January 2012 For immediate release Coaching expert to share skills with lecture Professor of Sport Coaching, Patrick

Duffy, is to deliver his inaugural lecture at Leeds Metropolitan University on Tuesday 24 January. The public lecture, held at the Universitys Rose Bowl and entitled (Sport) Coaching: blinded or blended in a changing world?, will examine the traditional view of sport coaching as an emerging profession and the relationship between sport coaching and other coaching disciplines, such as business. Professor Duffy will also investigate how a more integrated approach to sport coaching can increase its importance within the development of the social, cultural and economic fabric of the UK.

Patrick commented: Over a million people are involved in sport coaching in the UK each year, yet the recognition of this activity as a professional area is still well behind the expectations of coaches, national governing bodies and government funded organisations. In order to address this position, there is a need to recognise the blended nature of the coaching workforce, which consists of over 70 per cent volunteers; around 25% part-time coaches and 5% full-time. The support and development of coaches should recognise their volunteer/employment status and should be tailored to the needs of participants in four main areas: children; talent development; high

performance and participation.

Patricks research focuses on policy and sport coaching, as well as applying sports coaching to a business context. He is currently involved in a major project with Morrisons PLC Coaching for Performance which integrates best practice from across business, sport and coaching to develop the skills of

Morrisons staff, embedding coaching capabilities into the day-to-day roles of managers and team leaders throughout the organisation and providing the University with an invaluable opportunity to research the application of sports coaching concepts in a business.

Patrick began his thirty-year career as a PE teacher and has held highlyesteemed roles at major national sporting organisations including Director of the National Coaching and Training Centre (Ireland) and Group Chief Executive of Sports Coach UK.

For the last 15 years, his work has focused on the translation of policy objectives, research and technical principles, into athlete and coach development programmes at National and European level. He is Vice President (Europe) of the International Council for Coach Education and the chairman of the European Coaching Council. He has also recently been appointed joint chair of the ICCE- Association of Summer Olympic International Federations project group to develop the International Sport Coaching Framework.

The lecture will take place from 5.30-7.30pm in the Rose Bowl Lecture Theatre A. For further information and to reserve a place, please contact e.gilbert@leedsmet.ac.uk

Ends For further details please contact Carrie Braithwaite in the Communications team at Leeds Met on 0113 812 3022 or email c.braithwaite@leedsmet.ac.uk Notes for editors: y Leeds Metropolitan University has over 15,000 students and around 3, 000 staff.

The Vice Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University is Professor Susan Price and the Chair of the Board is Lord Woolmer of Leeds.

Leeds Metropolitans four faculties are: Arts, Environment and Technology, Business & Law, Health and Social Sciences, and Carnegie.

Leeds Metropolitans heritage can be traced back to the founding of the Mechanics Institute in Leeds in 1824.

International students rated the University top in the UK for language support, accommodation quality and learning spaces in the 2010 Autumn Wave of the International Student Barometer and sixth in the world for the quality of its lectures. We have over 1,500 international students from 122 countries around the globe.

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