TRAINING
COMMITTEE

Over the years the Training Committee’s brief has widened with the development of the sport. Originally it was the “Training and Selection Committee” and in the 1980s it was subsidised by the Sports Council with a grant that was divided equally between training and travelling for the British team. Subsequent to a change in the selection policy, the Training Committee evolved to organise training clinics for officials. In addition, an annual ‘activity’ was organised to raise funds that the HDT used to subsidise training grants for clubs. The clubs were encouraged in turn to have a training officer and to organise clinics for their own members.

Training became a ‘must do’ part of everyone’s driving repertoire if they were going to aspire to successful competition driving. ‘Pods’ of training were organised by individuals across the country, which were both educational and fun while improving standards across the board. Many well known competitors who were committed to training gave generously of their time to these activities. With the introduction of indoor driving came an influx of new young drivers and the BHDTA’s Training Committee’s efforts have been invaluable to their development.

The British National Young Drivers Group was created, with Easter and Summer camps for training as well as the Young Drivers’ National Championships. These have been running for four years and are well supported. To make the championships even more competitive a team competition is included with entries from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Further proof of their success includes individual gold and team bronze at the World Young Drivers Championship in 2008 under the guidance of Sara Howe and Anna Grayston. Also the Talented Athletes Scholarships Scheme, available in England, has recognised driving and awarded fi ve young drivers a scholarship grant.

The Drivers with Disabilities have formed a competitive group. They are very well organised with a structured training plan which has brought them international success. Rachel Stevens has recently taken over from Margaret Brockie as chef d'Equipe for this group.

The Government, endeavouring to improve standards in sport, has introduced a UK Coaching Certificate. It has created universally accepted standard levels of coaching ability across all disciplines. Andrew Counsell and Ann Varley have been instrumental in developing this for carriage driving and the BHDTA can now post an increasing, bona fide list of UKCC Coaches with government qualifications.

As the sport has grown worldwide, international championships for singles, pairs and combined ponies as well as disabled drivers have given more impetus to furthering the structure of training. Although training is considered to be the individual’s responsibility, organised team training for those interested in international competition has developed and follows a more professional approach, modelled on the World Class Development Programme.

The Training Committee has formed the World Class Performance Driving Committee (WCPDC) with each international class represented by its chef d'Equipe. There is now a plan to improve performances through exchange of knowledge and use of professional modern sciences.

In 2008 Government money was promised to encourage participation in the sport by retaining existing participants and encouraging new ones. The committee is hoping to coordinate this with the clubs’ regional representatives but we do not know whether this money will be forthcoming in the present financial climate. In 2008, the chairman rationalised the Training Committee to represent all these training aspects of the sport.

COMMITTEE STRUCTURE DIAGRAM