Coach Education in Finland

 Prior to heading out to Finland earlier this June, I was invited to work with Sean McGrath of Wild River, delivering a Coach Level 1 course at Doe Park Water Activities Centre in Bradford, Yorkshire.

 Then it was off to Manchester, and after a small issue over a passport, I joined Trys Burke (another BCU Coach educator) at Sea Kayaking Finland, run by Jukka Linnonmaa, and enjoyed a fantastic week with his family and current Finnish paddlesports coaches. A familiar environment, as i've been travelling to Finland each year on this rewarding project.

An ideal venue for the new UKCC Paddlesports Coaching Courses - and weather to suit!

The first course was to transfer the existing BCU Level 2 coaches over to the new UK Coaching Certificate.

The following UKCC Level 1 Coach paddlesports award ran over 4 days.
Working with Trys was such a valuable experience, both in terms of course structure, delivery styles and benefiting my own personal development program.

I thought the family group playing just downriver was an excellent example of how many of us were introduced to the sport and a reminder for us about how big a role fun has to play in 'learning',

some great pictures from the Foundation Safety and Rescue training course, and practical assessment during the coach level course.

following the last practical coaching assessments on day four, it was time to complete the session reflections and personal action plans, whilst fresh coffee and cake continued to arrive..

As always - an absolute pleasure!

Looking forward to introducing the group attending our International Training Weekend this September, and everyone else in Finland next summer. : )

All the best

Keirron 

"I just want to give you my honest thanks once again from your GREAT and LIGHTNING course you gave us!

Your detailed and passioned attitude open many closed doors to my personal paddling and my approaching to "work" in my kayak-club.

Hope you and your family have excellent summer & hope to see you again!"

Yours: Timo