Updated 14/02/2203
BF’s online coach search uses information from the Coach Profile to present individual Coach Profiles online. Is yours up to date?
In 2020, BF began to change over to the new online Coach Register (found on the Coach Search page), moving from a manual update system to an automated system controlled by the data in the coach’s Sport80 member account.
Since the new Coach Register was launched we have gathered feedback from coaches on the onboarding process, and the way the information is displayed on the Coach Search page. Following this feedback, we created this guide elaborating more on what each term means and where to find more information.
Over 270 coaches already appear on the Coach Register with their Coach Profile with a unique URL. We encourage all coaches who are eligible to appear on the BF Coach Register to create a Coach Profile if they have not yet done so.
These are some important terms to familiarise with:
Coach Profile: a registered coach’s individual page that is listed in the Coach Register and represented with an avatar. It displays some important information about the coach, such as the Coaching Focus and the date of the first coaching qualification.
BF strongly encourages coaches to seek CPD opportunities to develop themselves professionally, and there is a special section of the Coach Profile where coaches can tell more about courses and training they have been doing.
Coaches can decide whether or not to display their rates and contact details, and how much they want to write about themselves as a coach in the Coaching Philosophy section. This is a useful tool for coaches who want to be located by potential employers and fencers looking for private sessions.
A Coach Profile is created when these three steps are completed: 1) all your certificates are uploaded to Sport80; 2) your BF membership is up to date; 3) You have completed the Coach Profile section on Sport80. Coach Profiles disappear from the Coach Register when at least one of these three steps needs to be completed again (for example, when the membership or a certificate expires).
More guidance on what makes a good Coach Profile can be found here.
Coaching Focus: the type of fencing space where a coach focuses their coaching. These can be Community, Development, or Performance, or a combination of two of them. Each different space is characterised by different stages of a fencer’s journey and their needs. For a deep dive into each space as described by BF’s Coaching Framework, please click here.
Coach Profile: this is the name of a section in the menu on Sport80 membership account. Completing this section is one of the steps to create a Coach Profile. The information you add to your Coach Profile is what will be displayed on your online Coach Profile. You can edit your Coach Profle if anything changes (for example, if you start coaching at a different club, or if you want to add your contact details).
Remember: it is your work address that you should add to this section, not your home address. Informing your work address is necessary so that the Coach Register can sort coaches according to the distance to the person visiting the Coach Search page. However, having this address pinned to the map of the Coach Search page is entirely optional.
Completing the Coach Profile takes only a few minutes, and there is a simple guide on it available here.
Coach Register: a collection of Coach Profiles displayed on the Coach Search webpage.
Coach Search page: it is the webpage that hosts the Coach Register and indicates that coaches listed meet all of the minimum standards to be registered as a coach.
If you are visiting this page as you are looking for information to help you make decisions about engaging the services of a coach please read this important notice.
The Coach Profile is a useful tool for coaches looking for coaching opportunities but also for coaches to demonstrate to current and prospective students, parents, colleagues, and employers that they not only meet the minimum standards of coaching but strive to achieve the highest standards.
The Coach Profile also allows coaches to decide whether their contact and location information is displayed, this is optional and is selected in the ‘Locator Preferences’ area of the Coach CV.
Having heard the feedback from coaches, some appearance changes will be implemented in 2022, but no data will be affected. We encourage all coaches to complete the Coach Profile, upload certificates and renew expired memberships so they appear on the Coach Search page.
If you have any questions or feedback on this guide, please contact us on [email protected].
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