There seems to have been some confusion about guidelines for coaches’ attendance at Coaching Workshops. I hope the following information will help clear the matter up satisfactorily.

At the beginning of the season I asked that all clubs should check to see if any of their coaches had gained their licence before August 2002. The procedure was for two purposes:

• To help organise a new and updated database of coaches in Scotland
• To help establish a starting point for organising those coaches who needed to ensure that their development within the sport was continuing in the way the I.I.H.F requires.

I issued guidelines for clubs and coaches on the S.I.H.L. website (see Documents, Registration of Coaches for New Season, Level One and Level Two Flow Diagrams)

These documents were guidelines to ensure that all our coaches were up to date with their registration and current status. Remember, according to the guidelines the Coaching Programme has to adhere to, all Level Two coaches must refresh every two years and all Level Ones coaches every three years.

I think some of the confusion arises from me saying coaches would have to attend a workshop every year. This not every single individual coach but there will always be coaches at every club who will be due to attend refresher workshops, or there equivalent, every year.

A copy of the guidelines for each level can be accessed by clicking the clinks above. This should help clear up some of the confusion – I hope! Briefly what is required is that Level 2 coaches must attend a valid workshop every TWO YEARS or sit Level 3 or else his Level 2 licence lapses to a Level 1.

A Level 1 coach should attend a valid workshop every THREE YEARS or progress to Level Two in that time or he/she has to re-take and pass the Level1 exam. If they again fail to attend a workshop they must re-sit the Level 1 course and pass the written exam.

As you will see there are some other stipulations which cover various circumstances which may have to be addressed from time to time with some coaches.

I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion about workshops as the Coaching Programme is there to help our coaches get the best out of themselves and thus ultimately the young players.

Yours in sport

Jim Watson