Coach & Volunteer Academy Impact Report 2023/24
Unlock your potential
The 2023-24 academic year marks the fourth year of our 5-year strategy for the Coach & Volunteer Academy (CVA). With the CVA continuing to grow in recent years, we have prioritised providing a diverse range of high-quality opportunities and masterclasses to enrich students' personal and professional growth.
Introduction
In the past year, the Coach & Volunteer Academy has made exceptional progress, in developing and expanding its talented and passionate team within Loughborough Sport. With the number of opportunities to work within and across sport and physical activity continually growing, more students have been able to actively participate in volunteering both within Loughborough Sport and with our external partners.
This report aims to highlight the valuable contributions of our volunteers and placement students throughout 2023-24, emphasising the essential role they play within the Loughborough Sport ecosystem. Furthermore, it aims to acknowledge the accomplishments and experiences of the exceptional volunteers we have had the privilege to support and collaborate with.
A year in review
- 113,997 hours logged through the CVA portal
- Over 200 courses, masterclasses & workshops delivered
- 400+ volunteering opportunities uploaded to the CVA portal
- 820 volunteers regularly logging hours
- 56% of CVA Alumni in sports related roles
- Student volunteer led events; Para Sport Takeover, EmpowerHer, and Volunteer recognition weeks
Coaching
Throughout the 2023/24 year, the CVA delivered 36 Coaching CPD (Continued Professional Development) workshops, alongside focus groups, to understand how we can better support our student workforce. Additionally, we continued to provide opportunities for students to complete their minimum operating standards such as Safeguarding & Protecting Children & First Aid.
This year also saw the second cohort of the Female Coaches Leadership Programme, which brought together a talented cohort of female coaches and linked them with world leading coaches from the university. The programme offers coaches a development opportunity to dive deeper into them as coaches, their practice and philosophy, as well as their development as a leader. After another successful year, the programme has been shortlisted for the VC Award for Sports Advancement. The CVA look forward to the FCLP evolving further over the coming academic year. The programme is to be run entirely in-house for the first time in it's existence, allowing for further evolution of the content and delivery, including observation sessions with the likes of Loughborough Lightning and England Roses.
The AU Coach Coordinator programme ran for another year, Olivia Patten taking a senior coordinator role, alongside 1 returning and 2 new coordinators. We were able to continue working with AU clubs who had requested specific support in their Workforce Development Plans (Boxing, Cricket, Gymnastics, Fencing, Rowing, Squash and Table Tennis). Examples of projects the coordinators helped guide were; building a database of all the AU coaches at Loughborough and highlighting areas for recruitment and support, creating a minimum standards for coaching at Loughborough and supporting the creation of a new coach development programme. The team have also been involved in running coaching qualifications on campus and specific workshop sessions for coaches, as well as individual club coach meetings to inform them of the CVA and the support available and advertising on the CVA portal for volunteer coaching roles for the 23/24 season.
The CVA have also ran a comprehensive CPD offer throughout the year with Russell Smith – Black Country Coaching. Students have taken part on the Brilliant Basics and Confidence to Coach sessions where they took part in two blocks of a 6-workshop series, split into a mixture of practical and theory sessions and a variety of guest speakers sharing their own route into coaching. The sessions where key for enabling these students to develop their skills and challenge themselves physically and mentally and understand how inclusive coaching can also improve self-esteem and self-confidence; to have a tangible impact on mental health and well-being.
We officially continued the Loughborough Coaches Community Network sessions. These sessions are opportunities where over 40 coaches come together across a variety of levels and coaching network at Loughborough. It involves sharing their experiences and passion for coaching.
This year we look forward to the sessions continuing, with aims to increase attendance further throughout the year. These sessions have been closely linked to the establishment of the AU Coaching Working Group, that aims to improve the processes involved in induction, support, and development of student coaches.
Continuing to work closely with the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS), the CVA organised and delivered a variety of sessions and opportunities, including a collapsed week where five Question and Answer sessions were hosted to provide insight into real life applied examples from various Performance Coaches and leaders and experts in their world. In addition, PGCE specific sessions were hosted catering for over 50 PGCE students to help prepare them when going into schools as prospective P.E. Teachers. Development sessions with elite-level coaches, particularly in Basketball, Netball, and Rugby, have continued to explore how we can up-skill PE coaches to substantially improve the quality of PE in schools across the country. We also coordinated coach placement opportunities and coaching observations for over 80 students on the Sport Science, Coaching & Physical Education (SSCaPE) degree.
Highlights
- Over 30 masterclasses & workshops on a variety of coaching environments
- 27 Coaching Qualification Courses Delivered
- Continued Coach Coordinator programme - bridging the gap between CVA and AU
- Over 15 successful bursary applications related to coach development
Coaching Success Stories
Officiating
The Officiating strand has continued to offer development opportunities for existing volunteers alongside training and deployment opportunities to those looking to get involved in officiating for the first time. Our officiating hub managers have been vital for providing a support mechanism to our officials, whilst providing resources and workshops to continue to aid their development.
Our team of Football Officiating Hub Managers oversaw the third phase of the redevelopment of the football officiating offer, with 16 referees trained and deployed on to IMS fixtures. Five of this year's cohort are on their level 6 promotion pathway, showing our commitment to referee development and retention. We also ran 6 CPDs on campus in collaboration with Leicestershire and Rutland County FA, bringing together student referees with referees from across the county. Through the work of the Football Officiating project, we have seen student officials be promoted to Levels 6 all the way up to Level 3 this year.
Within Hockey, deployment onto AU fixtures was fulfilled by over 40 umpires, 4 times the season before. 11 people gained their L1 qualifications throughout the season. In addition, we gained 3 Level 2 umpires and 2 International umpires.
Over 50% of the programme's umpires are women, 3 times the regional average. This was supported with 3 CPD sessions on campus this year. Student officials supported the schools national finals as well as local school cup games, and we have re-established a relationship with Midlands Hockey and continue to grow a very close partnership with England Hockey and the NPUA.
Within Rugby, we have seen continued development of the programme. Anchored by in-house ERRA courses and deployment within the IMS leagues, we have qualified 16 new referees and supported the further development of many more.
This year has also seen the culmination of 18 months of planning towards the introduction of a basketball officiating programme. We are excited for the inaugural year, where we will host a level 2 basketball referee course and CPD series, along with establishing a development pathway from IMS and local league to BUCS and national league.
One of the key goals for the upcoming year is to develop strong core officiating communities within and now between five key sports - Football, Rugby, Hockey, Netball and Basketball. These sports will have sports specific CPD and training alongside holistic officiating support. The CVA is committed to bringing officials together irrespective of sport and bringing gaps between sports. There is a push to maintain a strong supportive environment for all our officials, whilst also looking to expand our officiating hub manager strategies to empower students and continue to maintain our student lead, professionally supported environment. While we anticipate growth and development across all strands, another core aim for the coming year is to advance opportunities for women's officiating by identifying and removing barriers to entry and progression of women in officiating roles.
Officiating Success Stories
Performance Support
Throughout the year, we have provided support to a total of 73 volunteers and 36 placement students who have gained valuable applied experience within our performance programmes. These opportunities span across various disciplines, including Performance Analysis, Nutrition, Physiology, and Strength & Conditioning. Our aim is to equip these students with the necessary skills and knowledge to become independent practitioners and contribute their unique insights during interdisciplinary team meetings.
In addition, we successfully conducted Stage 2 of Loughborough Sport's Performance Practitioner Programme, building upon the achievements from the two years prior. The programme consisted of 10 sessions held throughout the year, focusing on further developing the participants' skills as practitioners and featuring presentations from industry experts.
Impact of the Programme
8.5/10
Average rating for how engaging students found the deliverers on the programme
Comments about sessions
"I really enjoyed being a part of the programme and have found it very engaging and inspiring, I particularly liked the level of interaction in the meetings!"
Performance Support Highlights
- 6 Performance Analysis Guest Speaker Sessions & Workshops
- 23 CPD Sessions for Performance Support Placements and Volunteers
- Over 22,000 Hours Logged in Performance Support
- 7 Nutrition Volunteers fully funded to undertake the industry recognised ISAK qualification
Success Stories
Media, Marketing and Communications
We've supported over 25 students across all of our performance & development programmes as well as in external opportunities over the last year. Alongside this, we have provided masterclasses by industry experts and workshops to aid in our volunteers' development.
These media volunteers have been able to gain experience in social media planning, photography & videography, sports journalism, interview techniques and starting a career in sports marketing. Their work has been key in continuing to raise the profile of the performance sport teams and participation pathways throughout the university.
Featured Workshops & Masterclasses
- Photography - Jack Tompkins (Ben & Jack Studio)
- Videography - Jack Tompkins (Ben & Jack Studio)
- How to Write a Press Release - Dawn Spendlove (Love Marketing)
- Starting a Career in Sports Marketing - Dawn Spendlove and Jennie (Love Marketing)
We are really excited to see the continued development of the Media, Marketing & Communications strand, including bringing in internal and external expertise to provide additional support to the volunteers overseeing the media for our Athletic Union clubs through a series of training and workshops throughout the academic year. These students will receive support in articulating measurable objectives and understanding target audience of their programme to develop a media & marketing strategy.
Media, Marketing and Communications Success Stories
Event Management
This year we saw a huge increase in opportunities for students to get involved in the events industry, from external events hosted on campus such as BUCS Big Wednesday and NFL Academy Fixtures to our large internal events such as Loughborough International Athletics and Loughborough Cycling Festival.
Some of the opportunities included:
- 140 Events volunteers supporting BUCS Big Wednesday across campus
- 5 Student Event Coordinators recruited, leading on key functional areas of the Loughborough International Athletics (LIA) event, Lightning Netball Fixtures and Cycling Festival
- 44 Volunteers supporting the annual Loughborough Cycling Festival
- 200 volunteers supporting 2024 Paralympic Games Kitting Out
2023/24 saw the Loughborough Sport Events Programme through another successful year, with collaboration from alumni Laura Hillyard to coordinate the programme, the cohort of students attended sessions relating to Sports Presentation, Broadcasting Operations and many more areas within events.
8.5/10
Average rating of how engaging students found the sessions
Comments about the programme
“Thank you for running the programme this year. It's been very helpful for introducing me to the industry and inspiring me to get involved!”
Event Management Success Stories
Volunteer Zambia
Volunteer Zambia is a group of 7 UK Higher Education Institutions who have shared a commitment to support the development of sport in Zambia through the 'Volunteer Zambia' project as part of The Wallace Group. The Wallace Group is a partnership created in 2004 by several leading UK universities to support sports development for young people with a key focus on Women and Girls in Zambia. The partnership embraces: 7 UK universities (Cardiff Metropolitan, Durham, Edinburgh, Loughborough, Northumbria, St Andrews, and Stirling), UK Sport, Basketball England, England Netball, Volunteer Zambia Foundation & Sport in Action.
In the summer of 2024 four students and two staff members spent eight weeks in Zambia working with Sport in Action (The largest Zambian Sporting NGO), to deliver sport development programmes within the Community Sport Hubs based across the capital Lusaka.
The students impacted the local Community Sport Hubs by developing the 3 key sports (basketball, netball, and women's football), through working with Zambians volunteers to develop their skills within coaching and coach education, officiating, leadership, and wider volunteering in order to create a sustainable sport offer.
Each year that students go to Zambia, they continue to build the capacity by creating sustainable opportunities for people to play and progress in sport.
CVA Alumni
When the students leave Loughborough, we keep in touch to see how the development the CVA has offered them has helped them to gain employment. We are continuously blown away by the successes of the students and this is reflected in the CVA graduate & alumni survey.
- 93%
- of graduates reported that volunteering with the CVA enhance their overall university experience
- 94%
- of graduates are currently in some form of further education or employment
- 56%
- of graduates in full time employment in sport
- 85%
- said that volunteering provided relevant experience for their CV and developed their professional skills in problem solving
- 83%
- said that volunteering developed their professional skills in time management and leadership
We will continue to keep in touch with those who have been involved in the CVA to track their journeys. In turn, we can then set up opportunities for the graduates to 'give back' to the current Loughborough students, now that they have begun to build professional networks.
Supported Programmes
In addition, to the strands that we directly deliver, we also support other programmes within the Loughborough Sport offer to recruit, train and deploy an appropriate workforce that then goes on to deliver an exceptional student experience. This has included providing ongoing training throughout the year to 43 student leaders across the executive committees of the Athletic Union, Intra-mural Sport, Social Sport, Para Sport and Recreational Sport programmes.
This year we also supported the Athletic Union to deliver their annual Athletic Union Committee handover training which was packed full of sessions to ensure they are provided with the knowledge and skills to set their club up for a successful year.
4.6/5
4.6 stars out of 5 for delivery of the workshops
Quote from AU Handover Training Attendee:
"I learnt all of the opportunities we provide and the collaborations we have with the AU and IMS, as well as who to contact."
Success Stories
Recognition
A key part of our objectives and values has always been to recognise and reward individuals for their contribution and celebrating the successes of the workforce we support. Throughout last year we continued recognising volunteers' contributions to the Loughborough Sport Ecosystem after a return to life on campus.
We have continued to celebrate volunteers' achievement and share their experiences through our Success Stories and hosted a Thank You Event in collaboration with Recreational Sport & Social Sport's Beach Fest, as well as the CVA Awards for outstanding volunteers and their hosts as a thank you for their commitment and had work throughout the year.
Throughout the year, over 250 people hit the 100-hour milestone, which demonstrates the commitment of our volunteers to give back to Loughborough Sport and support our programmes.
Follow us
We are already underway with this academic year and continue to unlock volunteer's potential through the high-quality opportunities at Loughborough University.
Stay up to date with our activities, opportunities, and the stories from volunteers by following us on social media:
Contact us
If you are interested in working with the CVA or getting involved, please contact us at cva@lboro.ac.uk. For more information on the CVA, please head over to our website.
Get involved with the CVA