Positive Coaching Scotland

Positive Coaching Scotland (PCS) is an exciting initiative pairing together Winning Scotland Foundation, Scottish Government, The Scottish Football League, Scottish Premier League, and the Scottish FA.

 Many factors are contributing to children choosing not to play football and miss out on the type of valuable life lessons that only sport delivers. PCS was established to help reverse this trend.

PCS is based on Positive Coaching Alliance, a successful US model that was developed at Stanford University in 1998 to combat escalating health and social problems.

PCS challenges the win at all costs mentality and focuses instead on effort, learning, psychological development, building confidence and developing responsible citizens.

And it does so by encouraging positive attitude and behaviour among coaches, parents, teachers, sport leaders – and players. By involving the whole community, PCS provides the tools and framework for a positive sporting experience that can also be character-building. It sets a new standard for all the key influencers in a young person's life.

The cornerstone of the strategy is the Double Goal ethos. The first goal is winning: learning to compete effectively, through concerted effort, is a necessity in today's society. However, the second more important goal is to teach young people vital, character-building life skills through sport – such as leadership, handling adversity, teamwork, persistence and compassion – that will equip them for the future.

Challenges remain – for example, to ensure lasting change, PCS must be embedded into existing structures and communicated clearly to all involved with football.

However, significant progress is being made, through workshops that target clubs, and by the committed team of Winning Scotland Foundation and all involved with Scottish football.

For further information visit www.positivecoachingscotland.com/