David Cornwell House

Bowling Green

Leicester Road

Melton Mowbray

Leicestershire

LE13 0FA

Tel: 01664 481900 Fax: 01664 482888

website: www.bowlsdevelopmentalliance.com

email: enquiries@bowlsdevelopmentalliance.com

THE FUTURE OF COACHING WITHIN THE SPORT OF BOWLS IN ENGLAND

For progress to be made towards the continued recognition of Bowls as one of the 46 Core Sports by Sport England,

it is necessary that the control of coaching comes under the auspices of the Bowls Development Alliance (BDA) and

includes Short Mat Bowling. To make the transition to the new arrangements as smooth as possible, the BDA has set out its ideas below.

Organization:

* An administrative function provided by the Scheme Administrator who will undertake all secretarial, registry, website activities and liaise with the BDA Development Manager on interventions, being the central communication point within the scheme.

* A coaching control and development function provided by a Coaching Co‐ordinator who will be the main driver for improvement in the way coaching is carried out providing guidance and expertise in setting the development requirements for the recruitment and training of coaches, running examinations, retraining upgrades and the provision of coaching materials such as DVDs, manuals.

This important role will be filled as soon as an external review of the current coaching system can be carried out. It will examine how it can be improved to make coaching a more professional and valued service along with raising the profile of coaches in the sport. This will see detailed consultation with Coaches, Clubs and Counties.

A financial function, either supplied by a treasurer or by a designated BDA partner.

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Structure:

* The above officers, along with the regional coaches, will be part of a Management Committee under the auspices of the BDA Director and will be responsible for the running of the scheme.

* The County Coach system is envisaged as being maintained for the initial period but with more influence and standardization from the centre so that all areas receive the best quality coaching available. The management of County Coaches will be undertaken by Regional Coaches.

* The current four coaching levels will need to be reviewed in the light of the particular requirements of the NGBs and the over‐arching requirements of Sports Coach UK. The BDA will support the effort to ensure this is done as rapidly as reasonably possible.

Finance:

The BDA is committed to financially supporting the proposed initiative and as Bowls gains further recognition and more work is placed on the scheme and its coaches, then more funding will be considered and sourced. The BDA is committed to the ongoing support of Bowls coaching in England and view this as the start of a long term policy. It is the strong intention of the BDA to see that more of the available resources are channelled into the grass roots of coaching.

Summary:

The BDA wishes to reinforce its Statement of the 26th October 2010, of the importance of coaching within the development of bowls in England, and remain committed to the professionalism of coaches at all levels by improving their training and development.

This will deliver to the clubs, counties and individual bowlers a more professional service whilst retaining the good work that has already been achieved by the EBCS in raising the standards of Bowls coaching in England. It is the BDA’s intention to support those who are concerned with this improvement in Bowls in general and the provision of coaching within Bowls in particular.

Directors

Bowls Development Alliance

23 November 2010