Positive Coaching
Positive Coaching 3 of 6

3. Positive Coaching


About Positive Coaching Scotland

What do we do?

Positive Coaching Scotland (PCS) is a cultural change programme designed to create a positive environment for young people in sport, by teaching them to:
appreciate the value of effort and learning;

improve personal performance;

foster a competitive, but fair, sporting mentality;

deal positively with mistakes.
How do we do it?

We do this by instructing the key influencers in a young person's life (namely parents, teachers, coaches and leaders) how to coach sport 'the PCS' way:

The Current Way.....
99.5% of children never make it to elite sports level. Yet we still have a coaching approach that’s based on the win at all costs mentality inherited from professional sport.

The PCS Way....
We should be coaching children as individuals, and focusing on their long-term development. PCS promotes a more realistic alternative: the 'Double Goal Coach’: The first goal is trying to win the competition, but the second and more important goal is teaching young people life skills.

The Current Way......
Over 70% of young people drop out of sport by the age of 14. The figure is significantly higher for girls, who are missing out on the opportunity to develop character-building life skills and remain physically active.

The PCS Way.......
Using proven tools and techniques, PCS creates an encouraging environment to ensure that young Scots enjoy sport and want to continue doing it into adulthood.

Why do we need PCS?

As a nation, Scotland currently faces a number of social challenges which are now overflowing into youth sport:
Violence on some touchlines

Disrespect towards many of the officials

Many coaches and sports clubs focusing on 'winning at all costs'
Parents putting undue pressure on children to improve quickly

Decreasing levels of physical activity and increasing obesity

Declining rate of volunteers in sport

Together, these factors contribute to increasing numbers of young people dropping out from sport. PCS is working to reverse this trend and encourage more people to adopt 'sport for life'.