Help required- Skills coach etc...!

[welsh mountain goat]

OK, Just thought I'd throw this out here to begin with. Not a formal job offer or anything mind....!

We are getting busy at particular times and I am likely to need to find assistance to cover for Deborah, particularly on skills days.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone was keen to help out as an 'assistant' on the skills courses in particular. Being a competent confident rider capable of demonstrating skills and breaking them down is obviously important, although being a good instructor/teacher and communicator is more important than being a world champion rider. Obviously we have developed our courses in a particular way so we hope to keep this format for the future. SMBLA qualifications a bonus, but not essential

Currently we'd be looking at helping out a couple of weekend days a month at most, and see how it goes.

Anyway, feel free to pm me if this in any way interests you- it's not for everyone, but for the right person it can be a rewarding experience.

I'd also be happy to hear if anyone is ever interested in helping out mid-week with our trips, particularly with a little driving- both our winery and Lofty trips require a driver, and I can't always rely on my father-in-law! It would be handy if we had a few more people I knew I could ask occasionally during our set-up period, as obviously tour bookings aren't consistent at the moment, so we can't employ anyone consistently.

[wal]

Im not applying for a job but what does "SMBLA qualifications" mean and exactly what is it for?

[welsh mountain goat]

Was just a bit of a joke. The "Scottish Mountain Bike Leaders Association" qualifications are the most respected bike guiding/teaching qualifications in the UK, and the accepted best standard for MTB guiding and skills teaching throughtout most of Europe. There's not really anything similar over here as a base level, although a few of the companies who do the same as we do are talking about getting a 'recognised standard' level of qualification sanctioned for Australia. It's all about having a 'standard' of qualification and teaching. There's only a few of us with the qualification in OZ, but at least it's something, as it is more about being able to teach than being a sh1t-hot rider.

To be honest it was one of the best courses I have ever done- a bit like doing my Padi Dive Instructors qualification, although SMBLA has at least a little bit of credibility in the MTB world.....

[wal]

Yeah Scotland is a bit far to travel to do course like that.
Id be keen to do something similar in Aus if it was offered.

[rubikat]

While I am late to this conversation...
(apols for the rant as well!!)

Cycling Aust (CA) has a set program for the training of cycling coaches in Aust. You must undertake the 1 day cycling skills course CA runs to be considered for any other coaching courses/qualifications/recognition in Aust. the Cycling SKills (CS) course focuses on communication, building rider skills and confiedence, lesson planning etc. After completing the CS course you can apply to do a Level 1 MTB coach course. The Level 1 MTB (like the road/track/bmx equivalents CA offer) is geared more at competative cycling with the intention of developing coaches suitable for state level competitors.
Given the previous comments in this post, is there a case to put to CA on having a MTB specific version of the CS course so that we can ensure coaches and riders work from the same page and the quaity of information/instruction caters to the needs of the MTB community? (Currently Football federation Aust has a 'community' and a 'professional' stream of training for all accredited soccer coaches in Aust...)
Sorry to ramble but (a) this interests me and (b) MTB skills are unique to some extent. Plus I like having a coach who can help me develop without yelling at me...(not all of them have this skill).

I'll google the scottish qualification to see if I can get a manual- its sounds like a great idea.

Sorry to hijack the thread and good luck finding some staff.

[welsh mountain goat]

No worries about the comments Rubikat.

This is actually something that I have been talking with a few people, including Norm Douglas, who is vice president of MTBA and also runs MTBskills over at Forest who do excellent skills coaching courses. You are right, all the current CA stuff is focusing on coaching state level athletes, rather than instructing casual riders to ride better- however there is a huge increase in interest in exactly this type of training- there are at least 5 other companies I can think of doing similar types of courses interstate, and from what I have heard standards are 'variable'. Norm certainly had this on the agenda to consider- as you point out it certainly seems that CA just tack on the MTB skills at the end of a general coaching qualification, which doesn't properly address this vast difference there is between teaching casual riders good MTB skills compared to coaching an athlete to perform.

I have a copy of the SMBLA manual here you are welcome to borrow. A lot of the skills content was writen by the guys at http://www.cyclewise.co.uk/ in the Lake District, who are brilliant guys that I did my training with.

[rubikat]

Thnx.
Will PM you