A Lanarkshire gymnastics coach has been recognised for her exemplary role in promoting fitness and wellbeing.
Wendy Lucas of Hamilton Gymnastics Club is now calling for more people to consider taking coaching roles to boost their mental health.
As part of a UK-wide drive to inspire people into coaching roles, lead charity UK Coaching has praised Wendy for getting behind their campaign #Born2Coach, and the enthusiasm she has showed in teaching youngsters in the sport.
An ex-gymnast herself, starting out by just helping out occasionally at her club, Wendy was initially occupied with coaching at a competitive level.
However, she soon realised her true passion lay in supporting young people at a participation level – and has since devoted her life to, in her own words, “helping others love this amazing sport as much as I do.”
The #Born2Coach initiative aims to significantly boost the coaching workforce through a recruitment drive, inspiring people to become coaches and empowering current coaches to enhance their abilities.
Fully active in the local community at Hamilton Gymnastics Club, Wendy reflected on the benefits coaching has given her and her gymnasts.
She told Lanarkshire Live : “I want to see kids in the sport forever.
"I am just entirely committed to helping young people into active lifestyles, to feel as happy as they can taking part in sport and ensuring everyone is included.
"That has to be the priority of coaching, and great coaching is about knowing sport isn’t just being the best, it’s running with your passion.
“For me personally, coaching has helped improve my confidence level – the passion I have for the sport has probably helped my progress in that sense.
"In my experience, where you see young people embrace sport and feel their problems are going away when they take part, that’s the reward you get for coaching.
“We are always looking to take on more people, to bring enthusiastic coaches into the sport where they have an amazing opportunity to develop themselves and discover what they are really capable of.
"I’m not sure I could be more passionate about it – if you love sport, then coaching is an amazing way to contribute in supporting people in your local community.”
Praising Wendy's coaching contribution, and raising the need to activate more coaches like her, UK Coaching CEO Mark Gannon said: “Wendy is a fantastic example of the UK’s incredible coaching workforce who are essential to the happiness and wellbeing of the nation as we recover from the pandemic.
"We are delighted to be working closely with British Gymnastics and six further sports to help encourage more aspiring coaches into the workforce.
“Coaches will be an important conduit for engaging a broader range of people from more communities in physical activity and sport, and we want to play our part in supporting physical activity and sport to help rebuild a more active, happier and healthier nation.”
If you are inspired by Wendy’s story, you can find out more on how you can support your community through coaching here.
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