Coaching & Officiating Skateboarding Course
VSA is now excited to announce that under Skate Australia’s mandate, we are now able to deliver the only Coaching & Officiating Skateboarding Course, that is
within the framework required by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC).
VSA has always recognised the importance of having coaches with ASC recognised qualifications, who can be both respected and trusted by the parents, schools and local councils, who will be employing them to train their children. The course has been formulated and fine tuned from the experience gained from more than a thousand hours of skateboarding events and training programs delivered in Victorian skate parks and schools since 2010.
No other skateboard coaching and officiating qualification provides the level of credibility that parents, schools and government authorities demand.
In the near future, VSA also intends to assist in building coach and officiating capacity in each State and Territory, by inviting interstate trainees to the Victoria coaching and officiating courses, or if demand is strong enough, will send a team interstate to deliver the course closer to home. The aim is to build training and officiating capacity nationally, so that each state can look after the needs of their own skateboarders, and have their own voice, and a say in their sport, and VSA wishes to thank Skate Australia for their mandate, and for inviting us to join them at the ASC coaching and officiating framework workshop and for the technical advice and guidance we received from ASC.
With that VSA also stands ready to assist existing and new State Sporting Associations around Australia to incorporate and to attain Skate Australia’s (National Sporting Organisation) endorsement as their State Sporting Associations, and take advantage of various local and state government initiatives that could benefit from inclusive skateboarding programs.
The VSA will also be assisting Skate Australia’s formerly ASC accredited coaches Nationally to update their qualifications and registration status.
Coaches who completed the SbA course in 2014, may be also eligible for a complementary coaching accreditation activation, and those coaches are advised to send an application to info@skateboardingvictoria.org.au to apply for this opportunity, prior to 30th November 2017.
See VSA COACHING AND OFFICIALS for more information on the ASC accredited coaching and officiating program, and links to the application forms.
Back ground
Since Skateboarding Australia (SbA) became inactive in July 2015, skateboarders around Australia have been unable to attain/retain the ASC coaching accreditation, and this made opportunities to facilitate skateboarding events harder to pursue, due to the legal and financial barriers associated with operating independently, without ASC accreditation.
Many skateboarding development programs across Australia ceased as a result, and skateboarding was left out of a basket of sports selected for after-school sport funding though the federal Sporting Schools initiative.
Skate Australia (SA) – of which SbA was a subsidiary – has gone through significant Board changes and no longer see the unitary control of the sport as a feasible governance structure for the sport of skateboarding. SA have acknowledged that mistakes were made and now only want to support and assist the passionate skateboarders in their local communities from WA to Victoria, NT to Tasmania who continued to keep programs running once the federal sponsorship money stopped flowing through SA channels.
After numerous meetings airing past grievances, burying hatchets and discussing the current political climate of consolidation, it became apparent that state and federal bodies need to work together.
The new board of Skate Australia no longer want to command and control, and have opened their boardroom to listen, and offer support, and in this context, SA and VSA are now able to work together on the mission of helping Australian skateboarders and associated community members get the recognition and legal pre-requisites to allow skateboarding programs to flourish around Australia moving forward.
Because VSA is officially recognised and supported by Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV) through the Victorian Government, VSA was able to contract expertise on the Board to develop and submit a comprehensive course to Skate Australia which has now been approved for delivery.
We thank Skate Australia for listening to and supporting us with technical advice, and for allowing skateboarding to once again have a nationally recognised skateboarding coaches accreditation, so that we can provide more opportunities for all of Australia’s skateboarders.
Our Shared aim is to sustainably provide more opportunities for all of Australia’s skateboarders to be their best!