2025 Coaching Conference Report

On Saturday, our annual conference returned at Stirling Court Hotel, part of University of Stirling.  Once again we partnered up with Scottish Fencing to deliver the 2025 Coaching Conference across 1 day.  We had around 30 attendees across both sports with representation from coaches from Aberdeen, Dumfries, Lanarkshire, Lothian, Glasgow, Stirling, Falkirk, Dundee and Ayrshire.  

This year’s theme was: ‘Bringing a community of coaches together’ which we was inspired by the response to the positive value of in-person opportunities – a chance to reconnect and make new connections to learn and feel inspired.

Opening the conference was David Kent from sportscotland’s Coaching & Volunteering Team.  David set the scene with an important message about the significant impact and value that coaches provide which includes improving health, wellbeing, inclusivity and enjoyment, ensuring people aim to have lifelong positive experiences in sport.

Victoria Clark from Active Advantage returned to deliver two inspiring workshops on Enhancing Coaching Through Effective Questioning and Listening Skills and Introduction to Mentoring.

‘‘The workshops were interactive and dynamic. Together, we explored how impactful questions and active listening can transform the way coaches engage with their athletes. It was about opening the door to deeper conversations and building stronger, more trusting relationships.’’

You can read a full blog post from Victoria here, as she shares her reflections.

Between Active Advantage’s sessions we had a thought-provoking workshop with Brad Fullarton from Ambition Sport Psychology.  Brad is HCPC Licensed Sport and Exercise Psychologist based in Glasgow working with a variety of organisations and governing bodies.  Brad’s session focused on equipping coaches with tools and techniques to use psychology to support athletes they are working with.  This included discussions around creating a facilitative environment that encourages athletes to take ownership for their own performance and development.

To round off the day, the staff team delivered a Coaching Conundrums – a segment from previous conferences and brought back after demand.  The idea behind the conundrums is to present groups with typical scenarios or challenges that coaches may encounter and coaches have to come up with solutions and/or suggestions towards how they would approach or deal with them.

Thank you to Moira Taylor and Steve McQuaid who supported in the planning and creation of the conundrums section on the lead up to the conference.

Further to this, it was great to have coaches from Valkyrie Mounted Archery.  They provide horseback archery coaching services across the country.  It was really interesting to hear their perspective on a range of topics/subjects and thanks for coming along.  Coach, Lauran Evans shared her reflections from the day:

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‘What an awesome day we had at the Scottish Archery and Scottish Fencing coaching conference. Everyone was so welcoming and the event itself was very fun and well organized! Learned a lot from Victoria at Active Advantage and Brad at Ambition Sport Psychology. Thank you for having us!’’

Thanks to all the above presenters Active Advantage and Ambition Sport Psychology who made the conference a success, sportscotland for their support and for opening conference, to the venue – Stirling Court Hotel for the welcome and hospitality and of course most importantly to everyone who attended and contributed to what was a great weekend of learning, sharing and inspiration.