Coach Development Officer (CDO)

The CDO's remit is to support coaches to become better coaches, this involves building a system of people who work with coaches, teachers and leaders to identify their current strengths and training needs, and to support them to improve in the areas that they identify.

This improvement may be brought about by:

Attending NGB qualifications, workshops, coaching clinics, coach forums and conferences
Observing a more experienced teacher / coach
Establishing mentored support
Accessing / observing better standards of players or athletes
Using self-reflection techniques to analyse and identify areas of improvement within your coaching
Producing tailored coach action plans based on identified areas for improvement
Finding and trying new ideas from coaching journals, books, internet-based resources etc

One of the key roles of the CDO is to support National Governing Bodies, County Sports Partnerships (Suffolk Sport), School Sports Partnerships and Local Authorities in accessing continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities by establishing local structures to support these agencies in delivering effective coach development.

National Governing Bodies

Recruiting and developing coaches to meet the needs of the player pathway
Recruiting and developing coaches from identified priority groups
Focused development work with high performance and elite coaches

Clubs

Recruiting and developing new coaches i.e. from existing players and parents
Identifying training needs of existing coaches
Establishing club mentoring schemes to offer coaches better development opportunities and support

Suffolk Sport

Establishing infrastructures and systems to provide managed access to initial qualifications and CPD opportunities
Identifying, training, deploying and supporting a network of Coach Managers (What is a Coach Manager? Presentation and Job Description) and Mentors
Supporting NGBs and Suffolk Sport with the provision of initial coach education and CPD opportunities post qualification
Supporting the network of Community Sports Coaches that are employed across the county to ensure that we are working towards a professional coaching workforce

School Sports Partnerships

Developing teachers and paid coaches and volunteers (formerly AOTTs)
Developing Community Sports Leader Award (CSLA) students
Supporting Community Sports Coaches that may be employed by the partnership
Supporting the development of Multi-skill clubs and coaches

Local Authorities

Supporting Local Authorities to meet local targets and priorities
Recruiting and developing coaches from identified priority groups
Recruiting and developing coaches to address recognised need i.e. lack of level 2 coaches; lack of coaches in 'focus' sports
Identifying training needs of existing coaches and providing appropriate development opportunities to address these

Generic Core Themes

Improving the quality of coach provision and opportunities for priority and equity groups
Increasing awareness of Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD)
Supporting the implementation and local delivery of the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC)