http://www.britishparkour.org/ British Parkour Coaching Association en-us Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:32:52 GMT 1440 CPG-Nuke Dragonfly British Parkour Coaching Association News http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.britishparkour.org/images/logo.gif http://www.britishparkour.org/ http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20 It's been a few months since the last news item was posted so I thought it was about time for an update. Bear with me, more has happened than our lack of news items up until now might suggest. There's a lot to get through... Summer of fun Several B.P.C.A. members spent a large amount of the summer travelling around Continental Europe, meeting up with practitioners from a variety of countries who share the same ideals. As well as the usual fun training with new people and in new locations (and some of the places were truly spectacular) time was also spent comparing coaching notes, which resulted in lots of new ideas all round. Canterbury Assessment On to September then, when we held another Assessment. This time we were back down in Canterbury again. There was just a solitary coach on this course, but fortunately they managed to bear up under the pressure and complete the assessment without any problems, technically giving us a 100% pass rate for the third time on an Assessment course! Congratulations all round! Lots of regular sessions With the start of a new academic year, BPCA members again found themselves starting up additional classes in their local (and not so local!) areas. Parkour's popularity is still rising, and the number of sessions being run by properly trained and experienced coaches is rising with every passing month. Plans are still taking shape to try and create a central database of all structured sessions being run by BPCA members that are open to new participants, but at the moment other projects are taking priority... Coaching Standards Revision This is what we're blaming the lack of news updates on. The long process of updating the B.P.C.A.'s coaching standards that began back at the start of this year is nearing it's conclusion, with the committee just putting the finishing touches to the first complete draft of the updated standards. Version 2.0 has taken roughly 6 times as long to produce as the first one, contains roughly twice the detail, and once more has the Assessment team scratching their heads trying to work out how to remember it all. More revisions will take place over the next month, with the finished standards due to arrive in time for the 2010 AGM... Annual General Meeting 2010 Following that convenient lead in, I am pleased to announce that the B.P.C.A. Annual General Meeting for 2010 will be held on Saturday 9th January, once more in Crawley. As well as letting members to have the final say on the updated coaching standards and all the usual annual reports and elections, this year's AGM will also introduce the BPCA's new support materials. Developed alongside the updated coaching standards, these resources aim to provide coaches and practitioners alike with the information that they need in order for them to develop their abilities. Significant time in the meeting will be devoted to introducing this project and letting interested parties know how they can get involved. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:32:52 GMT http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19 On the 27th of June 2009 a level 1 Coach Assessment Course was run by the B.P.C.A. in the Wirral area. Four coaches from around the country were assessed over the course of the day and each one demonstrated sufficient knowledge and understanding to pass. Congratulations to the fantastic four! Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:24:11 GMT http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=18 Just a quick heads up for those of you looking to attend one of our Coach Training Courses. Our next course will be held in the Liverpool area on Saturday 21st March. There has already been a lot of interest for this course so if you are planning on attending you need to contact us to book a place as soon as possible. See you there! Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:44:09 GMT http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17 The 2nd March saw the latest Assessment course run by the B.P.C.A, this time in Canterbury. Overally the standard of coaching on display was of a consistently high standard. There were a few nervous moments but fortunately everyone who took the assessment this time around passed. Congratulations to all of you! For the others who are still waiting to take the Assessment, we will keep you informed about future Assessment dates. P.S. Many thanks to Kevin and his family for putting the Assessment team up for the night! Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:34:42 GMT http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16 Our second Parkour Forum was recently held in Manchester and proved even more popular than the first, with people travelling from all over the North of England and even Scotland to attend. The numbers attending meant that the event was held outside this time. However, despite the almost inevitable low temperatures the sheer number of bodies kept the group warm enough to cover several topical discussions in a couple of hours. Write-up will be available in the Resources section shortly. Roll on the next Forum! Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:25:55 GMT http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=15 Just a quick mention for the excellent spirit shown at the recent Coach Training Courses that were held in Crawley at the end of January. As well as some of the more common coaching situations we face our attendees with, this time they were also presented with the challenges of training in some very unusual weather conditions and also running a session in a blizzard. Needless to say, everyone coped admirably with this extra bit of adversity. Both courses held that weekend went well (although the discussions at the end ran over both times due to the excessive enthusiasm for sharing ideas!) and we look forward to seeing some of these coaches on an Assessment course in the near future. Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:14:13 GMT http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=14 A big thank you to everyone who braved the freezing temperatures and in one case, a broken foot to attend the meeting back in January! The meeting itself passed smoothly and plans were laid to continue the good work being done to help parkour practitioners in this country. Back to work! Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:00:00 GMT http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11 Last weekend's Parkour Forum in London proved a big hit with the people who braved one of the coldest Saturdays in a while to attend. Despite the temperature outside, the people taking part in the discussions inside got on like a house on fire and managed to cover a lot of new and interesting topics during the course of the Forum. I'd like to thank everyone who attended for making it the most interesting parkour event I've attended in a long time! The write-up of the event can be found in the Resources section of our website here. The next Forum will be held in Manchester on February 7th. Can't wait! Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:45:09 GMT http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10 Best wishes for 2009 to all of the parkour practitioners out there! Also, today the British Parkour Coaching Association celebrates the second aniversary of it's founding, back in January 2007. Happy Birthday B.P.C.A! Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:56:44 GMT http://www.britishparkour.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9 The first 'Parkour Forum' gathering will be held in London on 10th January. The Forum is free to attend and starts at 2pm in the Jubilee Gardens, near the London Eye, and will last until the discussions reach a natural stopping point. The 'Parkour Forums' are designed to allow practitioners to share information, exchange ideas and talk freely about any aspect of parkour, in an attempt to better our understanding of our discipline. It avoids many of the problems present in online discussions by holding these discussions in person, allowing ideas to be exchanged more quickly and with a greater depth of understanding. So, if you fancy a change, turn off your computers for a day and come and share your ideas in person! Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:20:43 GMT