BCAB Coaching Podcast

S4 Ep.13 COACHING Safety with Brendon Prince

In this compelling episode, Lee Pooley, Director of Coaching and Qualifications at British Canoeing discusses water safety with seasoned paddler, Brendon Prince, who is a safety campaigner and Founder of the charity ‘Above Water’.

Brendon talks about his paddling background and how those and his lifeguarding experiences motivated him to set up the charity, which provides water safety education. 

He goes on to provide simple tools and strategies for novice and advanced paddlers planning a safe paddle and making decisions if things go wrong. He also explains the importance of making dynamic assessments and the environmental cues that paddlers can use to help them to do this.

Brendon also mentions his world record attempt to spend seven nights and eight days at sea on a stand up paddleboard in order to demonstrate what can be done when a paddler has the right kit. Good luck with that amazing endeavour, Brendon!

Further information about the Above Water charity is available at their website.

S4 Ep.12 COACHING Club Learning, Development and Safety with Tony Smith

Lee Pooley, Director of Coaching and Qualifications at British Canoeing, is in conversation with Tony Smith, Chair of Teignbridge Canoe Club, about how they treat learning development in the club. 

Tony gives a brief overview of the club, the expectations of its members and its vision (along with the benefits this can bring). He explains how this philosophy drives the culture of the club and underpins all club activities, especially in terms of safety, club development and the development of current and aspiring leaders. Tony also explains how British Canoeing Awarding Body qualifications are used in the club and how CPD points can be a useful tool for helping club members - and the club - to develop and contribute to the culture of the club.

A transcript for the episode is available here.

S4 Ep.11 RERUN - Adventure Sports Coaching with Loel Collins

Dr. Loel Collins, former director of Learning and Development in Plas y Brenin speaks to Pete Catterall about the main differences between coaching adventure sports and mainstream competitive sport. Loel defines the adventure sport context and then discusses how the blend of coaching skills differs in a more dynamic adventure sport context. They also discuss the additional skills and characteristics of an adventure sports coach and how these coaches can develop their coaching craft so they can apply it to an adventure sport context. Although the focus is on adventure skills coaching, Loel and Pete touch on coaching fundamentals, which apply to all coaching contexts.

A transcript for the episode is available here.

S4 Ep.10 TALENT Performance Anxiety with Laura Sugar, Zofia Campbell and Lewis Fletcher

Daniel Thompson, Talent Operations Coordinator at British Canoeing is joined by British Canoeing's Performance Wellbeing Coach, Zofia Campbell, and senior athletes Laura Sugar (Paracanoe) and Lewis Fletcher (Canoe Sprint) to discuss performance anxiety.  They discuss the symptoms athletes have when experiencing performance anxiety and some techniques that can be used to help control it. 

A transcript for the episode is available here.

S4 Ep.9 RERUN - Mental Health with Darren Clarkson

In this rerun episode from 2021, Ben Woodruff speaks to Darren Clarkson, a seasoned paddler who also works in mental health social services. They discuss strategies coaches, leaders and instructors can use help people alleviate anxiety, stress and other mental health issues, and look after their own mental health. Recorded just after the COVID lockdowns in 2021, Darren’s points are still pertinent today. 

This episode coincides with Mental Health Awareness Week and is a perfect introduction to our next episode from the Talent Team about performance anxiety.

A transcript for the episode is available here.

S4 Ep.8 TALENT Nutrition of a Senior Athlete with Lewis Fletcher

Daniel Thompson, Talent Operations Coordinator at British Canoeing is joined by Lewis Fletcher (Canoe Sprint athlete) to discuss his daily nutrition habits, the nutritional choices he faces over competition, including any strategies and recovery snacks that he takes. They also discuss supplements and the importance of hydration.

 

Additional content on the topic of Nutrition can also be found on the Talent Parent Programme Webinars and Video Resources and the additional resources webpages.

 

A transcript for the episode is available here.

S4 Ep.7 COACHING Decision Making (Part 2) with Georgina Maxwell & Dan Wilkinson

This is the second part of a conversation between Lee Pooley, Director of Coaching and Qualifications at British Canoeing, and two members of the British Canoeing White Water Technical Group: Georgina Maxwell and Dan Wilkinson. 

Georgina and Dan give practical examples from their own experience of some of the decision making concepts covered in Part 1. They reflect on the learning points from these experiences and highlight some of the pitfalls to avoid when making decisions.

You don’t need to have listened to Part 1 to understand and enjoy this episode. However, Part 1 is also well worth a listen, and is available here if you would like to do that.

A transcript for the episode is available here.

S4 Ep.6 COACHING Neurodiversity in Sport with Helena Russo, Caragh McMurtry and Nerys Hall

Following on from Neurodiversity Celebration Week earlier this month, this fascinating and important episode explores neurodiversity in sport. This is a must-listen for anyone who wants to develop their understanding of neurodivergence, or to start or continue a conversation with a coach or athlete about this.

Helena Russo, the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead at British Canoeing discusses this topic with:

• Nerys Hall, who is in her final junior year of marathon and sprint racing
• Caragh McMurtry, who is a former Olympic rower and founder of Neurodiverse Sport

Nerys and Caragh have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and high functioning autism, respectively. Together, they discuss their sporting achievements, what their diagnosis means, and how it has affected their sporting lives.

They go on to explore the barriers they have faced and the strategies they put in place to improve performance. The main part of the episode involves Caragh and Nerys giving top tips to coaches so that they consider neurodivergence and adapt their coaching practice accordingly. Importantly, they explain the need to change the narrative from neurodiverse sportspeople being a problem to one about creating a supportive and understanding environment in which neurodiverse sportspeople can perform at their best and make best use of their superpowers.

Feel free to add a comment about this episode. We'd love to know your thoughts about it.

A transcript for the episode is available here.

 

S4 Ep.5 RERUN - Introduction to Equality, Diversity and Diversity with Helena Russo

The second episode of our "from the vaults" rerun mini-series, is a conversation with Helena Russo, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead at British Canoeing in 2021.  Helena will be delving deeper into the subject of Equality, Diversity and Diversity (EDI), with an episode focusing on Neurodiversity in Sport coming soon.

In this re-released introductory episode Helena explains why we need to consider Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how to embed that into our coaching practice. She gives examples of some barriers to participation in paddlesport as well as explains how we can develop our understanding of EDI and overcome the barriers we may have to providing truly inclusive coaching. Download a transcript of the episode here.

S4 Ep.4 COACHING - Entrapment and Coach Burnout with Ben Woodruff

In a follow-up conversation, Lee Pooley, Director of Coaching and Qualifications at British Canoeing, talks to Ben Woodruff about his further research study into the role of entrapment in coach burnout. 

In this episode Lee and Ben discuss what entrapment is, the different ways entrapment impacts coach burnout, what to look out for as a coach and how also deployers can best support coaches to mitigate the risk of burnout. 

 

You can find Ben's research paper here

 

A transcript for this episode is available here

 

If you or anyone you know is struggling with their mental health, please seek help:

• Mind
• Calm
• NHS or see your GP
• Samaritans
• Mental Health Foundation
• Counselling