Liebster Award - times 3!

Well, what can I say but what great way to start a new week but with a proud post :) They say we get things in 3's and that's how many Liebster Blog Awards I received over the past few days - words can't expess how thankful I am to:

Jenn @ http://craftyfulgardens.blogspot.com/

Laura @ http://bunniescraps.blogspot.com/

Michele @ http://fishmememoriesandmore.blogspot.com/

These ladies do amazing work and you should stop by their blogs for a little inspiration!!!

The Liebster Blog award is given to bring new blogs to light. It's a great way to share blogs that might not otherwise be seen or ones you want to share with others.

 As a recipient you must share the love and pay it forward by:

1. Creating a post where you blog about the Liebster award & reveal your 3-5 blog picks

2. Let them know you chose them

3. Copy & paste the blog award on your blog

4. Have faith that your followers will rally & show their crafty love back out to those you awarded

5. Have fun!

Please stay posted as I sort through the many blogs I love and try to narrow it down to 5 -how does one do that with so much talent out there????  You are all deserving so I dedicate this award to all of you for all of your inspiration and creativity!

Back from Perth

We are back.  Just.  There is more.  But for now....

Distressed Barn Card

Tearing... inking... tearing... inking....de-stressing! A good card to make after a hard day :)  The torn papers (a stamped backround from Stampin Up and some backround paper) are layered under a torn image from Heartfelt Creations that I colored in with my copic markers.  After all the tearing I used Tim Holtz ink on the edges.   Last, but not least... a piece of jute for the bow. I found the perfect challenge to enter this one in at http://www.alwayscrafting.com/.  The Whimsical Wednesday challenge is all about destessing!  Thanks Stephanie and Margie for the great challenge!

Live, Laugh, Love

 I enjoyed making this card, stamping, coloring, hand stitching and distressing... all my favorite things :)  The sunflower stamps are from Heartfelt Creatins, the saying from Stampabilities and I used some red homespun fabric for the heart and my copic markers for coloring :)

Pocket Full of Posies

This was a fun card on a snowy day.... a glimmer of hope... spring is coming!!!!  I used alot of Tim Holtz Distress Ink on this one o give it lots of color, some backround paper fom K&C Company and the stars of the card are three great stamp sets from Heartfelt Creations (Posy Patch Flowers, Jean Pocket/Ball Can and Tropical Butterfly)... I stamped the pocket on denim paper and colored the butterfly and posies with my copics :)

Country Birthday Bear

Well, I spent Valentine's Day having dinner with my son, blog hoppin' and making cards :) What a great night!  I used lots of Tim Holtz Distress Ink as usual, a Stampin Up Bear and balloon, some cricut cuts for the heart and label (Lacy Labels is one of my fav's), buttons, backround paper and alot of love!

Liebster Blog Award!

I would like to thank Dina from mycricutrocks.blogspot.com for giving me this award! As a recipient of this award reveal 3-5 blog picks.
2. let them know you chose them.
3 copy and paste the award on your blog.
4.Have faith your followers will rally and show their crafty love back out to those awarded.
5. Have fun
 My 5 picks are:

Linda:  http://www.thefruitofmyhands.blogspot.com/

Debi:   http://dizzylizzyscreations.blogspot.com/

Cindy:  http://scrappingroom.blogspot.com/

Cathryn: http://inthepinkcathryn.blogspot.com/

Diana:  http://www.dianamlarson.blogspot.com/

Congrats and thanks for all the inspiration that you have given me through your amazing work! Can't wait to share and see more creations! Vicki

Framed Prim Bear Valentine

Well, my dolls are prim, my house is prim so i decided its time to go total prim on my cards!  I made this country primitive card with a Stampin Up bear stamp, a Stampabilities saying stamp, lots of Tim Holtz distess ink, a heart cut with my cricut, two of my favorite homespun fabrics and lots of hand stitching. I also used my new  Zutter electric distress tool, which rocks BTW.  Its a very country primitive valentine you can give a friend and that's generic enough that you could display it every day in a distressed wooden frame :)

How To Catapult Your Personal Goals Into Action

It is always good to have a set of goals to reach for. To execute your goals successfully you should use your means to full effect. They also should be applied in a step-by-step process. Think about the concept of chunking. Before you start putting any goals into action you need to have a rough idea of the goals you are going to focus on (Link). Then you should apply the principles of Goal Setting to ensure your goals are: Specific Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound. In pursuit of your goals you might require an Action Plan which you can use as a guide and a reference. 

How Are You Going To Achieve It?

The first factor to consider is whether you are going to make it through using personal application or professional skills. Do you have adequate resources? How much time do you have? Some goals will only require simple and consistent steps to be completed. Whilst others will need your utmost dedication and possibly some external support. Take for instance a gentleman that is looking to speed up the development of his fitness levels. He must be realistic in his monthly targets and timing. He needs to take into account that facts such as his body composition will influence the rate of fitness changes. Hence to catapult his personal goal he should take small steps in order to make the big leap to maximum fitness.

Have Plan B Ready

You need to think about what you will do when things don't go to plan. Do you easily lose motivation? Are susceptible to becoming lazy midway through? If so you need to think of other action points that you can put in place when things go pear shaped. Lets take the gentleman who has fitness goals for himself who is now disheartened due to lack of progress. An alternative to tackling his frustration is to share his grievances by getting a running partner.

Inform Others of Your Goals

When you inform people about what you want to achieve you are opening yourself to a helping hand. So when people are aware of an opportunity that will benefit you they are likely to contact you. In the case of the gentleman with the fitness ambitions; now that he has told people about his goals they will be able to let him know about new opportunities like a renown local exercise class that is taking place. Informing others about your goals also allows individuals to show their support and even suggest 'If there is anything you want me to do help let me know'. It is clear: the more relationship networks you use the better your chances.

How Have I Contributed To My Goals Today?

Goals which take time and continuous effort to reach should have step-by-step developments because realistically things cannot be done all at once. Always think about what is next? What more can I do? At the end of the day (or week) think about how you contributed to your goals. If you have tried the same action points which have failed then think about making changes. Regularly reflecting on your progress will help you remind yourself of tasks which need to be completed. Go back to the drawing board if you have to.

Top 10 Tips For Back To Work Blues

Feeling The Blues?

So the festive season is over. Its funny how the snap cold is even more noticeable once you are back at work. You should try your utmost be at your best physically and mentally. Failing to do so will of course make feel sluggish. It is similar to an athlete who needs to get their body into good condition. If he or she fails to do the latter of course they will not feel motivated to work hard in training and competition. So here are 10 Tips you can follow to help you feel warmer and happier at work.

1. STRETCHING is one form of exercise you can do to warm your muscles. If you are worried about time you need not be. These exercises take less than 10 minutes, require little space and can be done at your workplace. This physical activity should lift your mood as it releases a hormone which make you happy. Or you can go as far as popping down to a local sports class during lunch?

2. SLEEPING is important because you need enough hours of sleep to give you a boost for the day ahead. It is generally recommended that you get a good 8 hours in every night.

3. TAKE A BREAK when you are due one.  A lot of us are susceptible to carrying on working throughout our break because there is a lot of work to be done. Soldiering on does not help your mood or health. So you need rest periods to recuperate.

4. SET A ROUTINE that is easier for you to follow. This should let you know what you should be doing at what times and possibly look forward to certain daily events.

5. EAT BREAKFAST as it is most important meal of the day. Now how many times have you have heard that? MANY because eating things like wholegrain toast and fruit give you the energy resource which you need to start and finish your day with a spring in your step.

6. DRINK DRINK DRINK  and drink plenty of water. Your body needs to be hydrated especially if your work is physical and requires high concentration stressful.

7. PERSONAL TIME for yourself is precious to ourselves in this day and age. Try your best to spare some time where you can just relax, do something you really enjoy or spend some quality time with your family. Resist the temptations of using your BB/Iphone to read or send work related messages. You need a period where you can just forget about it all. Learn to separate your work from your personal time.

8. BE ORGANISED in your surroundings. Things like keeping your desk clean and clear from clutter could help your struggle in finding important files and documents. Organisation could stop you from stressing out on what you haven't managed to do and give you time to focus on other matters.

9.  DRESS FOR WORK since looking the part could make you act the part. There have been a lot of studies which point to evidence that when we dress for a particular role we are more likely to conform to it. It could also give you more pride in what you do.

10. REWARD YOURSELF from time to time. Sometimes we are guilty of working ourselves to death and forgetting that we deserve to treat ourselves. Its not always about work.

Most Children's Sports/Activities (Under 7's) are....

Is a Warm-Up Needed?

Earlier my colleague wrote a blog post called Is A Warm-Up Really Necessary?. Another reason which could support the view that warm-ups are not needed for KS2 children is that most of the sessions for this age group are game based anyway. The nature in which games are delivered are almost everything a warm-up requires. When looking at warm-up protocols for children they are low to medium tempo and have a limited intensity. They are fun and involve multiple dynamic movements. This is very similar to Games that are part of the curriculum as well as the drills within sports.The point is that perhaps there is little need to emphasise a plan for a warm-up. If you take a look at the skill and even game sections of your coaching plan there may be activities and games you are able to employ them as your 'warm-up'. The only difference is that these drills have been put on as skills or games sessions.

Sharing Is Indeed Caring

Are you sharing?

We receive a lot of enquiries from managers sports development officers and co-ordinators regarding the projects we do with people in the community. People are often curious about the organisation and want to know how they can get involved with us. Many of the emails and letters ask advice on community sports provision. People obviously believe in us and can see that what we do is effective. This what happens when your methods are succeeding and so people want a piece of the cake. In an industry like Community Sports there is a significant reliance on people within your own organisation because resources can be scarce. But why not venture out for more information from people within the industry? And if you happen to have good understanding of an issue why not share it? There is noting wrong with being providers or receivers of information.

What is great about the Community Sports is the actual desire for all included to help one another in a personal or professional capacity when you use the initiative to do so. One thing is for sure is that no one has all the answers. Therefore it is smart to work on the assumption that you never stop learning and can never have too much knowledge. Take for instance Sports Coaches. The thirst for extended knowledge is why a Sports Coach is continuously trying to look for new ways develop. Sports Coaches borrow expertise from each other all the time. Coaches use drills they have seen from observing another coach and then go on to creating an even better version. This coach is not a copy cat, this is a smart coach. The same analogy can be emulated more often by more senior people involved in Community Sports.

Equally, if you are the provider you should not be hesitant of sharing your knowledge. Nobody would expect you to lay out your business plans or most creative ideas. But sharing some tips to others in the industry should not hurt your prospects. After all it is likely that the information you have is already out there somewhere. The difference is that you may have utilised it in your own way, just like Sports Coach scenario. It could lead to the beginning of a partnership that is useful to you and/or your organisation, an exchange in talents. So you should not be afraid of sharing your knowledge it shows you have something to contribute to the community in which you operate and that you are held in high regard.   

Are you a provider or a receiver?

How To Inspire Children To Self-Reflect

Young people engaged in team sports are often motivated by success. The desire to win can sometimes influence some youngsters to blame others for what they perceive as failure.

Ask each young person to write down a scenario where they have seen or behaved  in an unsporting manner towards a team mate. Read out each one anonymously and discuss the scenario around it. Ask 'what should this person of done instead?' 'What would you have done to male it better?' to get some good answers. It is not always easy for young people to see why some else is effected by their actions. So this little activity is simple and quick way of encouraging them to self-reflect.

                                    Changing Rainbows

When Phil Mickelson teed off at the British Open golf tournament in Carnoustie, on the east coast of Scotland, he did so happy in the knowledge that he had the best possible help in preparing for the competition. At his side since April has been the formidable coach Butch Harmon, who previously spent several years working with the world's number one golfer Tiger Woods. Some people get to the top in business and feel they have no further need of advice or personal development of any kind. But, as elite performers such as Woods and Mickelson demonstrate, everyone has room for improvement. Coaches, whether in the context of work or sport, have something to contribute.

As a discipline, coaching has come a long way in the past 20 years. From a standing start in the 1980s, the number of people describing themselves as coaches has risen sharply. The International Coaching Federation estimates conservatively that there may be as many as 30,000 coaches working worldwide, generating revenues of about $1.5bn. The US accounts for half this market. In the past, executives tended to maintain a level of secrecy about any coaching they may have been receiving. As the story goes, they would put the word "haircut" in the diary to conceal visits to the coach. Coaching has also had to overcome the misguided perception that it was a kind of remedial treatment, offered only to people with big problems.

But as an unregulated industry coaching has remained something of an unknown quantity. Anyone can set up shop and call himself a coach. It has often been hard for potential clients to know who might be a legitimate and effective coach and who is simply trying their luck. Myles Downey, managing director of the School of Coaching, a London-based consultancy, has seen the evolution of this industry at first hand and says the market has become more orderly in recent years. "Five years ago you would have found large organisations having many, many different coaches, all with their own different approaches," he says. "They would have all been working differently, with nobody really knowing who was doing what and what the value was - and frequently not even knowing how much they were spending on it. "Now you see a lot of businesses appointing a head of coaching, and that person has typically identified a bench of coaches. The head of coaching will say to the organisation: if you want coaching, go to one of these people, because they have been vetted by us and we like what they do."

Organisations such as the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, the Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision, The Association for Coaching as well as the ICF, have produced guidelines and codes of ethics, helping to define what it is coaches should be doing. Accreditation from at least one of these organisations is increasingly being required by companies buying coaching services. But what is coaching like in practice? This correspondent recently found out after submitting himself to a short coaching session at the offices of the School of Coaching. First, let us clear away some of the mystique. The discussion took place in an ordinary room. We sat on chairs behind desks; there was no requirement to lie on a couch.

And what followed in the next 40 minutes or so was a businesslike, constructive conversation. The essential tools of coaching seem relatively simple: they involve the coach asking good, clear questions and listening carefully to the answers. The skill lies, in the first instance, in putting the "coachee" at ease. Then it is time to establish what the client wishes to work on or improve and assess his or her current situation. In most instances coaching involves helping an individual to raise his or her own performance (or impact) at work. But the big prize is the knock-on effect for teams and organisations suddenly enjoying reinvigorated leadership.

The central challenge for coaches is to make sure their questions are answered fully and accurately and that the coach understands what those answers mean. That is why good coaches often use the technique of playing back answers: "So, if I am hearing this correctly . . . ", "Can I make sure I have got that right?", "So, what you are telling me is . . . ".  Experienced coaches will develop a sense of when they have to dig deeper, be more challenging or step out of questioning mode altogether to offer observations and even, very occasionally, direction. But the core skill is listening. When you consider it in these terms, it is clear why organisations often talk about developing a "coaching culture" in their senior management teams. The ability to listen sensitively is depressingly rare. On the positive side, a coaching culture can prove contagious. When one team is seen as performing better on account of the coaching being provided by its leader, soon other colleagues will want to replicate that.

"My job is to cause the other person to think," says Mr Downey. He certainly achieved that with this coachee. The experience felt like a mental "spring clean", in which vague and semiconscious concerns were brought into sharp relief. But, crucially, the coach is also there to get the subject to commit to specific actions. This is not therapy: coaching is about raising people's performance. "Ultimately if you are coaching it is not for you to do the next step," Mr Downey adds. "I may help the chief executive consider a great new approach, or assist this person in working out how they are going to build their global sales team, but it is still down to them to do the job." For this reason it will always be hard for businesses to come up with a sensible "return on investment" figure for any outlay on coaches - much to the chagrin of finance and HR directors.

All the same, the appetite for coaching appears to be growing. Marshall Goldsmith, a highly rated US coach, saw his recent book What Got You Here Won't Get You There soar to the top of the New York Times best-seller lists. The fluff that has long swirled around coaching is being swept away. A new professionalism and seriousness are at hand. Kay Cannon, president of the ICF, says good coaches have to understand the context for the work they are doing and understand the business their client is working in. "Coaching needs to be based on the client, not the coach," she says. "It should be driven by the client

By 

Alan Brookes
NLP Practitioner and Coach
Changing Rainbows

Mobile: 07779083915
Email: Alan@changingrainbows.co.uk
www.changingrainbows.co.uk

A good day is finding a new park

We are in the middle of a much appreciated cold front in Sydney at the moment.  The temperature dropped to around 22-26 degrees over the last few days from a sweltering and sticky 36-43 which we have experienced over the last few weeks.  

It was so lovely when it happened.  We were in the City on Sunday meeting up with 2 friends that we used to work with in the UK who are here on holiday.  The heat was oppressive in Darling Harbour where we met up and we took respite in Starbucks for an hour catching up before heading out into the plaza and taking the children on the carousel.  It was around 36 degrees and sticky, sticky, sticky!  We walked on around the harbour and said our goodbyes and then walked around to our lunch booking at Tony Roma's.  A short digression - this was a deal that we bought from Cudo - unlimited famous ribs for $15 a head, a pretty good deal I think and they were really, really good.  I love ribs, they are definitely in my top 5 of things to eat.  Anyway - out we come and the clouds had gathered overhead, the wind was blowing a hoolie!  It was trying to rain but not really getting anywhere and the temperature had dropped 10 degrees!  It was soooooo refreshing after the heat wave.

So today I decided that I would make the most of the cooler less sunny day and take the children up to the park.  When it is so hot as it has been for the last 8 weeks or so it makes it really hard to just visit the park as the children sweat, get crabby, hot & bothered etc so I have avoided it and we have stuck to many, many pool days.  Great fun but the park today was a welcome change for all concerned.  I discovered a park that I have not been to before in a place called Galston which is in the Hills district of Sydney.  We had driven past it before and Finn very much liked the look of the huge skate park there and wanted to take his scooter.  We headed in there and spent several hours playing on the equipment, skating around and exploring.  It was a balmy 24 and lovely!

We did attempt the pool yesterday but all concerned (especially the smaller members of the family!) voted it too cold!  So to get our swim fix we are going down to the Olympic pool this afternoon when Andy finishes work.  It's great there with rapids and a water squirting climbing frame next to the pool.  This will be a staple for us to keep up the swimming during the cooler months ahead.

Off to hot and somewhat scorched Perth on Friday for a 2 week holiday and a wedding, thankfully we won't be anywhere near the fires that are currently burning.  Australia really is getting a kicking from Mother Nature at the moment.

How To MAKE Time For Your Cool Down

Did you spare enough time to cool-down?

Time management is one of the most important aspects of executing a coaching plan. This is even more true in a school setting where sometimes you only have 45 minutes with the students. Before you know it a huge chunk of the class has gone due to reasons you most likely do not have control over. But what you can control is your timings in moving on each activity. There are little tweaks you can make to make this happen:

A) Make progressions constant throughout the session. So all activities from your warm-up to the skill, game and the final match is progressing in practical terms. This could help it flow much quicker and easier instead of needing to rearrange organisation of cones etc you go straight into a cool-down.

B) Demonstrate and/or produce a handout of a range of cool-down exercises to the participants; which they can go over in their own time and then perform when the session comes.

C) Give them the responsibility of doing their individual cool-down with a certain time-frame. Participants sometimes need to perform different stretches that is suitable to their fitness and state of muscles.

D) Deliver cool-downs which are command based. This only requires space and the projection of your voice.

E) Demonstrate exercises whilst people imitate you at the same time.

5) Gradually bring down the intensity of the last part of your final drill and integrate it with some cool-down movements.

Do you always manage to get a Cool-Down done in your sessions? Do you find it easy?

Words escape me...

...and aren't really required.  But a little info....

Location:  On the outside of the sliding doors from our living area out onto the deck, Sydney, NSW.

Time:  20:30

Scare factor:  Probably an 8 out of 10.

Explorer:  Andy

Circumstances:  Andy went out to check the pool pump while it was dark (1st mistake - don't go outside, ever, after dark!) and when he came back in he found himself eyeball to eyeball with this particularly large & hairy Huntsman.  Thankfully it was outside rather than in but still caused Andy to take a sharp intake of breath shortly followed by what can only be described as a scream!

Is A Warm-Up Really Necessary?

The idea of the warm up is to prepare the human body for vigorous exercise, raise the heart rate and reduce the risk of injury. When you are in environment full of coaches you can't help but eaves drop into the conversations as they are often so passionate. This particular debate was about the question whether a warm up is necessary for young children. This debate was inspired by a quote in the The Elevating Athletics resource stating:

''At younger ages, the importance of and need for a warm up is less and little time should be devoted to warming up and cooling down.''

The topic of warming up has sparked much discussion among academics and researchers. Notably regarding static versus dynamic stretches as part of the warm up session. It seems that a majority of coaches insist on having a warm-up at the beginning of a session because the current evidence is significantly in support of this practice. The above quote suggests that as we get older warm ups are more needed. This makes perfect sense due to the fact that our muscles become more rigid as we age. This increases the possibility of injury as the muscles have not been warmed up properly.

With that said I have rarely come across a young child aged between 5 to 7 years (the age group which this quote was referring to) who have injured themselves because they have pulled a muscle in the class. The most common injuries for children in this age group are a result of collision, falling, tripping, injuries for previous exertions or something of this nature. Furthermore, kids take part in vigorous exercise during play time in schools and seem to cope fine. In many schools children sprinting out to the playground at 100 miles an hour when the bell goes and competitive matches of football are a familiar scene.

So is a Warm Up necessary for young children? How do prepare your kids?

Budget CUTS! Big news right now but ‘GB Sports Coaches’ may just have an answer to help with that!

‘Have you heard about GB Sports Coaches? It’s developing into a fantastic resource for the sport, fitness and leisure industry, you should take a look’

Of course this would be what we say about ourselves! It’s only natural to say these sorts of things when you believe in your cause and passionately believe in what you are trying to achieve but increasingly over the later part of 2010 and early 2011 some larger organisations from the world of sport in Great Britain have been saying similar things to us about our developments. Encouraging!

If you haven’t heard of us before that’s not really a surprise! Should we perhaps be saying that? Well yes really. We’ve put very little into marketing the site and services to date but have still managed to attract a number of key organisations around the UK and gain meetings to present our intentions. Not bad without much marketing!

We launched a basic recruitment, advertising and membership site back in mid 2010 and quickly caught the eye of a number of large County Sports Partnerships across the south of England that are linked to sports panels within Government.

The initial attraction was great but in all honesty we hadn’t quite managed to deliver a product that was being looked for at that time. What we did gain was invaluable inside information about the need to develop our services and business plan further which is why GB Sports Coaches hasn’t been promoted in a way that extends past Twitter, Facebook and other social media networking sites to date.

Re-development, and so soon we wondered whether it was a good idea or not! The conclusion was that it was silly not to dive straight into moving the website and services towards what had been described to us by what could be our future clients.

After being live for barely 3 months we set about redevelopment, specifically looking at the requirements and comments made during our early meetings. We also learnt of a competitor that had been given government funding and essentially ‘backed’ to deliver a product to do the job we’d already been trying to develop over the year prior to where we found ourselves.

As time has passed it’s almost been a journey of ‘Light Bulb’ moments!

A friend once told us that any good business develops and reworks things, networks and markets itself differently in changing ways and never stops acting in such a manner across the first 3 years or so before it all starts to make sense. We honestly would have to agree with him on that. 

Year 3 for us now and our ‘light bulb’ has certainly been switched on and our business plan has changed so much since the beginnings of later 2008. The best thing is, the ‘light’ has stayed on! Focus, drive and determination are all wonderful things.

So ‘who’ are ‘GB Sports Coaches’ and why are we doing what we’re doing?

Essentially there’s James and I although we do have a website code & functionality designer and a graphics designer working with us too.

James is a Sports Development graduate who’s experience extends across local council sports development to extended schools and sports partnerships. 

‘Me’ (Adam) I started off life in the Health & Fitness industry working as an instructor before working my way through class instruction and personal training before residing in operations and centre management.

‘Why’ look at something such as GB Sports Coaches? is an easy question to answer! Within our work in sport over the last 12+ years we’ve both found that there’s a number of common and regularly faced issues for managers of budgets in a lot of sporting sectors,

• staffing turnover is high,
• The cost involved with recruiting staff is often high, whether £100’s to £1000’s for local press adverts that only go live for often just a week or so for this cost to agency fee’s running into the £1000’s!
• Training costs & the need to keep up with best practice alongside a continual need for individual coaches and staff to have a plan of personal & professional development
• Sport is social, more often than not coaches and instructors like to discuss, share in best practice, network, provide their opinion and share suggestions with others. A coach does just that, they coach or instruct to help someone else by passing on their wisdom and knowledge

What is GB Sports Coaches

A website essentially! One that offers a multitude of useful services that don’t cost the earth to make use of and that certainly, by comparison, blow the costs of the competition out of the water! A site that we believe already goes a long way to addressing the 4 points listed above but with more development can be made to deliver everything we speak of and provide the UK with a ‘one stop shop’

So what are these services?!

The main and essential services are listed below but with many other ideas in the pipeline these are our core services that are available and working in practice right now.

• Membership databases for coaches/individuals and organisations.

Any sports coach or fitness coach at any level of qualification or career point can register completely free, showcase what they have to offer prospective employers and get noticed.

The coaches profile has a large amount of information that can be inputted to really show off the individuals skills but also links into Sport England reporting criteria and aids with analysis for coaching development managers and sporting partnerships.

Organisations are simply ‘everyone else’ private operators, sports partnerships, councils, colleges, schools and clubs.

• A full analysis and reporting tool for those that have the need to report to Sport England about their coaching workforce. Such a tool could have endless possibilities to aid organisations, especially those with many coaches across a geographical area to ascertain, for example, what training might be required in any given area at any specific point in time
• Highly targeted recruitment advertising with a dedicated audience for a fraction of the cost of the more traditional methods.

For example: Press adverts can go from a service charge per week that run into the £100’s if not £1000’s! Its expensive and it targets a generalised population so the results become watered down! Ours? A full 90 days for £30!

These adverts go into our searchable database where members can actively search for them and they also go onto the public view pages too so everyone see’s your vacancy.

• Training course advertising, put simply, this works the same way as above and for the same cost. The advert can link direct to your website where prospects can purchase a space on your course and pay up front for example! Linking to your site provides traffic for you & possibly business. You may also decide to offer a download facility for application forms and packs from your site.
• On site banner advertising by page that link to whatever you link on the web, pick your page you wish to advertise upon
• On site small banner ads that link to your website. These rotate on pages throughout the site and upon all pages generally. Always be in front of our members and potentially I higher percentage of your target audience
• Purchase an entire page and we’ll update that page for you once per month
• Add news to the main pages or send out a specific email to all members or to either the coaches or the organisations. This is being developed further to allow for sending out news emails to specific groups that will include by sport, town or postcode, employers or training providers. Low cost targeted email marketing!
• Links to discounted sporting goods and other related products via the GB Nutrition website that can be found at http://www.gbnutrition.co.uk

The above list forms the basis of the site, the services are the ‘bread & butter’ of what we do and offer. For the future, of course there’s more that we have planned. Ideas in the pipeline will allow for event management/posting and a much higher interaction between members on the site. We’ll leave these elements to your imagination!

So what’s the cost?

Lets break it down by service and keep things simple.

• Coaches register annually for FREE. Completely 100% FREE
• Organisations such as Employers, Training Providers, Gym Operators, County Sports Partnerships and Sports Clubs are charged an annual admin fee of £50
• Reporting and analysis of coach and workforce information is £150 per report run
• Job Adverts are £30 per advert, any job listed for 90 days
• Training courses and Adverts are £30 per course, any course listed for 90 days
• Banner adverts – Pricing is upon application and depends on the duration you wish to advertise for. The pricing will depend on the membership numbers and traffic the site is experiencing at the time you wish to advertise with us. You pay more the busier we get, at present we feel that’s the best and fairest way to offer such advertising to those that are interested.
• Small banner adverts – Pricing is upon application. These adverts are for fixed term lengths and purchased in 3 month blocks. The pricing will depend on the membership numbers and traffic the site is experiencing at the time you are looking to advertise with us. You pay more the busier we get.

Other services as they develop will be added to the site and pricing structure.

With cuts occurring all over the place we aim to provide an accessible, easy to use, informative, cost effective, useful and enjoyable networking facility that gives business and individuals benefits all from the one place, quick & easy, SIMPLE!

With the new site nearly here, the user experience and functionality will be highly optimised. We’re honest and to be honest, our current site isn’t working as we had hoped before we went live in mid 2010. Some of the more ‘wooden’ aspects and dis-functional aspects will simply disappear. We really believe in evolving and we really believe that we must evolve in a way that helps you, our clients, members, users, customers as without you there is no ‘GB Sports Coaches’

(If you’re reading this before mid February) Take a look at what we offer right now before it all changes, register if you’re a coach/individual for FREE, see what the profile and members account looks like now, transfer to the new site without anything further to do yourself and for absolutely no charge and then experience the difference!

If you would like further information about ‘GB Sports Coaches’ or our services, to book a presentation on what we could offer your business, help with anything on the current site or to suggest new services and ways of us working please feel totally free to contact us by visiting the site at http://www.gbsportscoaches.co.uk/contact-us.php

We’d like to thank ‘RunFunStarz’ Group for permitting this blog to their site and to thank them for giving us this opportunity and to say that another relevant ‘sports’ blog will be coming soon.

Best wishes, Team GBSC

So New Years Resolutions Aren't For You? How To Focus On Your Goals

New Years Resolutions Not For You?

Do you have a New Years Resolution? We are in February and some are doing well in keeping to their targets. But New Years Resolutions are not for every one. If New Years Resolutions do little for you then maybe picking three themes to improve for the year 2011 would be more beneficial. Coming up with themes is about using key words  as the main focus of your overall goals for the year. For example last year I often found myself rushing to complete the planning stages of a few sporting projects I was involved in. 

Although, I was under some considerate pressure I also attribute it to my lack of patience at times. Perhaps if I had anticipated deadlines approaching much better I would not have put unnecessary pressure on myself. By worrying I was sometimes guilty of not asking for help when it was available to me. I am surrounded by colleagues who are professional and very supportive. Looking back there were occasions where assistance was offered and I completely missed it. I get like this when I am in the zone so to speak.  

So this year I have not set any personal New Years Resolutions. I usually don't anyway to be honest with you. Instead I reflect on the year that has just passed and think about how I could do better the next year. The three themes I have chosen for myself in 2011 are Patience, Pro-activity and Sharing.

My Patience Needs To Improve - This first theme is a key one for me because having patience allows you to think things through clearly. It can also reduce the number of mistakes you make.

My Pro-activity Should Become Automatic  - I have to say my pro-activity was good when it comes to establishing solutions during projects. However, in relation to being aware of nearing deadlines I could do much much better by dealing with the most pressing tasks first before they actually become pressing tasks. This could provide me with significant time needed on other duties and minimise the pressure I put on myself.

I Should Share My Challenges - Sharing is a big one for me. When I talk about sharing I am referring to sharing your thoughts with colleagues and asking for ideas. After all we all have one common aim that we share. So I need to share more and be more open to a helping hand when it is offered.

Remember that focusing on three themes can relate to any aspect of your life.  Now the way I have outlined the three themes may give the impression that you must choose aspects which have been weaknesses. These are in fact things I personally want to do better in. You may on the other hand want to concentrate on themes that you did quite well in. As long as they are themes that will contribute to your overall objectives for the year it should not matter too much. The purpose of the themes is to have them as buzzing words to refer to throughout the year.

So what would be your three themes for 2011?

Disability and Multi-Sports Coaches' Vacancies

Hi there

I hope that you are well?

Run Fun Starz Group are currently looking for Multi-Sports coaches who are qualified in mainstream and disability sports to deliver in East London boroughs such as Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Greenwich, Waltham Forest and Redbridge. We are looking for individuals who live in East London.

If you are or know someone who would be interested in taking up this kind of coaching role please forward/share this message.


RunFunStarz have vacancies for Disability & Multi-Sports Coaches. Please visit our website.

Thank you

Run Fun Starz Group