“Naturally, the stories of our ‘lockdown coaches’ were so good that tens of thousands of people used their thumbs to give kudos to their favourite coach. And what a wide-ranging group of winners we have: from producing a footballing booklet backed by Champions League winner Ronald de Boer to creating your own physiotherapy sessions for children with muscular dystrophy as a child yourself, not to mention the hours of Zoom sessions, quizzes and fundraising.
“You supported, guided and inspired people to achieve goals and transform their lives through something unprecedented. We’re incredibly proud of you – well done.”
UK Coaching opened nominations to its UK Coaching Hero awards initiative in 2020 after the first major UK-wide COVID-19 lockdown. The charitable organisation wanted to acknowledge the efforts of coaches, who in difficult circumstances persevered and re-thought coaching techniques to deliver legal digital and one-to-one training, utilising sport and physical activity to keep people connected.
From 500 public nominations, a long list of 75 coaches from 65 different places around the UK and representing nearly 40 sports and activities were chosen for public vote. During UK Coaching Week 2021, the British voted for their favourite coach and over 65,000 votes were cast in the ballot.