Athlete to coach: case study series

British Athletics’ Athlete to Coach programme aims to provide athletes transitioning into coaching with the competencies required to gain a UKA accredited coaching licence.

The programme – which is open to athletes who have represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland or their Home Country as a senior – is run over five consecutive days and is made up of classroom and practical activity, plus an assessment. The process is outlined in detail on the UK Athletics website.

Athlete to Coach is not a short cut into coaching, but a bespoke programme designed to challenge the learner to shift their thinking from that of an elite athlete to one of a coach.

This short series focuses on a recent cohort of participant athletes. It asks what motivated them to apply, what they’ve learned from the process, and what advice they would share with others considering this route into coaching.

Athlete name: Joslyn Hoyte-Smith (1980 Olympian) 

Qualification awarded: Athletics Coach

“I’m just about to get involved in working across sports and I thought it would give me some credibility to get my coaching certificate.

“I’ve learned that it’s important to coach in small, short stages and to ask questions…be confident to approach the athlete and ask them, what are they doing? How do they feel? Don’t be afraid to ask the questions, and don’t make assumptions.

“Everything that you know about your sport, you don’t really know it until you apply the coaching principles. Although you may feel that you can coach, you need to go on a coaching course to implement the things that you think you know and find out the things you don’t know and put them together.”