Injury pain leads to coaching gain for Diagnostic Imaging student
A former international gymnast is using her passion for the sport to help bring through a new generation of talent.
Second year BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Imaging student Louise McColgan has been involved in gymnastics since the age of four and competed as a junior for Scotland and Great Britain.
She said: “I was really active as a kid and gymnastics gave me a place where I felt like I belonged. Everyone was the same as me, so there was a real sense of community. I quite enjoy a challenge and gymnastics is definitely a very challenging sport.
“I got the chance to travel to the likes of Ireland, Sweden and France through something I simply enjoyed doing so it was amazing for me at such a young age.”
Louise’s competitive career was curtailed by injury at the age of 14, however she made sure she stayed involved in the sport that had become a massive part of her life.
She explained: “2016 really wasn’t my year. I snapped the ligament in my ankle, had a stress reaction in my back and also managed to get pneumonia. I knew I couldn’t go back to competing because there was no guarantee the ligament wouldn’t snap again, even with surgery.
“I had always wanted to do coaching because I knew I wanted to go into some sort of health discipline in future. Originally, I was quite interested in studying physiotherapy and knew gymnastics coaching would compliment it.
“The year after my injury, I went and volunteered as a coach because I couldn’t officially start in a coaching role until I was 16 years old.”
The next few years saw Louise continue her development as a coach and in 2019 she returned to her childhood gymnastics club in Largs as an assistant coach. However, the following year brought an unexpected challenge.
Louise explained: “The pandemic hit and it was a very strange time. I hate phone calls and video chats, so it was really difficult to put my camera on and just go for it online.
“I knew it was something new for my gymnasts as well. They range in age from 9 to 13 years old, so I knew they might be a bit self-conscious.”
Despite the lack of one to one contact with the gymnasts throughout the pandemic, Louise still had the enthusiasm to continue her development as a coach and complete her Women’s Artistic Level 3 Technical Modules.
She explained: “I’m part of a programme that Scottish Gymnastics run which basically encourages gymnasts to turn to coaching and pass their knowledge down. I’ve been fortunate enough that they funded the first three levels of my Women’s Artistic Technical Modules. I completed my General Level 1 in 2017 and Level 2 the following year just before I started at Largs.
“Level 3 has been a long time coming with covid. It took me about two years to complete because we were obviously out the gym for quite a while, which impacted on the practical side.
“The theory side looks at how to create programmes for the girls to build everything from their strength and confidence through to their technical ability. There’s a lot of proof and evidence required, and you also need to fill out a yearly planner.”
Louise plans to continue coaching throughout the rest of her time at University and believes it is the perfect way to switch off from the demands of placement and coursework.
She said: “I’m looking towards completing my Level 4 now, which will probably be the highest I’ll go. That allows me to be a Senior Club Coach and gives me the opportunity to lead the gymnasts at bigger competitions.
“I coach three times a week and each session is three hours. It can be quite demanding at certain points with my studies, but it gives me something else to focus on.
“My girls never fail to make me laugh – it’s exactly what I need.”
By Ross Clark
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