Coaching Week: Disabled people need to be at the heart of the return

This week is a moment to celebrate the role of coaching in enriching people’s lives. With restrictions on sport and activity easing, it is vital that every one of the UK's three million coaches feels ready and supported to return.

Great coaching is instrumental to the health and happiness of our nation. We have seen this first-hand, through our work at Activity Alliance, our team’s lived experiences and running successful programmes.

Our Inclusive Activity Programme is a prime example of upskilling and giving that confidence boost to coaches, healthcare professionals, volunteers, and community leaders. It equips people with the skills and confidence to engage disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in physical activity. 

Our two new online learning opportunities developed in partnership with UK Coaching during the COVID-19 pandemic are helping us to reach and support coaches. We are delighted that since its launch, more than 1,500 people have completed one of these online opportunities. The Inclusive Activity Programme online classrooms and eLearning module enables people to develop their coaching skills, whilst face-to-face delivery was not possible.

UK Coaching’s 'The Great Coaching Comeback' is an important year-long campaign, aimed at directly supporting coaches as the return to coaching post-lockdown. 

72% of the British public believe coaches and instructors will be important in supporting and encouraging people to get back into physical activity after the pandemic. And the vital work that coaches deliver is being understood and appreciated more than ever, with over two thirds (69%) of the nation believing it is important for society to value the role that coaches and instructors play in keeping local communities active.

Activity Alliance feels passionately that disabled people need to be at the heart of the return. This needs to happen if we are to break down the many barriers that have existed for far too long across every aspect of sport and physical activity.

As well as being Chair of Activity Alliance for almost three years now, I was involved with Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) for over two decades. Having qualified as a coach with the RDA, I later spent nine years as Chair of the organisation, and it was only then that I truly realised how many amazing coaches we had.

The hugely positive impact that the coaches have on riders’ lives is extraordinary. And they will be more important than ever in supporting the riders to return.

My own experience of coaching began when I started volunteering with Morpeth RDA 25 years ago. I had always loved being around horses, but I didn’t appreciate just how positive an experience it could be. The benefits of riding really are immeasurable – for both our physical and mental health.

In my experience coaches are remarkable people. I trained as a coach to support disabled people to have more opportunities to enjoy riding. The vast majority dedicate their time and energies all in a voluntary capacity too. 

We must not forget that disabled people are twice as likely to be inactive as non-disabled people. And we know from our own research that the COVID-19 pandemic has made sport and physical activity less fair for disabled people. The pandemic has hit disabled people the hardest in many ways.

Our latest three-year Strategy, Achieving Fairness, acknowledges this situation and recognises the extra challenges brought by the pandemic. We want disabled people to be at the heart of our nation’s recovery and to see fairness right across sport and physical activity. 

There is much work to do. But we must address these challenges and collaborate with organisations like UK Coaching to ensure there is a level playing field for everyone. Disabled people must feel welcome and supported to reap the many benefits of being active in whatever way.

More information:

You can find your local RDA group here: www.rda.org.uk.