On Sunday 15th October the annual UK Snowsport Coaching Awards were presented by Maggie Still, CEO of Snowsport England, along with former Olympic athlete Chemmy Alcott at the opening weekend of National Snow Week at the NEC, Birmingham.
These prestigious awards are an opportunity to celebrate the hard work, commitment and passion of coaches in our wonderful sport and this year saw an inundation of nominees with 113 coaches nominated. To make it to the shortlist is in itself a wonderful achievement.
The awards are split in to four categories:
- Children’s Coach
- Para- Snowsport Coach
- Performance Coach
- Coach Developer
From here these award winners are then put forward to the overall award of Coach of The Year!
Children’s Coach
Nominees:
David Hanlon – Stoke Ski Centre, Stuart Haselgrove – Oval Ski Club and others, John Urquhart – Welwyn Ski Racing Club, Josh Rolfe – Precise Ski Racing, Scott Fraser – Silksworth Snowsport Centre
Some of the key criteria the panel wanted to see was:
-Child Centred Learning – focussing on the individual and why they are there
-Innovative ideas and practice
-Creating an environment that allows the young people to thrive
-Focussed on learning through fun
We are delighted to say that the winner of this award was Scott Fraser of Silksworth Snowsport Centre!
Para- Snowsport coach
Nominees: Christine Billington – Pendle ski Club, Stephen Jordan – Snozone Milton Keynes, John Lawson – DSUK
For this award the key criteria the panel looked at was:
-Evidence of the impact the coach has had on widening access to sport for disabled people
-Evidence of appropriate player-centred engagement and excellent coaching
-Examples of innovative practice
The worthy winner of this award, based at Snozone Milton Keynes was, Stephen Jordan!
Performance coach
Nominees: Scott Buchan – Alpine Performance Racing, Ross Green – Alpine Race Academy, Chris Higgs – Brentwood Snowsport Centre, Emily Evans – Precise Ski Racing, Dan Curtis – Essex Ski Racing, Tom Crockart – Alpine Performance Racing
The performance coach award is always fiercely competitive and so the panel were looking for:
-Creation of a safe, fun environment which promotes success and allows athletes to thrive
-Supporting the athletes to be the best they can be in and out of snowsport
-Evidence of innovative practice
– Evidence of player-centred, high-quality coaching that encourages the development of performance within sport and nurtures talent.
The winner of this award was Emily Evans – Precise Ski Racing
Coach developer:
Nominees: Chris Stroud – Ackers Adventure, Richard Barbour – Gloucester Adaptive Ski Club & Locked In Shed Podcast, Darren Scmidt – Team Snowtrax, Gerry Wigglesworth – Pendle Ski Club
In this category the panel were considering:
– Evidence of the development and management of coaches
– Evidence of the delivery of high-quality learning opportunities for coaches
– Evidence of innovative practice to support coaches
– Evidence of leaving a legacy through the development of others, the lasting opportunities now available or alternative enhancement within the sport or environment
We are delighted to announce that the winner was Richard Barbour – Gloucester Adaptive Ski Club & Locked In Shed Podcast
Overall coach of the year 2o23
The winner of the overall Coach of The Year Award 2023 was awarded to Scott Fraser of Silksworth Snowsport Centre!
We would like to thank everyone who was nominated or nominated someone and say a huge congratulations to our award winners. Coaches are utterly vital to the long term success and enjoyment every participant has in snowsport and we cannot thank each and every one of you enough.
We would also like to extend thanks to our sponsors of the event Rossignol who provided prizes for each of our category winners as well as an overall prize. Their generosity and continued support of the awards is much appreciated.
Keep up the great coaching work and we look forward to celebrating your coaching achievements next year!