Community Activator Coach Apprenticeship
Content
Knowledge
- Understand the benefits of physical activity and sport for individuals, families and communities, and know why adopting an active and healthy lifestyle is important.
- Understand the basic principles of behavioural change when applied to sport and physical activity, and know how to keep customers active.
- Know the importance of credible customer insight - listening to customers and understanding their motivations - to shape provision and leadership style.
- Know the importance of effective leadership and coaching in the delivery of a physical activity or sports sessions.
- Know the value of using informal spaces and ‘out of locality’ settings to encourage customers to develop the lifelong activity habit.
- Understand the role of the coach in developing effective motivational relationships, how to build rapport with customers and understand what good role models look like.
- Understand the tasks involved in delivering community level activation events and support their delivery, particularly in terms of providing equipment and activities.
- Know how to support customer welfare and where required, manage disruptive behaviours by individuals within the group setting.
- Know how to make best use of national and major events (for example the Commonwealth Games) to capture public imagination, raise activity levels and encourage community involvement in volunteering and social action.
- Know how to work with community organisations to run tailored neighbourhood events that make best use of local assets to bring people together.
- Understand the importance of accurate record keeping for monitoring and evaluation purposes; know about the tools available to help (e.g. Upshot, Views, Active Lives).
- Understand the importance of using appropriate social media and technology to deliver targeted messages to identified customer groups for example children; teenagers; adults and older adults.
- Understand fundamental principles of safeguarding, child protection, cultural awareness, first aid, mental wellbeing, inclusion and working with vulnerable adults.
- Understand the different needs and priorities of your customers (such as teenagers, families, the disabled or older adults) and the best way to manage their expectations, recognising and knowing how to adapt your style to be highly effective.
- Know how to coach and lead the key components of a successful activity sessions for specific audiences.
- Know customer motivations for participation and how to help people overcome personal and societal barriers to participation.
Skills
- Planning and adapting sessions and activities that respond to customer feedback and encourage customers to develop a lifelong activity habit.
- Coaching or leading pre-planned sport or physical activity sessions that are attractive to the target audience(s) and develop motivational relationships with customers.
- Promoting a physical activity offer, (including but not exclusively) organised play and sport in the community which supports individuals on their behaviour change journey.
- Working collaboratively with sports clubs and other community assets – including volunteers, public services, youth workers, the police and community champions.
- Supporting customers to co-produce rewarding volunteering opportunities.
- Supporting families to participate together in sport and physical activity.
- Working effectively with customer insight to overcome individual, community and societal barriers to participation in physical activity and sport.
- Contributing to the employer’s design of activities and services and practising the employer’s organisation’s values, policies and procedures.
- Contributing to teams that deliver community events and festivals.
- Supporting organisations to evaluate, develop and promote sessions and other opportunities such as outdoor group exercise and informal social play.
- Maintaining personal safety and wellbeing, as well as that of customers.
- Managing disruptive behaviours from individuals within the group setting.
- Encouraging customers to be regularly active – both formally and informally – within sports clubs or leisure facilities including open-space.
- Effectively using social media and technology, appropriately, to deliver targeted messages to identified customer groups for example children, teenagers, adults and older adults.
- Effectively monitor and evaluate activities, sessions and projects using technology platforms to maintain accurate records and produce timely reports.
Behaviours
- Honesty, sincerity and integrity by doing the right thing at the right time.
- A positive attitude to work, be approachable and model an active lifestyle.
- A concern for customer’s welfare and wellbeing.
- Show a willingness to ‘go the extra mile’.
- Enthusiasm to work as a member of a team and also to use his or her own initiative when leading or planning activities.
- Adaptable and confident in one’s own ability.
- Building meaningful and appropriate relationships.
- A willingness to learn and a desire to contribute to their own continuing professional development.