Job Title: Strength & Conditioning Coach
Reporting to: Head of Sport Science & Medicine
Contract Type: Full Time / Permanent
Salary: £24,000-27,500 depending on experience
Background:
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county cricket clubs which make up the England and Wales Cricket Board. We play to the highest level of professional cricket with a history stretching back over 155 years. Our vision is to become Worcestershire’s premier destination for live sports, entertainment & hospitality, whilst providing great experiences for everyone who comes to New Road.
We are passionate about our people and strive to make our working environment a welcoming and inclusive one, fuelling ambition with opportunities and support to help our people achieve their personal and professional goals. Our values of Trust, Inclusiveness, Kindness, Resilience and Togetherness, resonate across everything we do at the Club and define our culture and behaviours.
Role and Person Summary:
We are seeking a self-driven professional, eager to expand their expertise by leading S&C services for our academy players and assist the Lead Strength & Conditioning coach with the physical training and conditioning of our professional squad. This role is key for the future development of our academy programme, and development of professional behaviours early in a young cricketer’s career; to facilitate the successful transition for players into the senior team and subsequently first-class cricket.
We are looking for someone who is excited and energised by supporting young cricketers as individuals and performance driven players in an interdisciplinary way. You will need to be responsive to day-to-day events while at the same time maintaining high technical standards across a competitive calendar. In the winter there is a focus on development, while in the spring and summer there is a shift towards game preparation and coach support.
We want to find someone who can support us in our goal to create a positive image of the game and the club, help develop the belief and skill to compete against the best teams, provide the opportunity for young players to represent Worcestershire CCC and raise the standard of cricket, and to help us be regarded as a leading pathway for talent development and talent identification.
The successful candidate will deliver comprehensive physical preparation programmes, based on sound strength and conditioning principles to both developing and senior athletes. Previous experience working in cricket is not essential.
Key working relationships
•Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach
•Head of Sport Science and Medicine
•Science and Medicine team; physiotherapists, doctor, psychologist, nutritionist
•Academy coaching staff
•First and Second team coaching staff
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
•Work collaboratively with the Lead Strength & Conditioning coach, academy physiotherapist and Head of Science and Medicine to design, develop and deliver strength & conditioning programmes for Worcestershire academy players.
•Work collaboratively with Worcestershire County Cricket Club coaching staff to design and develop integrated support programmes for individual’s player performance targets.
•Provide specialist S&C input to the physiotherapist to support injury risk management, injury management, rehab and return to performance.
•Conduct physical performance testing and profiling of Worcestershire CCC players and be accountable for uploading and storage of testing data to ECB platforms.
•Provide basic nutritional guidance to Worcestershire CCC players, supported by the club nutritionist.
•Assist the Lead S&C with delivery to the professional playing staff (training and games, dependent on academy commitments).
•In collaboration with the coaching staff help prepare the players on match and training days.
•Develop relationships with schools and deliver S&C sessions for academy players in the school environment.
•Assist with rehabilitation and planning of rehab as part of a multidisciplinary team.
•Attend and contribute to support staff meetings.
•Undertake appropriate professional development to keep abreast of best practice and current evidence-based research.
Other responsibilities:
We expect our people to demonstrate and promote our values at all times to ensure Worcestershire County Cricket Club’s brand is always held in the highest regard both internally and in public. It is expected that you will:
•Be proactive in promoting inclusiveness across the club and reporting any discrimination that you witness.
•Be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk that visit the Club.
•Promote a positive environment that is welcoming, friendly and supportive.
•Foster a culture of togetherness and commit to contributing to a strong team ethic.
•Be passionate about delivering excellent customer service to everyone that comes through our doors.
The nature of our work and the size of our team here at Worcestershire County Cricket Club requires everyone to be flexible, motivated and an excellent team player.
This Job Description is not an exhaustive list of tasks but represents the key duties and responsibilities required by the role. You may be required to take on such reasonable additional or other responsibilities and tasks as we need from time to time.
Requirements
Person Specification
Essential Requirements:
•UKSCA accreditation (or equivalent), or able to gain accreditation in first 6 months of accepting role.
•Graduate qualification in Sports Science and/or Strength & Conditioning.
•Experience in an elite/high performance sport and performance team environment.
•Experience of analysing the demands of a sport in relation to the performance outcomes and strength and conditioning requirements.
•Basic anatomical knowledge and an ability to apply this within a strength and conditioning environment.
•Ability to teach barbell lifts, supplementary exercises and ground-based drills including how to correct common faults with appropriate diagnostics and monitoring.
•Ability to construct strength, speed/change of direction and fitness-based training schedules (gym and field based) with appropriate monitoring including a database of work/load.
•Ability to modify strength & conditioning programmes, according to the results of assessments and in conjunction with coaches and other support staff.
•Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary support team and an understanding of the various sports science and sports medicine disciplines.
•Good coaching skills including the ability to adapt to the environment to motivate behavioural change and facilitate performance.
•Skilled in building and maintaining productive relationships with high performance staff.
•Current basic life support training and first aid qualifications (or evidence of working towards).
•The ability to travel to training and match venues.
•Computer literacy, including Microsoft Office, databases and performance analysis software.
•Engage with continuous professional development in anti-doping, i.e., UKAD Accredited Advisor Certification
•Ability to work irregular and unsocial hours, including work outside normal office hours, at evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays.
•A recognition of the importance of promoting and supporting equality, safeguarding and anti-doping within sport.
Desirable attributes:
•Experience of working in cricket.
•Experience in the support and preparation of developing elite athletes.
•Postgraduate degree in related field to strength & conditioning.
This role may involve training, supervising, working with and/or being in sole charge of children and young people. The successful applicant will therefore be required to apply for a disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service. A disclosure is an impartial and confidential document that details an individual’s criminal record and where appropriate gives details of those who are banned from working with children. Having a criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to obtaining a position.
Y ou will need to have the Right to Work in the UK or be able to obtain this by the start date. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.
Benefits
Hours, benefits and salary:
This is a fulltime role which will include evening and weekend work.
The salary for this role is £24,000-£27,500 per annum.
Our benefits:
•Contributory pension scheme
•Death in Service Cover at four times your annual salary
•Paid time off over Christmas and New Year
•Paid day off for your Birthday or celebration day of your choice
•Access to Pluxee employee benefits and discount platform
•Employee Assistance Programme and Wellbeing support
•Free city centre parking
•Stunning city centre location with iconic cathedral view
•Complimentary tickets for various Sports venues across Worcester
Applications:
The closing date for applications is Tuesday 21st January 2025.
Worcestershire County Cricket Club recognises the positive value of diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.
The Club is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.