Baseball and softball coaches across the UK now have a transformative new tool at their disposal following the launch of The Coaching Playbook from BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK).
The comprehensive coach education and development programme is the result of 18 months of planning and is aimed at setting a consistent national standard while offering accessible, high-quality training for coaches at all levels.
Developed in close collaboration with the national federations for baseball and softball, BSUK’s playbook replaces the fragmented interim arrangements that followed the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Previously, BaseballSoftballUK ran all coach education for baseball and softball in this country,” explains Chris Knoblock, PR officer and sports broadcaster for BaseballSoftballUK. “When COVID hit, essentially all our long-established programmes fell by the wayside. We had a whole year where a bunch of people’s coaching expired. They couldn’t get out and they couldn’t do the coaching.”
In the years since, BSUK has recognised a mix of legacy UK qualifications and coaching credentials from overseas. But the need for a unified, homegrown system was clear. “When our new Head of Development started last September, the first item on the list was: we are going to rebuild coach education in this country from the ground up,” Chris adds.
That ground-up rebuild is now a reality. The Coaching Playbook introduces two certification sections – an online introduction to coaching and the CORE coaching qualification for head coaches. Both are required for anyone looking to coach baseball or softball in the UK, alongside mandatory safeguarding training.
“It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days to become a certified coach,” says Chris, adding that they are still robust enough to ensure a consistently high standard across the board.
“We want to give people a really clear route into coaching that they’ve not previously had. It’s a very easy couple of courses, and it’s designed to make sure that every coach in this country will have a minimum standard. That’s absolutely key if we want to grow these sports.”
The Playbook isn’t just about entry-level certification. It also includes ongoing Coach Professional Development (CPD) opportunities across four key areas – youth participation, adult participation, youth talent, and high performance – allowing coaches to continue learning and specialise according to their goals.
BaseballSoftballUK is also building up an expert tutor bank to ensure the course is delivered consistently and at scale. “We want to have enough people to deliver it from the word go, building up a tutor workforce that will allow us to get as many people as possible certified as fast as possible.
“It’s one of the things I’m most proud to have worked on. We’re building something that will last for years and years and we’re very excited about that.”
Find out more about The Coaching Playbook at baseballsoftballuk.com/coaching
