A large proportion of Swim England West Midland’s remit is to support its clubs and members, and to ensure clubs, pathways and events are running effectively, safely and sustainably. In working with clubs, as a region, we have identified some key focus areas that we would like to explore further and gain insight into, through our members. The key focus areas identified are:
- Knowledge and delivery of the principles of the Optimal Athlete Development Framework (OADF)
- Effective safeguarding and reporting mechanisms
- Effective club governance
- Effective aquatic pathways
- Appropriately trained workforce
In partnership with Swim England, we are delighted to announce the appointment of a consultancy company; Sporting People, to lead on a piece of Club Culture Insight Research. The aim of this research is to gain a better understanding of how the above key focus areas are working across our regional clubs and pathways. Over the next 3 months, on our behalf, Sporting People will be consulting with regional members through a variety of mediums, such as surveys and online focus groups. To ensure we receive high quality outcomes from this research we welcome engagement from our clubs, committee’s, coaches, athletes, parents, volunteers and members. We really appreciate any time that you can give to this project to support improving all aspects of the key focus areas to improve our sports. This key piece of research will underpin the West Midlands Regional Strategy which is under consultation at present.
The next stage of the project involves the facilitation of some online focus groups, to provide another platform to receive feedback from our members; this is targeted at committee members, coaches, parents and swimmers. The focus group sessions available are as follows:
- Girls & families; Monday 27th Feb @ 5:45pm or Wednesday 1st March @ 7pm
- Boys & families; Monday 27th Feb @ 7pm or Monday 6th March @ 6pm
- Committee Leaders; Wednesday 1st March @ 12pm or Wednesday 8th March @ 6:30pm
- Coaches; Tuesday 7th March @ 12pm or Thursday 9th March @ 6:30pm
This is the time for members to let us know their experiences in aquatics. The focus groups will be a safe space to provide honest and open feedback and thoughts.
Currently we have a low number of members signed up to the focus groups, to ensure these are effective and we receive a good representative feedback across all club. Members can sign up to the focus groups via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/swim-west-midlands-research-projects-1542589
We really appreciate your help and support in sharing this information with your members.
Any further questions please direct these to the [email protected] inbox.