Volunteering

Glasgow Riderz (SCIO) relies on volunteers to deliver coaching and run activities either as coachers or parent helpers.  Some of our volunteers have competed to a high standard, some just ride with their kids.

But this club has been doing this for almost 20 years and can say with some level of authority that the single most important attribute is enthusiasm.

Keeping in touch with the other volunteers and coaches

We have 40+ coaches with the Glasgow Riderz (with about 20 active at any one time), and many additional parent helpers who help out at sessions. All communication is done via Spond, please download the app and you will be added to the appropriate groups where you will be able to message groups and individuals as required.

All booking, consents and medical / contact details are also held there as are the contact detail of the other coaches, please ensure you know how to find these in case needed in an emergency.

Protecting Vulnerable Groups PVG (child protection) form

All coaches and volunteers are required to complete the Disclosure Scotland process. The club’s Child Welfare Protection will contact you to arrange this, if they haven’t already been in touch please contact our Club Secretary, Rachael (glasgowriderz@gmail.com)

The club’s policy is that coaches and volunteers will not accept friend requests / other social media contact with the kids.

Coaching Qualifications

If you are interested in pursuing a cycle coaching qualification Glasgow Riderz are happy to help fund this, provided that you commit to coaching regularly with the Club for a minimum of a year. You need British Cycling Ride or Silver Membership to become a coach (discounts are sometimes available for new members) and you need to indicate your affiliation to Glasgow Riderz on your membership application.  You will also be required to complete a 1 day first aid course and Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport course (which is online learning plus 1 evening online course) which the Club will cover the cost of and which both have to be updated every 3 years.
Once qualified British Cycling membership at the appropriate level includes coaching insurance.

Learn about the pathway here. (I nearly wrote “Your coaching journey”, but didn’t). https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/coaching

Please contact either Rachael (glasgowriderz@gmail.com) or Rob our treasurer (treasurer.riderz@yahoo.com) before applying for a place on the course as the funding needs to be applied for before you book but funding is available.

If you’ve done your coaching qualification elsewhere send copies of any certificates (Safeguarding and protecting children course, first aid course, PVG etc.) to the Club Secretary for entry into our systems. If you have any problems please email them to the Club Secretary ( glasgowriderz@gmail.com ).

Spond

Spond is the club management system we use to communicate, hold consents, contact and medical info. It is also the system for booking onto sessions, indicating coach availability and paying for sessions.

https://club.spond.com/landing/signup/glasgowriderz

What will I be doing?

Coaches

When starting as a couch with the club an experienced coach will discuss with you your qualifications and preferred skill level / disciplines to decide where you will fit best. You will then be allocated to a group of Riderz along with at least one other coach and some parent helpers. These groups are split by ability and age.  For continuity we try and keep the same coaches with the same groups for a period of time but on occasions you may be asked to assist a different group.   We aim to match new coaches with a more experienced coach, however in general less experienced coaches work with the younger Riderz on the basic bike handling skills and more qualified coaches will work with Riderz who are ready to work on more advanced skills.

Between the coaches they will come up with the coaching plan for the session, it’s good practice to have shared this and identified who is doing what before the session but last minute changes are not uncommon! Most of this discussion takes place on Spond. Depending on coach numbers, individual groups eg Group A may sub divide into smaller groups to make coaching more effective.

Coaches are responsible for the session. This includes documenting the session plan, risk assessment, reviewing medical information, completing the register and signing the riderz out and back to their parents at the end. They are also responsible for first aid and completing any accident forms. They will also provide feedback to any parents who wish at the end of the sessions.

The general club plan for Saturday sessions is MTB skills after Christmas and Cyclocross skills after the summer to fit with the race seasons.

Coaches will be issued with a Glasgow Riderz Blue waterproof jacket for easy identification.

Parent helpers

When starting out as a parent helper, an experienced coach will discuss your riding confidence and ability to ensure you are with the correct level of group. All efforts will be made to keep you with the same group for continuity but on occasions you may need to help out with another group. Each group will have an allocated group of coaches and parent helpers. The coaches will plan the session and have responsibility for the admin. Parent helpers will assist the coaches with the sessions. Roles may include helping the Riderz with bike check, warm up activities, herding and crowd control, practice with individuals and ensuring everyone has fun.

Being a parent helper is a great starting point on the coaching journey and if you are interested Riderz will pay for and support you through the process. As a cyclist you will also learn loads and end up trying things you may not have considered trying before!

Some of our parent helpers are expert MTBers. Some can barely ride bikes. The most important thing is enthusiasm.

What do I need to bring?

A bike. A mountain bike is best for Saturday sessions but a hybrid/gravel bike will also be suitable if helping with the younger kids.

Mobile phone

A bag – for stray items of clothing

Multitool, pump & spare innertube

An extra layer esp if helping the younger groups as you will be standing about a bit of the time

Fun, patience, encouragement, sense of humour and little bit of competition.

Coaches also need First Aid Kits, Risk Assessments (templates available on Spond) and Permission To Use letter (available from Spond or email glasgowriderz@gmail.com)

How we run the Saturday sessions

We meet at 9.45 at either Bellahouston Park (at the cycle track) or the Top Carpark at Cathkin Braes (at the area beside the carpark) and finish at 11:30.  The road ride meet earlier and sometimes at a different location.

Riderz are split by ability into groups and for each group one of the group’s coaches will complete a sign on using Spond.  Coaches need to have checked on Spond if any of the Riderz in the group have any medical declarations etc.

We start with a bike (M) check and helmet check before either with an off the bike warm up or cycling to the coaching area.  When based at Bellahahouston some of the groups will cycle over to Pollock Park but new coaches must be familiar with our risk assessments before leading a group themselves.

At the end of the session the group returns to the start location where all Riderz must be signed out by a guardian before then leave, Riderz over the age of 12 can sign themselves out.  Riderz are not to enter carparks until they have been signed out

Following the session there is normally a debrief with the coaches and helpers, what worked, what didn’t and a provisional session plan and attendance of coaches for the following week.

We also run several weeknight sessions which you may wish to become involved in:

Mondays – BMX,

Tuesdays – Track,

Wednesday- Shredderz (MTB) from when the clocks go forward / Rollerz & Fitnezz in the winter

Speak to the Club Secretary glasgowriderz@gmail.com if you would like to find out more.