Sport on the Isle of Man was given a boost recently when it was announced that three coaches at the Isle of Man Sport Institute - Andy Watson, Trevor Christian and Ben Carling - have passed the accreditation process to become full members of the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA).
The UKSCA was formed in 2004 and their accreditation process has become the benchmark for those wishing to provide Strength and Conditioning coaching within professional sports clubs and the various Sports Institutes.
In 2011, the Isle of Man Sport Institute, which is operated by Isle of Man Sport Aid, set up an education and mentoring programme for local sports coaches and personal trainers to develop their interest in this field of sports coaching. The programme was able to benefit from support from two of the leading Strength and Conditioning coaches in the UK; Mark Simpson, who at the time was the Strength and Conditioning coach for British Cycling, and Matt Cook, who having previously worked at the English Institute of Sport is now Head of Sports Science and Conditioning at the Manchester City FC Academy.
Sports Performance Co-ordinator, Chris Quine, commented:
“This programme has taken our coaching and support to a whole new level. Congratulations to Andy, Trevor and Ben on passing what is a high level qualification. They have worked really hard over the past 18 months to bring their knowledge and expertise up to the required level. There are only around 450 accredited coaches in the UK so to have three on the Isle of Man is a great achievement.
As well as many of the Sport Aid recipients, we are working with a number of sporting governing bodies to provide Strength and Conditioning support to some of their leading competitors. These sports include cricket, athletics, golf and cycling to name just four.”
Chairman of Isle of Man Sport Aid, Sarah Corlett, added:
“We have been delighted to have supported this programme which will help raise standards across many sports on the Island. Like our athletes the coaches have needed to have discipline and focus to achieve their goal.”
Strength and Conditioning training is a discipline which involves the physical and physiological preparation of athletes for sport performance.
The main focus is on performance enhancement through development of strength, endurance, speed and agility, and injury prevention through postural training, core strengthening and movement screening.
