Essex Freestyle Community gains three Freestyle Coaches

Essex Freestyle Community was set up alongside Colchester Canoe Club, with the aim of getting more people involved with Freestyle and experience the lovely warm community. We were struggling to get involved, as unless you know someone who does Freestyle or where to go, we didn’t know where to start. Alongside the club’s lack of equipment available, we wanted to do as much as possible to help people give it a go.

So with members from Colchester Canoe Club, it was decided it was time to make a difference, and create a freestyle community!

As a community, we have managed to secure a £500 Grant from Wates which is being used to purchase a few new paddles. Colchester Canoe Club raised funds to buy a new play boat for the club. EFC also has a small fleet of play boats that can be hired on events and coaching sessions.

We held our first event in April 2023 which went really well. A lot of people came together and supported the event by giving up their time.

To be able to keep the community spirit going, Ian, Liam and Sara decided it was time to get the Freestyle Coach Award, so that EFC could continue holding these events and encouraging more people into the sport from all backgrounds. GB Freestyle kindly part funded the qualification.

The Freestyle training was held by Dan Daley at HPP, in the Summer of 2023. From this, EFC held more events where we practiced coaching and even put a team forwards for the Dewerstone European Open. We did really well as a club and came second overall.

So on the 16th and 17th October, Ian, Liam and Sara had their Freestyle Coach assessments with Chris Brain where more of the EFC community came along and gave up their time to be our students for the assessment. The day went fantastically well and all three passed the assessment!

Since EFC have had their three Freestyle Coaches, we have held another event at Thames Weir which went really well and now can’t wait to get more dates and events in the diary.

Interested in becoming a Freestyle Coach?

The Freestyle Coach Award is designed for people whose core function is to coach paddlers on who want to gain/improve their Freestyle skills. This will include coaching beginners new to Freestyle or those looking to develop their skills.

The Freestyle Coach Award consists of a Core Coach Training, Freestyle Coach training and the Coach Award eLearning. This is concluded by a Freestyle Coach Assessment. Find out more and start your journey to become a Freestyle Coach today!

If you already have previous experience and knowledge to by-pass the training, submit an Accredited Prior Learning application through your dashboard.