of a Level 2 Coaching Qualification already held
- Seeking to or are already coaching competitive club swimmers who are at least at Swim Ireland National Division 2 Competition standard
- Up to date Garda Vetting
- Up to date Safeguarding Level 1
- Do not need to have graduated through the WIS programme previously
Application Form (click to download)
Please complete and submit to Bethany Carson via bethanycarson@swimireland.ie by 17:00 on November 23rd 2020
