Launch of new initiatives in Year of the Coach (A/Min)

1/1/94

New sport coaching initiatives and methods will be launched Australia-wide throughout 1994, officially the Year of the Coach.

The Western Australian Coaching Foundation will launch the WA section of the Year of the Coach in between matches at the Hopman Cup international tennis challenge at the Burswood Superdrome tomorrow.

Hopman cup organiser Paul McNamee, a former Wimbledon doubles champion and a highly regarded tennis coach, is one of four Western Australian patrons of the Year of the Coach.

The others are gymnastics coach Liz Chetkovich, WA Sheffield Shield cricket coach Daryl Foster and former tennis great Margaret Court.

The national launch will be made during the Australian Tennis Open at the Flinders Centre in Melbourne later in January.

The Year of the Coach has been instigated by the Australian Coaching Council to recognise the valuable work done by sports coaches in Australia over many years and to focus attention on new methods for the future.

It will also emphasise the growing need for coaches to achieve accreditation levels through their respective sports associations.

The Year of the Coach initiative has been welcomed by Acting Sport and Recreation Minister Cheryl Edwardes.

"The role played by coaches in Australia over many years has been invaluable in providing us with an outstanding sports structure," Mrs Edwardes said.

"Their contribution is even more significant when it is considered that the bulk of coaching is done by volunteers without any cost to the community.

"The Year of the Coach gives us the opportunity to acknowledge that contribution but also to plan for the future.  With sport and recreation playing an increasingly important role in the lives of many more Western Australians, the role played by coaches becomes more crucial.

"Not only are there many more people of all ages participating in sport, there are a great many more sports from which to choose.

"This makes the role of the coach more important and while we will always welcome the enthusiastic coach who is without formal coaching qualifications, there is an increasing need to have coaches with accreditation credentials.

"We are very fortunate in WA to have access to people with the sporting and coaching backgrounds of the four Year of the Coach patrons Liz Chetkovich, Margaret Court, Daryl Foster and Paul McNamee.

"Their personal involvement in the Year of the Coach should ensure that the standard of coaching in this State reaches an even higher level by the end of 1994."

Media contacts: Carolyn Parker - Ministry of Sport and Recreation on (09) 387 9775

Tony Robertson 222 9595