World Championship gold medallist and paralympian Esther Cruice along with top swimming coach Ian Armiger were at Loughborough University for the launch of a new sports coaching programme for the East Midlands.

At present, there are around 50,000 'individuals who actively coach' in the East Midlands and approximately 20,000 of those are qualified. Around one in every hundred of these will go on to be elite coaches, which reflects their more specialist role and the limited opportunities available at this level. However, the development and support of these coaches remains a top priority.

27 coaches from 14 sports have been nominated by their National Governing Body (NGB) to take part in the East Midlands Performance Coach Programme. The main aims of the scheme are to provide key opportunities for emerging performance coaches in the region, including the necessary development skills, knowledge and resources needed to coach effectively in a high performance environment.

Abigail Ellis, sports coach UK (scUK) Area Manager for East Midlands comments:
"With the exciting prospect of London 2012, the UK is at one of the most crucial points in the coaching development debate. It is paramount that our budding athletes and Olympians are given the guidance and inspiration needed to be truly great".

"This programme is all about concentrating efforts on the core level of sports – the coaches. We want to get more coaches working at performance level in the East Midlands and we aim to deliver that in a first class environment".

"Initial feedback on the programme from the NGB’s has been extremely positive, largely due to the solid resource and support packages which will be available for the coaches, including Individual Training Needs Assessment, Continuous Professional Development Opportunities, not to mention funding to support resources, further education and all-round training".

The short term aim of the scheme is to develop a programme which enables coaches with the necessary skills and competencies to move into coaching in a high performance environment, with the support and training required to really service the needs of the sport.

Tim Garfield, Regional Director for Sport England East Midlands said:
"Coaching is fundamental to sport. The fact that Sport England East Midlands is supporting the Performance Coach Programme demonstrates our determination to become the most active and successful sporting region. The value of young people receiving quality coaching will be crucial if we are to be successful at the London 2012 Games".

The High Performance Coaching programme is being managed and delivered through the lead agency dedicated to guiding the development and implementation of a unified coaching system in the UK scUK and the scheme is the brainchild of a partnership between scUK, Sport England, NGB’s, County Sports Partnerships, Loughborough Sport and EIS. The programme is being funded through the Community Investment Fund and in this case distributed through the Performance Action Group.