Coach Education Centres

SkillsActive and the LTA have worked together to offer an exciting opportunity for up to 8 Tennis Clubmark places to play in England to be Coach Education Centres. These centres will be located across England and will be a regional focus point for coach education.

The long term vision of SkillsActive and the LTA is to encourage the delivery of coaching qualifications and continued professional development through dedicated coach education centres, which provide an environment which is learning orientated and fosters good practice through the various programmes run at the centre.

A Coach Education Centre will deliver 1st4sport and LTA coaching qualifications as well as CPD for the LTA and Coaching Apprenticeships.

All Tennis Clubmark places to play who wish to bid for accreditation as a Coach Education Centre will need to meet and evidence the following minimum criteria:

1. Demonstrate understanding and commitment towards the vision and ethos of the LTA;

2. Demonstrate understanding and commitment towards the vision and ethos of the LTA Coach Education Centres evidenced through a proven track record of tennis coach education and qualification delivery;

3. Have Tennis Clubmark accreditation;

4. Have 1st 4Sport centre approval and can produce Awarding Body reports for previous 2 years;

5. All their coach educators, tutors, assessors and internal verifiers have the appropriate qualifications and are LTA licensed coaches;

6. Have training provision maps to NOS and the LTA Coach Education Structure and meet sector priorities as established through Sector Qualification Strategy and Sector Skills Agreement (in terms relevant to tennis and the coaching industry);

7. Have facilities including a minimum of an off-court learning area with access to IT, 3 indoor and 4 outdoor courts and onsite catering;

8. Demonstrate financial stability and audit processes that meet the requirements of the Skills Funding Agency and the LTA;

9. Provide a 12 month forecast of course delivery including income and expenditure identified for: court hire fees, tutor fees, course income and potential funding streams;

10. Demonstrate links with local schools through a robust out reach programme.

If you believe your place to play can meet the above minimum criteria, please complete the document on the right hand side of this page to submit a bid for Coach Education Centre accreditation.

The process for each submission will be as follows:

• Submissions to be received by the 26th July 2011.
• Each submission will be checked to ensure it meets the criteria (submissions that do not meet the criteria will be notified at this stage).
• Submissions will then be put before a panel of representatives from SkillsActive, SportsCoach UK and the LTA.
• All successful and unsuccessful submissions will be notified.

Successful places to play will be required to enter a Coach Education Centre training agreement with the LTA, a copy of which will be provided when a place to play meets the application criteria.

Please email your submission to coachescommunication@lta.org.uk.