Workshop for England Talent Pathway coaches targets further global success

England Boxing’s Talent Programme held a workshop for their Talent Pathway coaches on Saturday, seeking to lay the foundations for a repeat of 2018’s success in this coming year.

Excellent coaching was a key part of a record haul of 38 medals in major tournaments, including the three golds and a bronze in the Olympic Youth Games in Buenos Aires.

As such, a cohort of 43 voluntary coaches has been recruited to assist England Talent in 2019.

Many of them came together at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield at the weekend to refresh goals and discuss approaches to be used over the next 12 months.

New coaches to the programme were welcomed, along with returning coaches, before being introduced to the two Assistant Development Coaches (John Warburton and Q Shillingford) and two Assistant Performance Coaches (John Stubbs and Ivan Cobb).

The newly-appointed quartet will work alongside Development Coach Amanda Coulson and Performance Coach Mick Driscoll.

There was then a chance to reflect on what went well in 2018 and what could be changed to bring forward the development of the programme’s coaching in the future.

Next up, attending coaches familiarised themselves with England Talent’s coaching philosophy and the aim to make boxers adaptable, robust, resilient, think for themselves and conditioned to win major medals.

In the afternoon, GB Boxing’s Coaching Development Manager, Chris Porter, delivered a session on how to how to bring the performance coaching philosophy to life.

There was also the opportunity for coaches to network and exchange thoughts and ideas.

Coulson, who co-led the workshop, said: “It was a brilliant day and vital early in the year to re-set the focus and minds of our coaches ready for what is to come in 2019.

“We wanted to reinforce the messages around things we are doing well, but also look at what we can do better and how we can put that into practice.

“It’s all about getting people to open their minds and the feedback we have had from those attending the day has been very positive.”