New Taekwondo kids programme pilot and steering group – help needed from member clubs.

Member request – help needed for new Taekwondo kids programme.

Taekwondo kids programme pilot 2

British Taekwondo is in the process of developing a new Taekwondo kids programme and needs help from member clubs and coaches.

If you are a Taekwondo club running classes for children aged 4-6 years old we would like your help to pilot four 45-minute sessions in February and March.

To apply, please complete our online form here.

About the Taekwondo kids programme pilot

Amy Shanahan, Club Products Development Officer at British Taekwondo said “The aim of our new Taekwondo kids programme is to provide a system to help our member coaches deliver fun and engaging sessions designed specifically for the children’s age and stage of development. The sessions will be easy to plan and deliver while also positioning the instructor as a specialist children’s coach. We will be leveraging the most up-to-date research in the areas of coaching and child development to bring you a sector leading product. There will be no additional instructor’s indemnity required to take part in the programme.”

“To help us achieve this, we are very happy to be working with Phill Payne, who is the Coach Developer at MAPLE Martial Arts and is currently in the process of completing a Doctorate focused on integrating elements of physical literacy with a children’s martial arts program through Leeds Beckett. We feel this collaboration is hugely beneficial and feel extremely excited about our new kids programme.”

Ian Leafe, Chief Executive of British Taekwondo said “We feel that bringing the British Taekwondo community into the creation and development of new products and services is hugely important. This will help us drive and deliver exceptional programmes that are fit for purpose and meet the needs and wants of our clubs, members, and parents. This is a brand new and exciting programme that we want you to be a part of, and the more engagement we get with clubs and parents, the better! This pilot will provide us with an opportunity to discuss potential additional resources to support its delivery, along with the official name of the new programme too.”

You can find out more about the pilot project in the questions and answers below.

Our new Taekwondo kids programme will be available for all British Taekwondo member clubs.

The aim of the programme is to provide a full curriculum of technical, physical, psychological, and social areas of focus, a suggested grading system, a session planning framework along with 12 sessions already planned, an online coach education course focused on the ‘how’ to coach children this age and the business systems necessary to run the programme.

We are testing this new programme to ensure it is fit for purpose, and to also ensure it meets the wants and needs of both the clubs, the students, and their parents.

The feedback given will help us develop the programme further, allowing us to make changes as the project develops.

These 45-minute sessions are a snippet of what we plan to deliver when the programme officially goes live.

To run these sessions, you will need at least one British Taekwondo Club Coach and an assistant/junior coach. The session can be led by either a British Taekwondo Club Coach or a student that has completed the Level 1 Assistant Coach Award (under the supervision of the Club Coach).

Due to the tight timeline for the project, the opportunity to take part in this pilot will be given on a first come first served basis.

Should you meet the requirements and wish to pilot part of this new programme with us, please complete the application form and our Club Products Development Officer, Amy Shanahan will be in touch. The pilot sessions must take place within your own club setting, and we are looking for clubs/coaches that are already running sessions for children aged 4-6 years old.

As part of the pilot we are creating a Steering Group to help us develop this programme ready for an official launch later this year. If you would like to be a member please include a response on the application form and we will note your interest.

A How To guide will be provided to clubs who wish to take part, to help. More extensive coach education resources will be available after the pilot.

The pilot sessions will begin mid-February.

Each of the four sessions will be 45-minutes long and we would like all four sessions to have taken place by no later than Sunday 19th March.

Following the completion of the pilot sessions, participants will be invited to provide feedback through an online form that will determine the next steps of the programme.

We will also ask coaches to send a link to a separate feedback form to the parents of the children taking part.

Once the pilot has been reviewed we will contact the clubs involved to inform them of the general feedback and provide information regarding our next steps.

We will continue with updates about new products and services with information shared on the website, through social media, and in our coach member eBulletins.

We hope you are able to take part in this exciting development. If you are, but cannot take part due to the timescales or other reasons, please do still share the information with your colleagues and networks to help us create this new Taekwondo product.

To run these sessions, you will need at least one British Taekwondo Club Coach and an assistant/junior coach. The session can be led by either a British Taekwondo Club Coach or a student that has completed the Level 1 Assistant Coach Award (under the supervision of the Club Coach).

Due to the tight timeline for the project, the opportunity to take part in this pilot will be given on a first come first served basis.

Should you meet the requirements and wish to pilot part of this new programme with us, please complete the application form and our Club Products Development Officer, Amy Shanahan will be in touch.

For further information, or if you have any questions, about the Taekwondo kids programme please contact Amy Shanahan, Club Products Development Officer via email products@britishtaekwondo.org