Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer club are committed to 'Developing Remarkable Coaches'.
Why? Because remarkable coaches means remarkable athlete experiences and remarkable outcomes.
Colorado Rapids recognize that remarkable coaches and remarkable athlete experiences and outcomes do not just happen. They are heavily investing in the role of Coach Developer to support the transition of their player and coach development philosophy into practice.
e.t.c coaching consultants were invited by Mark Wilson (Head of Education) and Donald Gillies (Technical Director) to travel to Denver and lead the delivery of United Soccer Coach's, Coach Developer Diploma early in Feb. 2022.
Adopting a blended approach of webinars, on-line courses and in-person workshops, the Coach Developer Diploma was designed to introduce Coach Developers to:
Reflective Practice
The Role of the Coach Developer
The Adult Learning Principles
Facilitating Coach Learning on and off the field
GROW Conversations
Throughout the program Coach Developers were engaged and challenged to consider how to apply key learning with their coaches within the confines of the Colored Rapids Player Development Pathway.
The workshop itself was dynamic, interactive and engaging and it moved from classroom to field to encourage Coach Developers to explore, apply and reflect on key learning. The learning was thoughtful, intentional, chaotic, sometimes emotional and quite exhausting.
Summing up the learning, Rapid's Technical Director, Donald Gillies commented:
'The commitment to facilitate a valued and detailed conversation and examination of what it means to be a coach developer resulted in what I described as 'the best CPD Event I've been part of in 10+ yrs', I really did find it that valuable.'
Thank you United Soccer Coaches for having the confidence to create the Coach Developer. Thank you Colorado Rapids for being brave enough to live it!