Val the Coach

Life enthusiast 😃 Sports Coach 🛹🌊🏂Strength & Conditioning Coach (ASCC) 🏋🏻‍♀️ Sport/Exercise Physiologist 🏃🏻‍♀️PhD Student🎓 Life Coach😊Writer & Speaker 📕

My name is Val and I work as a Private Coach. Through Private Coaching, my aim is to help Recreational Athletes like myself make the most of their sport be it for fun or performance with health always at the core. As well as having a background sports and fitness, I am also qualified and experienced in Youth & Community Work and therefore have a keen interest in supporting Youth Athletes. I think

both the human mind and body are amazing and I seek to find different ways in which I can challenge myself in order to grow and develop as a person in health and wellbeing. I branched into Life Coaching as well as sports coaching because I don't think you can neatly separate the mind and body. They are not two distinct aspects of the human organism, but rather two intertwined systems that are equally important for health and performance. I love all of the pursuits I engage in and believe that’s what helps keep my mind and body happy, peaceful and heathy. Live Life Love Life! ❤
BE the Best You! 💪
FITNESS | NUTRITION | MINDSET

15/05/2026

IAS Surf Instructor Level 1 ✅🙌🌊🤩

Huge thank you to John, Will & Andy for the course & shadowing hours.

Let the next chapter with the newest skill to my coaching repertoire begin ☺️

10/04/2026

What a week!!

National Vocational Beach Lifeguard Qualification… Nailed it! ✅ 🙌

It’s over 25 years ago this April that I got a job working as a Pool Lifeguard at the infamous Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon.

I worked as a Pool Lifeguard for over 10 years & loved it!

I always wanted to do the beach lifeguard course… but never had a reason.

Now with surfing in my life & the projects I want to get involved with in the coming years, I have every reason to undertake it!

I loved being in the sea every day this week in what feels like my second home of North Devon.

So awesome to be back training on rescues and first aid and so cool to be doing it at & by the sea!

I’ve loved this week! 🥰🌊

Thanks to everyone who supported me, and to everyone I had the pleasure of catching up with this week 🙏

27/10/2025

Huge Congratulations to Barny for great swim performances this weekend at the Masters National Championships!

Personal Bests in the 200m & 50m freestyle! 👏

Excellent work! It’s a pleasure working with you! Please for you & proud of you!

——-

What a weekend of swimming at SEmasters National championships with the best club ever, @ wokingscmasters! Inspiring to be amongst a team of European and World Record breakers.

Pleased with my own swims including a PBs in 200
and 50free (2nd time sub 30!). This year I’ve been working more on my strength and power which has enabled me to swim faster even as i get older. Thanks as always to for my s&c programmes and mentorship

21/09/2025

So proud!!!

This was a big one for David. With the runs & bike rides he’s done in the past he already had some experience running & cycling, but for a swim event such as this we were starting at a much lower level of prior experience.

It’s been great to see David’s progress in the pool!

So glad the event went ahead # AlgaeGate! 🤣🙈

Huge well done! 👏

London Marathon ✅
Ride London 100 ✅
Swim Serpentine ✅

———-

Swim Serpentine 2025? Completed it mate ✅

Crossed the finish line in 88 minutes, which was quicker than what I’d managed in training. Now to go & claim my London Classics medal!

This was my first ever open water swimming event and I’ll be honest, the start was a bit of a battle.

It took me a while to settle into a rhythm after plunging into the cool water. But once I found it, I managed to keep moving strong all the way round. The second mile, in particular, I felt like I was flying!

Absolutely delighted with that time – a PB of course but today was always going to be a PB 🤣

05/03/2025

Latest Journal article is out now!

Was great to speak with Emily Handyside from UK Coaching. I really admire her work and her thoughts on coaching.

UK Coaching engage in research to understand the landscape of coaching in the UK. Some of the findings are useful to know to help bring about change for the future.

Link to full article below:

https://www.uksca.org.uk/blog/43/how-under-represented-are-women-in-sports-coaching-an-interview-with-emily-handyside

“Interestingly, the only significant difference between men and women for the barriers experienced was relating to the behaviour of others…

Sometimes unfortunately there is direct sexism and misogyny like banter in sports. Sometimes it’s unconscious bias.

For example, a female coach might be the head coach of a team, but when a parent walks in and is looking for the head coach, he or she goes to the male colleague in the room and assumes that they’re the head coach.

Or a new member of staff comes in and asks the female head coach, not knowing their role, ‘are you the physio?’.

They automatically assume that women have a caring role rather than a leadership role.”

17/02/2025

It can be a shock to realise that sport was only ever the domain of men once upon a time.

In some counties today, it still is.

Although 2024 saw the first gender equitable Olympic Games in terms of men and women athletes, sport is still inequitable for women in many roles including sports coaching.

The last pic shows the % of men and women athletes and coaches at recent Olympic Games.

Male dominated sports see a greater underrepresentation of women coaches.

In 2023 the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA) reported just 9.7% of its accredited coach membership were women.

A research group currently looking at psychosocial coaching competencies found a culture of ‘orthodox masculinity’ amongst UKSCA stakeholders, where sexist views of women coaches were uncovered (Szedlak et al., 2024).

Even as a gender non-conforming woman, I was discouraged to apply for Strength & Conditioning roles within elite sport due to the ‘male as coach’ archetype that exists.

With this research I hope to be able to uncover under explored barriers and look to suggest further recommendations to redress the balance.

16/12/2024

🤩 So proud of and pleased for the students I taught last year!

Thursday was the first graduation I’ve attended for students that I’ve taught.

I felt so proud of them! It was a great experience to share in their joy knowing how much blood, sweat & tears go into studying a Masters degree, especially over 1 year full-time!

Well done to everyone who graduated on Thursday! 🎓🎉🥳

02/12/2024

Huge well done to Barny! With all of your other training and events recently, this was a really great effort! 👏

REPOST• Yesterday was my 2nd go at London, bit slower than 2yrs ago but happy i left it all out there.

Thanks to and Daz carter for coaching

23/10/2024

Strength & Conditioning for Surfing, Skating & Life!

I am opening this workshop up to any women who surf and/or skate.

Join us. We will cover:

Movement Optimisation - Improving mobility and positioning for optimal movement, including learning more about how breathing helps
Coach: Isi

Strength Training - Learn how to add strength training in at home or using the gym, including information on cardiovascular training to help your surf fitness
Coach: Val

Open to all women - q***r, trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming…

You can take part or just chill to listen & learn

Drop me a DM if you have any questions ☺️

👉Link in bio for Info & Booking

https://teamup.com/event/show/id/iXGyuY17vu2Fg6sSW3vqjrjA46ygfb

18/10/2024

This awesome human is doing a challenge of 30 days of surfing for 2 amazing causes.

Angie and I connected over surfing because for us it’s not just something fun that we enjoy, it’s a lifeline for our emotional wellbeing.

Surfing for 30 days is no mean feat! As someone fairly fit, I found 4 days back to back wiped me out! So this is HUGE!

It’s an even bigger achievement when you have emotional barriers to overcome and you’re doing parts of it alone with no one there in support.

I am so incredibly proud of Angie. We haven’t been friends long, but she is one hell of a human!

She is collecting for two great charities:

🌊The Wave Project - through surf therapy they help children.

“1 in 5 children in the UK struggle with their social, emotional or mental health.
We’re on a mission to change that.”

🇵🇸Gaza - due to the continued genocide in Palestine, Angie is also donating to Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Even if you don’t know Angie, if you are able to and would like to, please could you support these wonderful causes. Thank you 🙏

Link in bio

https://www.givewheel.com/fundraising/5311/30-day-surf-challenge-for-the-wave-project-and-medical-aid-for-palestinians/

Angie:
“I started properly learning to surf in June 2023 and it has completely changed my life. The mental health benefits are undeniable: spending time outdoors in nature and in the water, physical exercise, a sense of community and reduced social isolation.”

Address

Swindon Village

Telephone

+44 7899 938334

Website

https://www.valthecoach.com/

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