Coach Development

Coach development is an area that Singapore Gymnastics is passionate about and has put in a lot of work to build the education framework and content. The working group of content experts and education developers completed the content for the discipline-specific Intermediate Coaching Course. In the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2020, Singapore Gymnastics launched its discipline-specific coaching courses, starting with Rhythmic Gymnastics in August, followed by 3 other disciplines i.e., Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, Women’s Artistic Gymnastics and Trampolining. These discipline-specific Intermediate Coaching Courses have been put together in alignment with the recommended content for SG-Coach Level 1 (Full Integration) coaching curriculum and are approved as well as fully endorsed by CoachSG.

Singapore Gymnastics is grateful to the following education content developers from our local community for their contribution to the development of the Intermediate Course content:

Hoe Wah Toon Lim Heen Wei Park Gi Yong Jeanette Tan Zhou Ying Irina Bessmertnaya Sean Yeo Ryosuke Kusumi Perry Koh Faeri Risha Equia Gesmundo Anastasia Fokina Giselle Lim

The complete integration of SG-Coach Level 1 coaching curriculum at both the Fundamental and Intermediate Coaching Courses means coaches who progressively complete their coaching accreditations with Singapore Gymnastics will be able to attain their full membership with the National Registry of Coaches (NROC) at once, as compared to having to attend other workshops i.e., Values and Principles in Sports (VPS), Foundational Sport Science (FSS) separately to achieve their full NROC.

Covid-19 has undoubtedly disrupted course training in person. As such Singapore Gymnastics has moved to a blended learning approach where theory is covered online through webinars as well as the adoption of an online Learning Management System, Thinkific. Covering most of the theory online provides access to background knowledge and offers a flexible pace of information consumption. Thinkific also provides reporting and the ability for us to monitor the progress of all coaches under training with their course submissions and will continue to set the platform for further enhanced learning into the future.

In the area of coach development, despite the impact of Covid-19, Singapore Gymnastics managed to run the following courses between April 2020 and March 2021. We recognise that for coach development to go further, Singapore Gymnastics also need to build a team of coach mentors who can support coaches learning beyond courses and accreditation. Coach mentors are also an important part of the annual club affiliation. To continue the support, Singapore Gymnastics will be delivering at least three (3) Coach Mentoring programmes each year.

Course description

3 Fundamental Coaching Courses (July 20, Sep 20 & Jan 21) 1 Intermediate Coaching Course across 4 disciplines 3 KinderGym Coaching Courses (Sep 20, Nov 20 & Feb 21) 2 Coach Mentoring programmes (Dec 20 & Mar 21)

Emergent coaches

41 Fundamental coaches 16 Intermediate Coaches 14 KinderGym coaches 16 Coach Mentors

The Education team delivered a coach professional development series #AMinuteMonday in lieu of the Annual Coaches Congress from April to July 2020 through live Q&A, workshops and interactive demonstrations, done through the virtual space. Featuring a panel of coaches, judges, physiotherapists and specific gymnastic discipline coordinators identified, they presented on key topics, such as managing athlete motivation, strength and conditioning, home training modification. With the purpose to prepare a safe return to training after Circuit Breaker, as well as introducing new gymnastics programme called “TeamGym” , to Singapore.

Singapore Gymnastics also partnered with Dave Tilley from Shift Movement Science to further value-add our technical coach members with FREE ACCESS to The Hero Lab programme (worth SGD $101.87), an incredible resource to any coach who cares about the health and well-being of their gymnasts.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Coaches who were members previously or had gone through the new education accreditation system would have had their records digitised and stored in the National Database. However, for coaches who had been accredited before 2018, as well as foreign coaches in Singapore, there is a need for a process to recognise their expertise, experience, skills and knowledge. This is through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process, which was reviewed and refreshed in 2020.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process is designed to: clarify the process from submission to awarding a letter of recognition simplify the language in each step of the application process automate the submission of RPL application via online differentiate the specific requirements required for different categories of coaches i.e. Local coaches who have achieved accreditation with Singapore Gymnastics in the past 9 years Student coaches with Republic Polytechnic course modules S667 & S261 that relate to coaching of Gymnastics Foreign coaches with accreditation from a FIG Coach Academy Course and/or the following National federations of Australia, Britain, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand Local or foreign coaches with university degree/ Diploma transcripts or coaching accreditation from countries not listed in the list of foreign National Federation listed by SG identify the competencies to be demonstrated in the submissions Class organisation & management Instructional Impact Communication

By the end of March 2021, Singapore Gymnastics has supported 54 local and foreign coaches through the Recognition or Prior Learning (RPL). Amongst the local coaches supported through RPL were students from the Diploma of Sports Coaching from the Republic Polytechnic.

In collaboration with Singapore Gymnastics and based on the Fundamental Coaching Course, Republic Polytechnic has incorporated S667 Practical Studies: Fundamental Movements into their syllabus as one of their specialisation modules.

This module introduces the fundamental movements skills of gymnastics which include basic dominant gymnastics movement patterns, fitness for gymnastics and physical preparations. Students will also be trained in coaching and development of fundamental gymnastics skills. They will learn about the growth and development of participants and their safety considerations.

Upon completion of this Fundamental Movements module, students have to complete Introduction to Sports Coaching module, Values and Principles in Sports (VPS). In addition, they must have a valid Standard First Aid accreditation as well as complete the mandatory 10 hours of practical experience placement in order to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning and be part of the community of Singapore Gymnastics technical members.