3 Planning and Managing a Mentoring Programme in Sport


Pre-programme Planning At this stage, the simple sequence of thinking and decision making can be summarised as: The OUTCOME


What do we need/ want to achieve?


The JUSTIFICATION


Why is this outcome the current priority?


The WORKFORCE


Who will be involved (coaches, mentors, programme managers)? Is reward/recognition needed?


The FORMAT


How will the programme be structured?


The TIME FRAMES


When will the programme start, finish and be reviewed?


The first decision to be made should be about the focus of the mentoring programme – what do you want it to achieve?


Experience from the pilot project suggests that the focus of the mentoring relationship needs to be quite specific and clear to all involved. Many mentoring programmes start out with the well-meaning but rather vague aim of ‘helping the coaches improve’.


There was a consensus from the review of the pilot project that a sharper focus would be beneficial and that success will be more easily evaluated if the purpose of the mentoring was made more explicit. For example, by focusing on a specific, reasonably homogeneous, target group of coaches such as coaches of talent development squads and/or by having a shared aim such as coaches working towards a specific award/qualification, say UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC) Level 2 or 3, this will give direction and a degree of consistency to the programme.


Setting out success criteria and clarifying precisely how the effectiveness of the programme will be assessed and evaluated is a key consideration in the planning phase. The principle of assessment being built in at the planning stage and not bolted on at the end is one worth noting here.


The decision on the focus of the programme should be based on a robust audit of your coaching development infrastructure and where you have decided the greatest need lies and where the greatest impact can be made. This really demands an evidence-based and needs-led decision rather than a few people simply having a meeting and deciding what they think is best for their coaches. If the evidence is robust and has been rigorously examined, then you will have a clear justification for the programme – the ‘why’ aspect.


This decision as to the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ then informs discussion about the coaches and mentors who will be invited to participate in the programme as well as who may be best placed to manage the


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