We are pleased to share that this week Andy McLaughlin was presented with the 2023 Geoff Good Coach Award. This follows his win of the 2023 Paddle Scotland Coach of the Year Award.

The Geoff Good Award is awarded to coaches nationally who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of the sport, shown significant commitment to both personal and professional development, and who have gone above and beyond for the wider advancement of the sport.

Andy shares his journey through paddlesport and what receiving the award means to him:

“I have been coaching for over 45 years, everything from 3 A's long jump coach, full time BASI skiing coach, Norwegian Cross Country Ski instructor and Senior Hang-gliding coach. I have also been coached at National level in two different sports.

When I started kayaking (at 50), I did not plan to go down the coaching route. However, a senior kayaking coach suggested I should get into kayak coaching. So I did.

My hope at the time was that I could bring my years of coaching experience to the table but also it would help me to develop my coaching knowledge and skills. I have also always found that when you start coaching a sport your personal skills and technique improve and you become better at that sport. So I thought win win and why not!

My kayak coaching began with the help of Mr Ken Hughes, one of Paddle UK's leading kayak coaches (the best coach I have ever worked with in any sport, and I have worked with a lot). He mentored and guided me through the coaching process up to Advanced White Water Kayak Coach. I learned so much from Ken including how to structure kayak coaching sessions, how to get the best out of students and to help them progress.

I now run my own 3, 4 and 5 day courses, these are based around the classic Scottish rivers and also the Noquera Pallaresa in Spain. These are very popular and are always full.

I have also been lucky enough to be part of the Glasgow Kayak Cub coaching team, where we have a great squad of paddlers, with a fantastic camaraderie and a real esprit de corps.

At the end of last year, I became a Performance Coach (Advanced water) and was helped through this process by Lara Cooper, Calum McNicol and George Fell and am very grateful for their support.

All in all, going down the kayak coaching route has been very rewarding and a great process to be part of. I like to think I improved as a boater but more importantly, I feel I am a better coach, mainly because it has made me look far more closely at the how's, what's and wherefores of how I coach. I also realise now I am by no means the finished article, and there is still lots of room to learn and improve.

Winning the Geoff Good Award is a great honour and privilege and not something I would have thought possible for me. I am very grateful to everyone who has put my name forward, thank you.

I also have to thank all the people who have coached me, guided me, helped me, fished me out of rivers and attended my courses over the years and to Glasgow Kayak Club members who have been a great team to be part of.”

Discover more about Andy’s paddling journey, coaching experiences and his reflections on winning the Geoff Good Award by watching the video below.