Coaching

CEEPSA Newsletter December 2019

 

 At the 2016 AGM the Council (comprising the Presidents of the Provincial Eventing Associations and their elected Officials) where the new Constitution of EventingSA was formally adopted, it was agreed that Coaching and Talent Identification would form one of four Portfolios.

Coaching and TID is the area responsible for all development of equine and equestrian skills in our sport. Anything that happens in our sport happens on the ground, in the Provinces. National Portfolio Heads liaise with other external national bodies and facilitate communications across the Provinces. With the approval of the ESA National Council they may drive national programmes. ESA has limited funds for national development programmes so the needs of all members of our community must be balanced carefully by the Portfolio Head.

 

So, what are the benefits of becoming a professional, accredited, qualified Coach or Instructor within EventingSA – the guidelines below come from Equine Canada and in a nut-shell gives an excellent summary of what we would like to achieve in Eventing South Africa:

  1. Professional and Accountable – adhering to strict standards of the Profession – South African Coach Members of the Professional Body for Equestrian and Equines CEEPSA sign a Code of Ethics and Conduct.  Written complaints can be addressed and soon Coaches and Instructors will have to maintain a current and clean police record as well as a First Aid and Child Protection certificates.
  2. Safety and First Aid – all qualified accredited Coaches hold a current First Aid certificate which is valid for 3 years and must be kept up to date.  They are also fully conversant with the safety rules and regulations for the Discipline they undertake to teach, in our case Eventing from Development to High Performance.
  3. Teaching and Coaching Best Practices – Certified Coaches and Instructors have been trained, tested and assessed to a minimum acceptable level through their modules 1-4 of the EQASA qualifications.  At Module 4 they are a Candidate or Assistant Coach at Modules 5-7 they become fully fledged Coaches and Instructors at Provincial and National levels, they have learnt how to teach and Coach human and equine athletes.  A curriculum is being developed by Expert Practitioners from all the Equestrian Disciplines, Welfare and Mounted Security Services in South Africa that is internationally aligned to Equine and Equestrian coaching skills, principles and practices overseas enabling our access to International Coaching Passports.  In future, the development will continue to include standard sport science best principles and practices.
  4. Knowledge and Technical Competence – Coach candidates will continue to be Recognised of their Prior Learning (RPL) via their Portfolios of Evidence and assessments by very experienced equestrian coaching professionals.  In addition to demonstrating coaching and teaching ability, coaches must demonstrate a high standard of competence in horsemanship, horse care, horse training, riding, business and other communication skills.  They must show proof of continuing professional development activities (for instance, clinics and training days, lessons) to maintain certification status (via CPD logs) that can be found on the CEEPSA website.
  5. Commitment – Becoming certified and maintaining certification requires significant time and financial commitment on the part of the instructor/coach.  Certification shows personal commitment to the sport and to giving their students the best they can.
  6. Conformance – Conformance with the growing requirement for and public expectation of certification of Coachers/Instructors/Trainers in all amateur and professional sports.