What a Coach Can Coach

What can a coach, coach in the gym? 

There have been changes to what a coach can coach in the gym.

 In brief:

  • A coach should make reference to the Skills Matrix and not National Levels.
  • The Skills Matrix has been developed by accreditation level and by Gymsport.
  • The Skills Matrix provides a list of skills which are typically covered in the accreditation but this is not an exhaustive list.
  • A coach can coach skills which are of equivalent degree of difficulty to those which are in the matrix.
  • A coach can coach skills of a higher level of difficulty than those in the Skills Matrix as part of the process of learning. A coach should exercise a duty of care to participants, seek support and undertake an appropriate risk analysis. Please note that there are restrictions on coaching the salto as detailed below. 

Click here to view an overview of what a coach can coach in the gym. 

Click here to see the Skills Matrix and view the skills by accreditation level and Gymsport.

In detail:

The document What can I coach in the gym? explains in detail what a coach can coach in the gym. 

The salto

  • It is a requirement that a coach must hold an Advanced Accreditation or above to coach a salto (somersault) or skills involving flight and inverted rotation without hand support.

For more information, please view the FAQ document on What I can coach in the gym?. 

What can a coach, coach at competition? 

There have been changes to accreditation requirements for coaching at competition. Competition events have been divided into:

  • Gymnastics Australia events: Australian Championships, National Clubs and other international competitions
  • State/Territory events: Competitions run by the State/Territory Association

GA and State / Territory Associations are working together to develop national rules for State / Territory events. Rules are almost confirmed but still need to be finalised. These will be distributed when the rules are confirmed. For any questions regarding State / Territory events please contact your Association. 

In brief

  • Flexibility has been built into the What can I coach at competition? requirements to allow time for a coach to gain a higher accreditation.
  • An Advanced Accreditation is the highest requirement to coach on the competition floor at a GA event prior to 2017, even though the coach is reminded that the coach must coach at their level of competence. For example, an Advanced Coach may not be competent to coach a Level 10 gymnast at competition.
  • The highest level of accreditation a coach will need to coach in the gym and at competition is Advanced Silver.
  • A coach can coach across some Gymsport events. For example at GA events a MAG coach accreditation can be used for a WAG event and vice versa, and a MAG and WAG accreditation can be used for tumbling events. 

Click here to view an overview of What can I coach at competition?. 

In detail

The document What can I coach at competition? explains in detail accreditation requirements to coach at competition.