Coach Core is an apprenticeship programme targeting 16-24 year olds who are not in education or employment (NEETs). It delivers an inclusive and impactful sports and activity coaching apprenticeship that develops the talents of young people and provides them with a range of vital skills for employment and life.
Active Sussex have partnered up with Coach Core and now have a number of employers signed up to the programme in Sussex. Here we are sharing an apprentice’s experience with the programme and how it has positively impacted them as an individual.
I’m Georgia, I’m 23 and I’m Brighton born and bred. Growing up, dance has always been one of my passions and I’ve always enjoyed it so I started it at school and then joined a street dance school.
Before this programme I hadn’t considered an apprenticeship before, but I felt it was something I would enjoy because I love learning new skills, developing myself, meeting new people, and within that learn to become a dance teacher!
Marina Dance Studios is somewhere I’ve always loved to take dance lessons somewhere I’ve always really enjoyed being. The people here are really nice so I thought I would enjoy the apprenticeship programme.
Coach Core and Lifetime support is really good and they have a nice team. There is always support when you need it. It’s nice to connect with the other apprentices doing Coach Core. I’m the only one that does dance and they all do completely different jobs so it’s interesting to see where they come from, what their apprenticeship entails and what sports they deliver.
Working here, I’ve absolutely loved it! It is a really good and welcoming team here so I have felt happy and supported. The job itself I have loved and it has really helped me to improve my confidence, as well as important skills like communication and organisation
My previous experience of taking part in dance has helped me as a dance teacher, I am able to pass on my knowledge and I understand what it was like to be in their shoes. And also, because I am young- I feel they can relate to me more.
Teaching has been one of the things that I’ve really enjoyed, I’ve wanted to do it for a little while now. Just getting to dive into that and really start doing it, it was scary at first because I’ve never done it before.
Also, just working here in general has been really good, even the admin stuff! I like working on the front desk because it is very customer facing and you get to meet lots of people. And you just get that feeling of the heart where you get to work at a place that you really love.
Sometimes after coaching I feel very worn out and tired but I always feel really good after a session and I can tell the kids have enjoyed it, which feels good to inspire them. You can also learn a lot from them as well! It’s really interesting and rewarding to watch them develop.
I’ve met some good people and our development days have been good as well. They’re not boring and they’ve always made them engaging and fun. The support we receive is really good and there is a broad programme of education, which has helped me improve my teaching skills.
I would say that confidence is the main skill I’ve developed. I was never really afraid but I was a bit shy and didn’t want to get out of my comfort zone. This experience has really helped me increase my confidence and self esteem, and improved my happiness and wellbeing. The education is general and not specific to dance but it is about good coaching, which has helped me.
I would like to be in a position one day where I could be a development manager like India. I’d like to coach more and do more teaching and within my dancing, I’d like to get to a point where I can go perform at shows.
I would say what have you got to lose! Learning is really valuable and it’s a chance to develop yourself and your skills. It’s really good doing something that you love, plus you get to earn a wage whilst you are learning.
To read how the apprenticeship scheme benefitted Marina Dance Studio click here
Interested in finding out more about Coach Core in Sussex? Checkout out our Coach Core webpage, or visit the Coach Core website.