Regional Academy – Coach and Official Expressions of Interest
Officials and coaches play a crucial role in the development of youth players, so basketballscotland are delighted to be incorporating both coaches and officials in the new Regional Academy programmes. The new programme will see players, coaches and officials develop and improve together as we aim to continue the growth of the game in Scotland.
What are the Regional and National Academies?
The Regional Academy is basketballscotland’s development programme for players in U14-U18 age groups, for coaches and for officials. The Regional Academy is on helping players, coaches and officials who are serious about improving to develop key knowledge and skills that will help them progress within the game. Players will focus on physical, technical, tactical, psychological and social elements of the game, following a phased curriculum that has been designed to help maximise development opportunities.
The National Academy is the programme in which a small number of players and coaches come together as a team and prepare for competitions against teams from other nations, which will provide an enhanced outlet for selected officials. A major aim of the National Academy programmes is to help players and coaches to enhance their chances representing the Great Britain teams competing in European championship competitions each year, whilst also helping officials on a path towards FIBA certification should they wish to pursue this.
How does the Regional Academy work?
Rather than being based in the traditional regions, where the numbers of players may vary year to year, the Regional Academy will take the form of a series of central venue events, incorporating practice and games. Sessions for female players will usually be on a Saturday and for male players on a Sunday. Player contact each day will last 6-7 hours in total, with camp days practice focused and competition days having approximately 90 minutes of practice in the morning and games in the afternoon. On competition days, coaches will be asked to attend a briefing before the morning practice and officials will be asked to attend a briefing before the afternoon games. Coaches and officials will also be asked to attend a briefing at the end of each day.
Once players have been selected for the Academy, regions will be created with that allow for teams to be equal in number, so the regions may differ each year. Each region will have a coaching staff who will deliver the practice sessions and coach the games. Games will be officiated………
What is the commitment for coaches and officials?
For coaches, you would be expected make the effort to attend all of the Regional Academy sessions that the age group you are working with takes place, as each day in the programme builds upon the previous one.
This level of commitment aligns with the basketballscotland Regional Academy Talent Behaviours, which can be found in the video here
For officials, the commitment would be at least one weekend per month, moving between U14, U16 and U18 age groups to gain a greater variety of experiences.
The dates for all Regional Academy sessions can be found in the images below:
What will the roles involve?
Game play will form a major part of the Regional Academy programmes, with the opportunity for players to learn in a contextualised manner. To aid in the development of players at each phase of the programme, officials and coaches will be asked to apply additional constraints through rule variations aimed at enhancing particular elements of play. These will be linked to a specific curriculum of content, to which coaches will be required to adhere, whilst having freedom to determine the format of delivery. Officials will be briefed on the specific rule variations in advance of each session.
The format aims to develop an enhanced understanding between coaches and officials in the development objectives for players as well as each other, whilst allowing players, coaches and officials to learn in an environment where they will be safe to make mistakes and learn from them. This interdisciplinary approach reflects the crucial contribution that officials and coaches make to the development of the players, whilst still putting the playing experience at the heart of what we do.
What will the coach and official development element look like?
basketballscotland will provide bespoke to support to each person. This will be a mix of technical and tactical (Mechanics & Rules) and development topics (Communication, Feedback, Setbacks etc). Every session will include a coach/referee developer observing and generating some feedback from the live environment. We will also have a topic in place for both coaches and officials on the day, which will allow for some discussion and reflection.
Where will the sessions take place?
Sessions will be held at the Regional Performance Centre in Dundee. Each day for coaches will run from 9:30-17:30 and from 12:30-17:30 for officials.
What is the link between the Regional and National Academies?
For officials, the Regional Academy aims to provide a platform for learning that can be carried forward into the SBC and other competitions. Based on the level of experience and performance, officials may be given the opportunity to be part of National Academy competitions, which may include Home Nations competitions at each age group. However, involvement in the Regional Academy will not be a prerequisite for National Academy competitions. For coaches, given that the Regional Academy will form a significant portion of the contact time with players in each age group and will shape the playing style for National Academy teams, involvement in the Regional Academy programme for a specific age group and gender will normally be a requirement for being part of a National Academy coaching staff.
If I am interested to be involved, what should I do?
At this time, we are asking for expressions of interest in being part of the Regional Academy programme, which can be completed using the links below. A formal application process may follow this and, where necessary, a selection process may be required and details of this would be provided.
All expressions of interest must be submitted by: 18th July 2021
Officials’ expression of interest here
Coaches’ expression of interest here
If you have any questions about the information provided, please contact: Emma.Edwards@basketball-scotland.com
