British Cycling Young Volunteers

Ever wondered how the teenage coaches at KJCC get to where they are? What training do they receive? Well wonder no more. Myself and Lucy, 2 of the Spokes’ coaches, took our preliminary steps down the path to coach-hood 3 ½ weeks ago. It was exhausting, exhilarating and entertaining but predominantly it was enlightening. Here is the beginning of our journey. 

On Saturday 9^th March 2014 I tumbled out of bed at crazy o’clock (6:30 am) threw on some clothes and flopped into the car, toast in hand. Bleary-eyed and displaying the mannerisms of a zombie I greeted Mel, an experienced coach and important personnel at KJCC, whilst munching my toast. We met Lucy in Twickenham and, with our party finally complete, set off for the Go-Ride conference in Reading. The journey was long. Fortunately Lucy and I have a talent for talking, (as most of our coaches will tell you) and being fully awake by that point we did not hesitate to utilise that skill. Thus our journey was swiftly and pleasantly spent. 

Upon arriving in Reading we ventured across the dauntingly lush golf courses into the spacious and modern atrium. We collected our nametags and lanyards before milling around the shining room as the crowds accumulated with cycling enthusiasts and fellow coaches. Our daydreaming was interrupted by a beaming man sporting a British Cycling uniform who called for all participants of the Young Volunteers Program to follow him. After exchanging a few perplexed glances Lucy and I established we were included in that bracket and hastily followed the athletic people our age heading after the smiling man. The group, comprising of roughly 15 teenagers, congregated in a boardroom and distributed ourselves across 2 tables. After a series of amusing, and slightly awkward, icebreakers we retreated back to our seats to begin the real activities. First we received an initial briefing about health and safety and codes of conduct when coaching, which I’m pleased to report we already knew. Then we split off into groups of 3 with the task to design an ideal cycling club. This activity too was tailored to make us consider the complexities of establishing a successful club and the key roles played within it. We presented our ideas before watching a couple of videos displaying cyclists with a variety of technical improvements to be made, both strategically and mechanically. Our task was to identify these issues and state how best to overcome them. This enabled us to gain a considerable amount of knowledge from the varied experiences and expertise of the other participants. It was really interesting! Simultaneously our coaching abilities were further developed.

After that we took a short break where we were able to fully interact with the people in our session, all of whom were our age (15). As we all shared a common interest in cycling this was really simple and we found that everyone was very friendly and good-natured. At the end of the break we made our way onto the golf course, turning our attention away from coaching to racing. As a group we agreed on, and mapped, out a trial cyclocross racecourse for children age 8-12. That put our understanding of course adaption to test along with our ability to identify hazards and knowledge of race days. We then proceeded to fill in a risk assessment form and exchange knowledge and tips for ideal race briefings, something that is more complex to create and deliver then you would envisage.

After perfecting our briefing skills we then proceeded back to the boardroom, chatting continuously, to collect an extensive amount of paperwork and learn about the programme. Over the course of the next year we have to log a certain number of hours in a variety of cycling activities centred around coaching. We cannot participate as cyclists in any of these activities; we can only be there as organisers or coaches. If the specified hours are successfully logged within the timeframe the participant will become a registered Level 1 Coach with British cycling. This is the scheme myself and Lucy have entered into. It's a slightly formidable challenge but a challenge nevertheless, and one I am determined to see through.

With the sky growing dark Lucy and I departed from our new found friends with the prospect of seeing them in a year’s time when we're all qualified coaches. We crawled into the car and spent the journey in a sleepy silence. It was an exhausting but rewarding day. I loved it!

Ruhi Walsh

We currently have three young volunteers Ruhi, Lucy and Harry who are doing great work with the Spokes. If you would like to join them and are aged 14 yrs or above, please speak to coaches Mel or Liz at a club session.