England Golf’s regional coaching system has been revamped to bring greater benefits to talented young players.
From September, the U16 and U18 squads will be merged, creating 10 boys’ and 10 girls’ squads. The change is designed to create a clear pathway which will give the players more contact time and greater continuity with their coaches.
Nigel Edwards, England Golf Performance Director, said: “The regional coaching programme has been developed to give the players greater support and will allow the coaches to provide their support in different forms; individual and group coaching sessions and tournament preparation and attendance.
“We have appointed excellent coaches to take the programme forward and we look forward to supporting the players to achieve their individual goals.”
Players can apply to join the regional programme in July when application forms will be available on the website.
Those eligible to apply include golfers on the Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DISE) programme, which is a modified and strengthened continuation of the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sport (AASE).
The coaches for the 10 girls’ and 10 boys’ squads have just been appointed and are:
North:
Boys – Andy Paisley, Girls – JJ Vallely
Yorkshire:
Boys – Steve Robinson, Girls – Andrew Nicholson
North West:
Boys – Peter Barber, Girls – John Watson
West Midlands:
Boys – David Brooks, Girls – Jason Davies
East Midlands:
Boys – Lysa Jones, Girls – Steve Astle
East:
Boys – Chris Jenkins, Girls – Roly Hitchcock
South:
Boys – Matt Antell, Girls – Alex Saary
South East:
Boys – Steven Orr, Girls – Ryan Fenwick
Thames Valley:
Boys – Matthew Woods, Girls – Harry Scott
South West:
Boys – John Jacobs, Girls – Martyn Thompson
England Golf www.englandgolf.org