28 Oct 2026
The 2026 Coaching Conference was held on 24-25 October 2026Â at the Sight Scotland Veterans Hawkhead Centre, Paisley. The conference was built around the theme "Supported People", aligning with our 2025-29 Supporting Our Archery Community Strategic Plan. The event focused on coach development, collaboration, networking, and sharing best practices across the Scottish archery community.
Archery GB’s (AGB) Head of Learning & Development Ryan Grewcock kicked off proceedings on the Saturday with an insightful session on the importance of coaches within the sporting system, titled Putting Coaches at the Heart.  Initially, Ryan gave an overview of the current position of coach development within Archery GB and an opportunity for coaches to find out about AGB upcoming projects. This was rounded off with some discussions between coaches on the role of the coach, skill development and coaching qualities. Further to this, coaches were given the chance to provide feedback on areas of interest regarding CPD and barriers they have experienced.
Following this, Ryan’s AGB colleague Lloyd Brown, Coach Development Manager, presented the AGB Technical Framework. Lloyd has a proven track record in delivering medals at the Olympics, having coached Justin Huish to individual gold for the USA at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, and then Huish, Rod White and Richard Johnson to gold in the men's team event. He was also the coach in Sydney 2000, when the US won the men's team bronze, and Vic Wunderle won the individual silver. His session provided an overview of the Framework, including its purpose and a tool for coaches to provide a sound technical base for all archers. He also explained how the framework aims to help coaches understand the principles and structures that underpin athlete development and coaching practice. Lloyd also shared how his own approaches and philosophy to coaching have been shaped by many other people, including his time working with world-class coach Kisik Lee.
One participant shared some positive feedback from this particular session:
‘‘I found the session from Lloyd very useful to learn more about the common framework for archers, lots of applicable content and made me consider how I can best coach beginners. It was great to hear that the technical framework is not set in stone and can evolve’’
On Saturday afternoon, we were treated to a session called Discussions on Video Options for Coaches. Andy Findlay and Duncan McEwan of East Kilbride Archery Club, delivered a session that covered the basics of video analysis and exploring different options. Both are experienced Level 2 coaches who discussed how they have effectively used video during coaching practice and also supporting athlete development, sharing practical insights from their ongoing progression through the Archery GB Level 3 Programme Coach.
On Sunday, Steven Brison of Dundee Archery Club delivered a thought-provoking session on Coaching Barebow Archery. Steven presented perspectives as a coach and competitive barebow archer, bringing practical experience from grassroots coaching and athlete participation. As a mechanical engineer, Steven provided a deep-dive session using laws of physics to explain tuning and adaptations that can provide a marginal edge to improving performance. The session prompted a lot of discussion and questions from coaches on current styles of coaching barebow and taking key learnings away from this session.
Following this, we had practical and interactive sessions from Adrienne Hunter & Kam Raval from Scottish Sport Futures (SSF) and sportscotland. The first session focused on Putting the Person First - Taking a Person-Centred Approach to Coaching. This module aimed to upskill and increase the knowledge of coaches on the importance of understanding their purpose, coaching values, human connection, and building relationships to create a person-centred coaching environment. Using a variety activities, Kam & Adrienne were able to highlight the significance of understanding participant needs and establishing, building and maintaining relationships as coaches.Â
To round off the day, Adrienne delivered sportscotland’s Introduction to Coaching Children workshop. This workshop explored understanding of children’s motivation in sport and physical activity. This included both theoretical and practical knowledge of key principles that influence all-round development of Physical Literacy and specifically of the FUNdamentals of Movement in children. Also, this session focused on understanding a holistic approach to child development and the development of the whole child through sport, with an understanding of how to develop basic multi-skills. Lots of learning and fun all round!
The conference reinforced the value of:
Ongoing coach education and development
Cross-club knowledge sharing
Community-focused leadership
Collaborative approaches to improving participation and performance within Scottish archery
The 2026 Coaching Conference demonstrated Scottish Archery's commitment to investing in coaches and volunteers as a key driver of long-term development. By bringing together national experts, experienced practitioners, and community coaches, the conference provided a valuable platform for learning, collaboration, and strengthening the coaching network across Scotland.
Firstly, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Sight Scotland Veterans for allowing us to host at their venue. A big thanks to Rod Smith, who was our keyholder on behalf of Sight Scotland Veterans for ensuring that both the venue/catering were up to standard. Also thank you to Fiona Hirst for supporting the event throughout the weekend.
Thanks to Ryan Grewcock (AGB) and Lloyd Brown (AGB) who travelled up from the Midlands area to present. Also, a thank you to presenters Andy Findlay & Duncan McEwan (East Kilbride A.C), Steven Brison (Dundee A.C) and Adrienne Hunter & Kam Raval (sportscotland/Scottish Sports Futures).Â
Finally, a thank you to our Scottish Archery Coaching Subgroup volunteers who have been working hard over the past year on the lead-up to the conference. This includes Andy Findlay, Duncan McEwan, Steven Brison, Sandie Graham (Monklands A.C), Andrew Kelly (Moray Archery) and Simon Garforth (Perth A.C).
