Performance Programme Update October 21

In July, England Korfball advertised for all roles within the Performance Team (except those involved in coaching the senior England Squad which competes in the European Championships in Antwerp next week). This was due to a number of vacancies within the Coordinating Committee and a recognised need to develop a longer-term Performance Strategy.

We were delighted to recently announce the appointments of Jon Roberts and Clive Dobbin to lead the Performance Programme and the associated Operations and Logistics.

We have also been engaged in an open recruitment process for Lead Coaches for the England Age Group Squads of U21, U19, U17 and U15. Unfortunately, we have not received enough applications to make appointments for all the lead coaching roles across the age groups. The need for more qualified coaches able to take up the lead coaching roles for the England Performance Programme is something we will be seeking to address.

To move the England Performance Programme forward the Board have agreed to use this as an opportunity to launch a full consultation for the creation of a new Performance Strategy to be completed by the end of the year.

Jonathan Roberts, the new Performance Programme Lead, will coordinate the development of the strategy with a detailed review of all the England Programme activities. Central to the process will be a review of the coaching set up required to deliver an appropriate player pathway and to support the development of more coaches willing and able to coach within the England Pathway. We will launch a full consultation shortly to receive your comments and views on the future development of England players.  In the meantime if you wish to get involved in the development of the Performance Strategy please contact Jonathan Roberts

To maintain the development of England junior players through this planning phase we will be operating an U19 England Squad to prepare for the European Championships in April 2022.

We are pleased to announce that John Denton will be appointed as Lead Coach for the U19s, with Lizzie Reeves as the Team Manager. Assistant coach appointments will be confirmed as soon as possible. Further coaching appointments will be made in the new year to deliver the new Performance Strategy at which point the pathways for the lower age groups will also be confirmed.

There will be some coach education and development opportunities over the next six months to support any people wishing to get involved in coaching at international level. Further information will be provided in the near future. Please do register your interest in the meantime, with office@englandkorfball.co.uk.

Information and registration details for the U19s trials will be circulated shortly.

England Korfball would like to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteer staff who have worked on the Performance Programme over the last few years.