Mick James achieves ‘Athletics Coach’ qualification

Congratulations to BvH Coaching Co-ordinator, Mick James, who has recently qualified as a UKA ‘Coach in Running Fitness” which is accredited to between a level 2 and level 3 UKA Athletics coach.

Mick, with the support of BvH, has invested a lot of personal time and energy in ensuring BvH has a growing coaching/training resource for Club members as well as improving his own coaching and leadership skills.

This endurance running qualification is designed for those working with runners up to and including the event group development stage.   This qualification is about the broad application to non-track based endurance running events rather than track events.

The course takes between 6 months and 2 years to complete. Coaches need to attend 3 full days with a further half day assessment where they do 2 practical examinations and a 30 minute written test.  Prior to the assessment day there are a number of assignments to complete and coaches  need to have planned, managed and delivered 8 full running sessions which must be approved before they are allowed to attend the assessment day. Coaches also need to plan and monitor an 8 week cycle with at least 1 individual athlete.

The course covered:

• Fundamental running skills and drills
• Skill development
• Energy systems and endurance running
• Physical preparation
• Nutrition
• Injury prevention and management
• Flexibility
• Factors influencing performance
• Elements of planning and delivery (from one individual unit of a session to planning for the year)
• The role and responsibilities of a Coach
• The core coaching skills
• Integrated coaching
• Athlete Development
• Athlete Profiling

Mick and the BvH coaching team are able to provide training advice for members looking to improve their training skills and fitness level.