The Angling Development Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Jackie Sheldon as its Senior Development Manager. She will take up the post on 1 May as head of the team of Angling Development Officers responsible for club and volunteer development, coach and coaching development, and child protection and equity.
Jackie comes into the post with a strong background of sports development. She began her professional involvement in sport in 1987 with Wakefield Council as an Instructor and was appointed as an Action Sport Recreation Assistant with the Council in 1989. In that post she was responsible for coaching sport and leading recreational activities to target groups including unemployed people, women, over 50s, people from ethnic minorities and those with disabilities.
In 1991 she moved on to Calderdale Council as a Sports Development Officer responsible for developing opportunities to increase participation in sport and recreation for women and girls. Following two years in that post, she moved on to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council as a Sports Development Officer responsible for developing opportunities for young people aged 8 to 18 years to participate and realise their full potential through and in sport.
During all this time Jackie had pursued her personal passion for active sport in the very hard and parochial world of Rugby League.
She became a qualified coach in the sport and, in 1997, the Rugby Football League appointed her National Development Manager for women and girls. From 1996 to 2003 she was Head Coach to the Great Britain Women’s Rugby League team responsible for recruiting and managing the national squad and support staff competing in international competitions against Australia and New Zealand.
In 1998 Jackie was awarded the Sunday Times/CCPR Sports Women Administrator of the Year Award and the Yorkshire Forward Regional Award for Outstanding Achievements.
In 2002 she became National Governing Body Support Manager at ‘sports coach UK’ where she was responsible for supporting NGBs in developing coaching within their sport, including the development of the UK Coaching Certificate.
Since 2004, Jackie has been employed by 1st4sport Qualifications, Coachwise Ltd. Here she has been responsible for ensuring a standardised and co-ordinated approach to the development and implementation of a portfolio of qualifications across a range of sports.
Responding to her appointment with the Angling Development Board, Jackie said:
“I have worked with the Angling NGBs for several years to develop their coaching qualifications. Throughout that time I have been impressed by the enthusiasm and passion of staff and anglers towards their sport and I look forward to being able to offer my twenty year’ experience in sports development to help to further progress the sport.”
Paul Baggaley, Chief Executive of the NFA stated, “Jackie’s appointment is good news for angling and I am confident that she will have a positive impact on the development of the sport. Jackie’s background speaks for itself and only adds to the strong development team that is already in place.”
