Advanced Coaching Course face-to-face pilot

Gymnastics Australia has conducted a pilot Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics face-to-face Advanced Coaching Course on 13 to 14 December at Wesley College in Prahran.

The face-to-face course is the final step in the Advanced Coaching Accreditation process, with the first online course being released in November 2014.

Fourteen candidates attended the pilot course over the two days bringing athletes to assist them to demonstrate competency with assessment tasks. Gymnastics Australia presenters were assisted by additional athletes and staff from Waverley Gymnastics Club and the Victorian High Performance Centres.

The two-day course covered four modules, with two modules per day. Day 1 included Men’s Artistic (MAG) and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) combined modules covering Tumbling, Vaulting and Bars.

Day 2 the gymsports were split and MAG candidates covered Parallel Bars, Rings and Pommel Horse, and the WAG candidates covered Beam, dance, artistry and choreography.

The candidates were privileged to have High Performance coaches, National team choreographer Lisa Bradley and highly experienced presenters and assessors for the course. The course presenting team included Dr Trevor Dowdell (QLD), Tim Lees (VIC), Lisa Bradley (VIC), Michelle De Highden (VIC), Brooke Sargeant (VIC) and Nick Bugeja (VIC).

During the weekend the candidates were required to present an explanation of how they would coach a specific skill to the assessors and group of peers. They were also assessed on their ability to coach a somersault forward or backward and participate in various other activities to demonstrate their ability to coach and spot their athletes performing advanced gymnastics skills.

Gymnastics Queensland will hold an additional pilot course in January to further consolidate the face-to-face course before releasing this to the State Education Coordinators in each state.