BMMC South West’s Training Coordinator, Alex Hodgkinson, has recently completed an MSA Licensed Trainers course to help deliver future training sessions. Here is his account of the weekend.
As I’m sure you are all aware every year an army of MSA licensed trainers and lead trainer’s slug away with a calculator, a computer and lots and lots of paperwork and design, plan and importantly budget for marshals training each and every year.
Several hundred training events take place up and down the country and these are all coordinated by the MSA trainers and lead trainers. MSA trainers don’t deliver marshals training for those who use flags or stand on the bank. They also deliver practical rescue training, training for officials, Rally marshal training and training at all grades within other disciplines.
Every year the MSA runs a two day course on how to become an MSA trainer. These courses are run to demand and are often oversubscribed but I was fortunate enough this month to get a place on this course.
The course takes place in a hotel at a central UK location allowing the most amount of marshals to attend from all over the country. I was the only marshal representing the county of Devon and there was a very vibrant and diverse mix of marshals. From circuit marshals to rally clerks, to cross country judges to kart specialists. It was great to talk to each other and get different views on motorsport from new angles.
The first day consisted of delivering individual five minute presentations. We were all told to prepare these prior to attending the course. We were all encouraged to use our imaginations and deliver a presentation that wasn’t on a motorsport or marshalling subject. This was again another great way to get to know peoples hobbies and personal interests; the social side of the course was brilliant.
With the nervous presentation delivered and feedback gladly received from the lead trainers we got stuck into the nitty-gritty of what it takes to deliver a content rich theory and practical lesson. There were some great discussions going on between us all and we were all looking at the topics from very different angles. I certainly had plenty to take away in preparation for our 2018 marshals training day (more on that next month!)
At the end of day one we were all given our topics for our ten minute presentation which we would be delivering during the morning of day two. The topic would be chosen by the lead trainers and were all on subjects covered by the MSA Yearbook (the blue book). The lead trainers deliberately picked subjects which were out of our comfort zones in order to add the pressure and make us all think about the content we were delivering. The scenario they used was that we were all trainers who had been given a lesson to present at a training day with very little time or opportunity for preparation – quite literally thrown in at the deep end!
I was given a topic about Trials and Untimed events within the Cross-Country discipline. The blue book helpfully had lots of information in but I was able to capitalise on the knowledge others had in the room to help me along.
If anyone has ever thought about becoming an MSA trainer then I would thoroughly recommend on doing it. It is a very good way of learning about the role training has within the MSA but also how to mould yourself into an individual who is capable of delivering training at marshals training events. Details on how to book a place on a future course is on the MSA website under the “Officials” tab.
Thanks to all the other trainers, lead trainers and MSA executives who all helped us achieve what we did over the two days. I had a thoroughly brilliant time and I certainly have several tips and ideas that I can’t wait to inject into future training days.