Earlier this year the East Midlands Regional Committee came up with an initiative as part of the #ThisGirlCan campaign, to offer six young women a bursary towards a Level 1 or 2 Triathlon coaching course, in an effort to encourage more female participation within the sport.
We were pleasantly surprised by the response that we received and after much deliberation, six applicants were chosen. This week we spoke with Jennie Scrimshaw of Lincoln Tri Club, who was granted a bursury and has just completed her Level 1 in triathlon coaching.
Jennie, what was your involvement in triathlon before you decided to become a coach?
I did my very first triathlon in 2013 which was an open water sprint in London. Since then I have taken part in sprint series' and several middle distance triathlons at a very amateur level. I also enjoy volunteering behind the scenes as well.
What made you want to become a coach?
Earlier this year I worked with a team of people from Lincoln Tri Club to deliver two GO TRI events in Newark aimed at getting novices into the sport. It was a lot of hard work, but there was a number of participants, most notably women, that fed back what a great experience they'd had and how they wanted to go on further to compete in bigger events. It is easy to see that this sport is growing rapidly and so I decided to get trained in coaching, to provide support not only to our ever growing tri club, but to people who are not necessarily members of clubs as they start out, like I wasn't and want the help and guidance to train properly and efficiently.
What will you take away from the Level 1 coaching course?
The training days were fantastically prepared and led by highly experienced coaches who knew exactly what they were talking about. With it being Level 1 we were never going to leave being the best coaches that ever did live, obviously that takes time; But what we were given was the basic tools/skillsets to be able to support Level 2 / 3 coaches and occasionally lead our own group training sessions. The rest is in our hands now and it's an ongoing process of building upon these skill sets and evaluating every session, to grow our knowledge and become better coaches to the athletes we are teaching.
How have you found it moving from the classroom out into a real coaching environmment at your club?
Scary! I have spent a lot of the sessions watching our existing coaches, picking up tips and learning drills, but there have been a couple where I have assisted with the session. It's less intense because you're not being assessed, but the challenge has been to keep the athletes moving and adapting your style between children and adults. At the moment it's remembering not to forget things, like demonstrations or feedback, but with practice I will get there.
Where will you go from here?
I am so grateful to the EM regional committee for the bursary they generously provided, which meant I could do this course and put some towards the Level 2 next year. The short term goal is to keep learning and assist with sessions wherever I can at the club, ready to take on the L2 so I can regularly plan a lead my own sessions. The long term goal is to make a career of coaching moving into 1-2-1 sessions, however I am a long way from that now, just one step at a time.
What advice would you give to any female triathlete interested in taking up triathlon?
We can all see the ratio of men to women in triathlon is massively imbalanced but my hopes are in a few years this gap will lessen. My tips to anyone new to triathlon would be:
1. Start off small with a GO TRI or something similar - you can visit gotri.org for more information on events in your area. A 5k doesn't seem like much to some people, but following a 400m swim and 20km bike ride if you have never done this before is a different story
2. Join a tri club - if there is one in your area. It doesn't matter if you can only do short distances or don't consider yourself very "fast", there are people of all abilities. The comradery can keep your training consistent and help you give maximal effort at each session
3. While you may feel intimidated do not let it stop you from getting involved. You only fail if you don't tri (pardon the pun). If you're nervous about what is involved in a triathlon, go watch one in action by volunteering for a local event, or even just as a spectator. Speak to other people and ask them about their first triathlon, everyone starts somewhere.
Thank you Jennie and good luck with your coaching.
