Developing young riders
We believe that high-quality coaching plays a vital role in the development of young cyclists, and we are always striving to improve the quality and standard of our coaching. While many of the club members are focused on competitive events, the club also seeks to improve the standard of riders who are not interested in racing. Our Saturday morning club rides are open to young cyclists of all ages, abilities and interests. We try to cater for this wide range of interest and ability by dividing the club into smaller groups during our Saturday morning sessions, with some riders focusing on skills work and others developing their speed and racing abilities.
British Cycling qualified coaches
All PPYCC events are attended by at least one fully-qualified British Cycling coach. The current PPYCC team of British Cycling qualified coaches comprises:
- Rex Matthews
- Mark Aberdour
- Paul Wheller
- Paul Goodwill
- Peter Levenspiel
- Bill Boyle
- Teresa Tamplin
- John Rockliffe
- Kevin Phillips
Interested in coaching?
Do you enjoy watching your children cycling with PPYCC, and think you might want to join them with some coaching? Or maybe you are an existing PPYCC member who is over 16 years old and wish to develop your coaching skills? Coaching the riders at PPYCC is a very rewarding experience, and we are always looking for volunteers who may be interested in joining our coaching team.
PPYCC is able to offer support to those who wish to qualify as a coach by covering the costs of the British Cycling coaching course, which is delivered via a combination of contact time, written coursework, online learning and practical assessment.
British Cycling runs a comprehensive Coach Education programme which provides a flexible pathway of progression for coaches; whether you are interested in coaching beginners or performance orientated riders.
The Level 1 Award in Coaching Cycling provides the foundations of coaching cycling and is aimed at including those with no previous cycling experience so is a great way to get more involved in the club.
The Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Cycling enables coaches to independently create, deliver and evaluate a series of cycling coaching sessions to groups of beginner and intermediate level riders.
The Level 2 Discipline-Specific Award is for qualified Level 2 coaches who are either new to a specific discipline or who want to develop their existing knowledge further. These cover road and time trialling, track, cycle speedway, mountain bike, BMX and cyclo-cross.
The Level 3 Certificate in Coaching Cycling is for coaches who want to have the ability and knowledge to plan, deliver and evaluate detailed periodised training programmes for individual riders within a specific discipline.
If you are thinking that this might be something you would like to take part in, please speak to any of our coaching team on a Saturday morning for an informal chat. We occasionally run question and answer sessions at the track with our British Cycling Regional Manager, which allows all those who are thinking about the BC coaching course a chance to chat about what the course entails and how they may support the club in the future.
For more information on the British Cycling education programme, please see the coaching section of the British Cycling website.