JROS Coach Development at Lagganlia
The Junior Regional Orienteering Squads (JROS) organise summer junior training camps in Scotland and abroad. As well as improving the orienteering skills of the juniors, they aim to develop new and young coaches, so that the whole program becomes sustainable. In 2014 the Orienteering Foundation gave a grant towards this coach development aspect at the Lagganlia training camp. Quotes from some of the coaches:
I really enjoyed coaching on Lagganlia. Previously the only coaching I had done was with very inexperienced juniors in my school and club so getting the chance to coach juniors at a TD5 level was much more interesting. As it was a new experience for me I learnt a lot from the more experienced coaches and with so many coaches I could observe lots of different coaching styles/methods. Coaching on Lagganlia has made me want to do lots more coaching in the future. If my expenses had not been paid I might not have attended the camp because I had a lot of competitions and training camps over the summer which all cost quite a lot! I would definitely like to come again next year.
I am convinced that I learned more from exchanges with the senior coaches over the week and from observing the professional way that the tour was conducted than I did on either the Level 1 or Level 2 UKCC courses that I have taken part in. Dealing with real athletes in real situations helps to develop skills and experience much faster than in an artificial classroom situation and the intense (regular 14 hour days) nature of the tour only enhanced this. If I can get the time off work I would very much like to join the team again next year.
Lagganlia opened my eyes to how much fun it is to help younger juniors, but also to the amount of work coaches put in. It was brilliant to be able to work with these young athletes and feel like I was helping them improve. Over the week my coaching ability developed and I now feel more confident coaching. Lagganlia has encouraged me to do more coaching in the future. The grant the Orienteering Foundation gave us, which covered accommodation and food, helped a lot. I travel a lot for orienteering competitions which is a significant annual expense, so it is very helpful to have the coaches’ expenses covered at Lagganlia.