Surf’s up! Participation Regimes and Motivations for Surfing in Wales Jon Anderson Katie Jones June 2008
Coaching qualifications and accreditations
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- Source: BSA website [www.britsurf.co.uk accessed June 2008]
- BSA Level 2 Coach
- BSA Level 4 Coach
- 3.4 Health and safety and risk assessment
3.3 Coaching qualifications and accreditationsAs well as running the BSA Approved Surfing School Scheme, the BSA also provide instructor training for those intending to teach people to surf. The BSA Surfing Coach Accreditation Scheme is structured to train and accredit surf coaches at five levels, beginning with Assistant Surf Coaches to Level 4 Surf Coaches. From web-based research and through interviews it was found that 12 out of the 21 surf schools employed BSA accredited surf coaches, although this number could be higher as the information was not explicit on all the schools’ websites and it was not possible to interview every surf school. BSA Surf Coaches are also encouraged to expand their knowledge and experience through attending coaching courses run by organisations such as the National Coaching Foundation (NCF) and lifesaving courses run by the Royal Lifesaving Society (RLSS) and the Surf Life Saving Association (SLSA) amongst others (see BSA website for more details). Trainers must attend coaching and lifesaving courses (approved by the BSA), which are run by suitably qualified bodies and possess a current lifesaving award (BSA approved) in order to obtain accreditation as a BSA surf coach. Each of the BSA Surf Coach Awards is valid for 3 years. According to the BSA website, some of the specific objectives of this scheme are to ‘further the development of surfing in all its forms by:
Source: BSA website [www.britsurf.co.uk accessed June 2008] The BSA Surfing Coach Accreditation Scheme involves 4 levels of coaching courses as follows: BSA Assistant Surf Coach is aimed at 16-18 year olds (who are too young to qualify as Level 1 coaches) and who wish to coach basic surfing techniques. BSA Level 1 Coach Award is the minimum requirement for Surf Club coaches, school teachers, and others wanting to teach the sport as BSA Accredited Coaches. A Level 1 coach will demonstrate that their personal surfing ability is of an acceptable standard and that they are competent to coach surfers (on land and in water) from Beginner (never surfed before) through to Intermediate level (able to paddle outside, catch green waves and ride right to left whilst performing basic manoeuvres). BSA Level 2 Coach has been surfing for at least 5 years and has good personal surfing ability. The BSA Level 2 Coach is competent to coach surfers of all levels from Beginners through to Elite Level surfers. BSA Level 3 Coach is an experienced and accomplished surfer with personal knowledge of, and involvement with, surfing competitions. The BSA Level 3 coach is competent to coach surfers of all levels from Beginners through to Elite Level surfers and to coach competitors both individually and in a team context. BSA Level 4 Coach is aimed at individuals who wish to become involved with the advanced theory and practice of surf coaching and advanced team management skills. The award is strongly recommended for National Team Coaches and coaches running Advanced Surf Coaching workshops. Source: BSA website [www.britsurf.co.uk accessed June 2008] The majority of surf schools interviewed said that they found it problematic to recruit good quality surf coaches. The main reasons as to why this was the case were stated as follows:
“The problem is that obviously you need maturity to prevail in surfing training and experience, and a lot of our young people … travelled through the summer … So at the time when we were committed ourselves to maybe providing coaching, even those who are qualified to do it are often in warmer climates … and once the competition season starts, those that are in competitions in the Welsh and national scenes go on and improve their technique and enter in competitions all over Europe. So it’s a bit difficult to pin them down really.” (Former Surf School Owner, North Wales)
“The average age of our instructor’s is way way older than it used to be because of course you have to be qualified to a high standard and that of course costs a lot of money and takes time. And so the average age I would say I would be working with would be twenty years ago would be 20 years old and now is 30.” (Outdoor Activity Provider, South Wales) “There are lots of quality surfers. But obviously not everyone gets the qualification you need. You need to do quite a few courses…so you need to be up to level on that. And you need a minimum BSA Level One from the BSA to teach. I mean there’s no government legislation to be honest on that so in theory you could just grab anyone. But we’re a BSA school so we try and keep things the way we should really. (Surf School mid Wales)” The last quotation highlights an important issue about the lack of regulation amongst non-BSA accredited surf schools. Whether surf schools are formally affiliated to the BSA or not, it is important that guidelines established by the organisation be followed. This is especially important given the increased popularity of surfing, meaning more people are participating in the sport and leading to potential conflicts that will be discussed further in Chapter Four. 3.4 Health and safety and risk assessment Every surf school interviewed, whether accredited to the BSA or not, viewed health and safety and risk assessment as a fundamental part of their surf training activities. “Beaches change continually so we’re always having to update our risk assessments. We have to have £5m public liability … for which we have to pay annually. Umm. Yeah it’s obviously of foremost importance really. It is a lot of paperwork and a lot of it is not quite as necessary as you would have thought. But the basic requirements, the basic insurance and what have you, but if a new car park is built, we’ve got re-risk assess. So if the smallest of things change the beach has to be risk assessed again.” (Surf School, Mid Wales) “If you’re affiliated to BSA like our surf school is you have to have risk assessments and insurance and all those things anyway so we have five million public liability … We just do risk assessments of all the beaches we use and keep them with our first aid kits ... Yeah, but that's not too bad because we’ve got it all set up and so when we have schools come over we just have a standard operating procedure and emergency action plan that we send to them, and also because all our instructors are all fully qualified and know all that the days involve then they are all then part of the lesson. Everything that's a possible hazard is incorporated and they’re told about it. Every time they fall off they have to cover their heads and they’re reminded every time that they don’t do it. It’s just all part and parcel of it ... Yeah. And I know definitely the instructor course has changed in the last, probably six years ago they changed it. There’s a lot of health and safety as part of the course now, so that kind of covers it all, so you know, as long as you follow what you have been told to do, then you know, nothing really can go wrong.” (Surf School, mid Wales) “They’re integral in the whole thing. That sort of thing has been in the sport for a long time and in the teaching of the sport for a long time … I think they’re essential to make sure you’re providing a lesson of... people are putting their safety in you hands, sometimes people are leaving their children with you, you know. It’s something that has to be stated, has to be formalised.” (Surf School, south Wales) “I think sport has changed. I think it’s sanitised somehow. I think the ability to inject funds into outdoor pursuits has now become difficult because the spontaneity’s gone the freedom. And not that anyone was wanting to deliberately put young people at risk. But the score now has got to the point where, it’s almost a hurdle. It was put down with the very best of intentions but it’s difficult to keep it fun. … I hope you know what I mean.” (Outposts Adventure Specialists) The above quotations highlight the importance of safety considerations for surf schools. As part of safety regulations the provision of lifeguards at beaches, and the need for surf school trainers to hold life saving qualifications was also emphasised: “It is useful to have a lifeguard there obviously, because if you have an accident then you can have them in as assistance because you’ve got your group to deal with. But they’ve asked for lifeguards for years at Manorbier and Fresh Water West, and I think because Fresh West has so many currents I don’t think there’s people experienced enough to deal with it, so they’re quite afraid of putting lifeguards on beaches like that. But all our instructors are qualified beach lifeguards anyway. We train them up to cope with those kinds of conditions so they regularly pull tourists out of Fresh Water West” (Surf School, South West Wales) Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2011 2011 -> Voices of the Old Sea Norman Lewis 2011 -> Malevil Robert Merle 2011 -> The Elephant Keeper’s Children Peter Hoeg 2011 -> Jv packet •Mars Colonization Affirmative •Mars Colonization Negative 2011 -> Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) omb no. 1024-0018 2011 -> All America Looks Up to Virginia;” Virginia and the Declaration of Independence 2011 -> Rao bulletin 2011 -> Christopher Columbus was born between 25 August and 31 October 1451 in 2011 -> The Battle of Frenchtown (1855), Washington Territory: the Political and Demographic Context rev 9/4/11 2011 -> Seti aff •seti neg •Asteroids Aff Download 0.76 Mb. Share with your friends:
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