The second UK Boccia Coaching Conference was held on 19 November 2016 in Nottingham where it was announced that Claire Morrison won the Boccia Performance Coach of the Year. Claire Morrison is a very deserving winner as in 2016, two of the players whom she coaches won gold medals – David Smith won the BC1 gold medal at the Rio Paralympics and Stephen McGuire won gold at the World Individual Championships in the BC4 event in Beijing.
Claire’s voluntary coaching career started over 13 years ago and since then has been integral to the coaching fabric of boccia in Scotland and the UK. In July 2013, Claire became the first full time paid GB coach. She coaches full time across Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is involved in week-long coaching camps, mini camps and individual sessions held for GB squad members. She still maintains her voluntary role as Scottish National Coach. Claire has also made a major contribution to boccia coach education over the past four years and has been instrumental in creating the Level 2 UKCC qualification in the UK as part of a working group and is the lead trainer for boccia UKCC at Levels 1 and 2.
The 2016 UK Boccia Coaching Conference was a resounding success with eight Scottish coaches braving severe weather conditions to attend the event. This year the conference had two strands – participation and performance which allowed the delegates to focus on their areas of interest. GB Boccia performance staff and Paralympic players led on the performance workshops and Boccia England staff led on the participation workshops. The workshops provided a great learning environment for all and the presenters are to be commended. The Scottish coaches left the conference invigorated with many new ideas for implementation once back with their players. The newly appointed Boccia England CEO, Chris Ratcliffe provided the welcome and he, Natalia Braisby and all the staff at Boccia England are to be applauded for providing a great conference.
If you would like to find out more about Boccia or attend a UKCC coaching course
Level 1 – 18 and 19 February and 19 March 2017
Level 2 – 21 and 22 January, 4 and 5 February and 5 March 2016
Please contact admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or phone 0131 317 1130 for more details.