With some of the most progressive outdoor access legislation in the world and stunning landscapes, many riders come to Scotland for mountain bike adventures. Maybe a first foray into mountain biking or a desire to upskill and explore, to leave their comfort zone in a safe, supportive and fun way – our leaders and leadership training help guarantee this.
DMBinS, Scottish Cycling and British Cycling work in partnership to create and develop new off-road, mountain bike leadership awards. Responding to the needs of the mountain bike community and with our network of Tutors, these awards are delivered across Scotland to those aspiring to become mountain bike leaders and role models within their communities.
Over the last couple of years, we have co-developed with British Cycling the new Off-Road Leader Award (previously known as the Fundamentals of Mountainbike Leadership Award or FunMBL for short). Focusing on accessible leadership skills that simply feel right when applied in the outdoors, we have created an award with leadership at the core.
We have cut back on the technical side of things, focusing on robust preparation, strong familiarity with routes being used, and clear principles to enable you as a leader, to take an individual rider-centered approach. We think it's a cracking award, hugely accessible, and above all, fun.
This Award came on the back of the Night Leader Award. Most needed here in Scotland because of our winter daylight hours (or lack of) this Award superseded the MBLA night leader module and was updated to reflect technology and a growing understanding of the impact of night and darkness on our circadian rhythms, human wellbeing, emotions and the inherent desire of our bodies to try to sleep at night. Importantly it is also insured.
These are exciting times for mountain bike leadership here in Scotland and across the whole of the UK. We now have a refreshed take on leadership across all of the British Cycling Leadership Awards. Following on from the leadership principles in the Off-Road Leaders Award, we are taking Vision, Challenge and Support to new heights, looking to INSPIRE at Trail Leader (previously Level 2) and reinvigorating that golden thread of leadership that we want to see front and foremost across all of our awards.
And there is so much more in the pipeline this year! Watch this space for more updates as the award refresh continues!
For more information just follow this link: Off-Road/Mountain Bike Leadership Awards
We are really excited to be able to offer, through sportscotland and Scottish Cycling, a coach and leadership education subsidy.
This new approach has the following aims:
• Build the capacity of coaches and leaders with a focus on inclusion.
• Support and develop a more diverse workforce.
• Ensure qualifications in Scotland are affordable and accessible.
• Embed equality, diversity and inclusion through the education system in Scotland.
It won't cover all your costs but it can certainly contribute to them! The Mountain Bike Leadership course subsidy applies to:
Please note this funding is not guaranteed, you do need to go through an application process and should the available funds be exhausted before 31st March, the funding will end.
Our workforce, tutors and leaders are amazing. We are confident in our training and assessment processes but we know that there is little in the way of formal, directed support after qualifying.
So with British Cycling and Glenmore Lodge, our National Outdoor Centre, we have begun the journey offering tailored development opportunities for our leaders to continue to learn.
We are all learners, just at different levels and we want to support that through the development of further Awards and Continued Professional Development opportunities - watch this space!
We will learn from this, creating coherent and industry-specific learning opportunities for all, riders, leaders and tutors going forwards.
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.
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