England Performance coaches enjoy elite development weekend

England Performance hosted an elite coach education weekend last month, reinforcing their commitment to developing the programme and its coaches.

Full-time coaches, along with those from the Performance and Development teams, attended the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield to receive two days of learning on key subjects including psychology, wraps & cuts and live scoring.

Specialists in their relevant areas were on hand to deliver masterclasses to the coaches, including England Boxing’s sports psychologist Abbie Williams and Head of Performance Services for GB Boxing and EIS physiotherapist Ian Gatt.

Abbie Williams, who also works with GB Boxing, personalised her teachings to focus on the England Performance coaching philosophy of ‘AIRR’ and the Performance values of ‘REP’ – respect, enjoyment and professionalism.

Williams’ workshop ‘Understanding Me’ centred on the tools coaches can utilise to further understand themselves as individuals and as coaches, and how they can utilise ‘AIRR’ and ‘REP’ in line with their own characteristics.

Ian Gatt, who is the cut man for Team GB Olympic boxing medallists Karriss Artingstall, Galal Yafai and Anthony Joshua, amongst others, then delivered a workshop on cuts and hand wrapping.

Gatt is an upper limb injury specialist and has led scientific research into injury prevention, ensuring the knowledge he provided to the England Boxing coaches was second to none:

“Obviously as coaches we know how to wrap hands but given Ian’s expertise, he knows those little techniques that make a huge difference,” said lead National Coach Amanda Coulson.

She continued: “He explained the thought processes behind hand wrapping like understanding the bone structure and the potential impact and damage that could occur from not properly wrapping the thumb, hand and wrist. He also spoke about cuts, nose bleeds, bumps and bruises, which was a great insight, especially as two of our Seniors boxers have sustained cuts in recent bouts.”

Pertinent to the live scoring section, the Performance team developed a ‘Performance Pathway consistent language’, something that Coulson says will help the coaches communicate live scores between rounds effectively:

“We can all see the same thing between rounds, but we might say it differently, so we felt it was important to produce a common language. We’re all on the same page now and the workshop was eye-opening for those coaches who haven’t yet been out on the international scene where live scoring is essential.”

Liam Alloway, who coaches for The Ring ABC in Home Counties, echoed Coulson’s sentiments: “It was important that we got into the live scoring and hand wrapping so that we’re fully prepared for international events.

“The weekend as a whole was really, really good and I would say it was nice to meet up with the fellow England coaches and plan for the year.

Army coach Alanna Nihell was also delighted to see fellow coaches: “It was great to collaborate with all of the England coaches.

“Knowledge is power and the learning we received will enhance our problem-solving abilities.”

Knowledge is something England Performance is committed to ensuring, providing yearly development weekends to ensure they stay ahead of the curve:

“Our coaching team has a learning and development culture. Nobody should think they’ve arrived – the sport is moving every year, and the athletes develop every year. We must change with the times and offering these opportunities of coaching CPD is us acknowledging that and doing something about it,” concluded Coulson.