Steven Pettigrew from Cumbria Taekwondo Kendal has become the first British Taekwondo member to complete the Assistant Coach Award.

The first student to complete the new Assistant Coach Award from British Taekwondo was Steven Pettigrew from Cumbria Taekwondo Kendal.
Launched in January 2022, the Assistant Coach Award is the first step in developing and delivering a top-quality Coach Education Pathway for British Taekwondo coaches.
Steven said I’ve found the Assistant Coach Award to be a very worthwhile thing to do. The course was very well balanced, with lots of information and a good assessment process.”
He added “I’ve completed several safeguarding courses and training programmes as part of my job and while some areas of the award were similar, there were still plenty of new things to learn. The course content is all from a sports perspective and the case studies give context.”

Steven trains at his club four to five nights a week with his family and friends and describes the club as an extended family.
Steven said “The thing I enjoy most about taekwondo and our club is the camaraderie. We all look out for each other and it’s brilliant to spend time training and coaching with my family and friends.”
“It’s nice to network with other clubs too and we’re doing everything we can to make the club succeed. As we’re entirely volunteer run we’re currently as big as we can be with what we’ve got, so developing new coaches is really important.”
1st Kup Steven from Cumbria Taekwondo Kendal was mentored through the award by his Head Coach Bev Fallows.
Speaking of his aspirations Steven would one day like to become a full coach and, along with Bev, is planning the next steps for the year ahead.
Bev Fallows, Head Coach at Cumbria Taekwondo Kendal said “I’m delighted for Steven to be the first British Taekwondo member to complete the Assistant Coach Award. He has shown great commitment to the process and is doing fantastically well.”
“I am really confident that he has taken on board all the practices and processes, including some confident assistant coaching within my sessions at Cumbria Taekwondo.”
Bev added “I’ve really enjoyed the mentoring side, it flows really well and has prompted me to gain more knowledge and look at ways to improve too.”
So far 114 British Taekwondo members have signed-up to the Assistant Coach Award.
Ian Leafe, CEO of British Taekwondo said “I am delighted that our first member has completed the Assistant Coach Award and it’s incredibly pleasing to hear the feedback from Steven and Bev. We’re always looking at ways to improve and how we can help our members and their clubs. A lot of time and effort has gone into developing the Assistant Coach Award and we want all eligible members of British Taekwondo to take this step on their coaching journey.”
James Docherty from British Taekwondo’s Development team has co-ordinated the Assistant Coach Award and said “It’s brilliant to see Steven become the first person to complete the course. Our new Coach Education Pathway will bring British Taekwondo in line with other sports and NGBs by providing quality coach education and development products for our membership. The Assistant Coach Award is the first step on that pathway, which incorporates a mix of online learning, supervised practical delivery and is completely remote. The award has been well received by our coaches and members, who have provided some very positive feedback.”
About the Assistant Coach Award
The Assistant Coach Award has been created to help all those assisting taekwondo sessions gain invaluable knowledge and experience, whilst working alongside their club coach in a class setting as they progress through the award.
All current Assistant Coaches within British Taekwondo clubs or, members who are 16 years or older with a red belt or higher grade hoping to get into coaching, can sign up to take the British Taekwondo Assistant Coach Award.
The Assistant Coach Award features a mixture of online and practical learning modules for new and aspiring coaches including:

• Online Child Protection in Sport & Physical Activity course.
• Online UK Coaching ‘Assistant Coach’ course and certificate.
• Practical Mentoring Pack to work through, at your own pace within your club.
• Brilliant Basics tutorial videos for the Combat Sport and Poomsae.
• Helpful Session Plan examples to guide practical session creation.
• Mentor observation tools and a British Taekwondo Assistant Coach certificate.

Further information can be found on the Assistant Coach Award page on the British Taekwondo website and the course prospectus:Assistant Coach Award Prospectus
About Cumbria Taekwondo Kendal
Cumbria Taekwondo Kendal is celebrating its 50th year in 2022 and you can find out more about the club on its website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
If you have any news, events, updates, blogs, comments or suggestions please get in touch with Richard Gottfried, Marketing, Digital & Media Manager via marketing@britishtaekwondo.org or 07706 342156.