Neil McGeachy
An appreciation by Kevin Howett
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Climbing rapidly became an obsession and has pretty much dictated what he does with his weekends and holidays ever since. He has enjoyed trips throughout Scotland, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Norway and the States.His favoured styles of climbing are on-sight traditional and on-sight sport climbing, although he is interested in traditional Scottish winter, ice and mixed as he believes it’s beneficial to be an all-round climber – a philosophy he imparts to the children he now coaches.
His favourite traditional crags are Sheigra Second Geo (in the extreme North West), Wave Buttress (in Glen Nevis) and Huntsman's leap (on the Pembroke coast). His favourite sport crags are Ceuse (in France) & Kilnsey (in Yorkshire). One look at his climbing achievements (below) shows how committed and passionate he is about his sport.
One of the (non-climbing) parents of the most talented child (Dave Berry – father of Natalie!) was organising the south region competitions of the Youth Climbing Series (or BRYCS as it was then). As the competitions grew in scale we needed a climber who could route-set and potentially coach the children. Neil was already helping as a volunteer at the competitions as well as delivering MCofS REALrock sessions and came forward to take on the role acting as Area Youth Coordinator, a position he held for 3 years.
He soon became involved in other MCofS initiatives and became a member of the MCofS Sport Development Committee and a member of MCofS Youth Development Working Group. His work at EICA: Ratho and his association with the children and parents in the south region saw him being asked to take on a role as Scottish Coach for the British Team. He has since spent 5 years supporting Scottish climbers on the British Team as a volunteer Regional Coach. The fact that now in 2010, there are 13 young Scottish climbers on the British Team (out of a total of 30), many of them from the south region and personally coached by Neil, shows what a great job he has done.
Friendships he has forged with parents and kids have allowed him to take many of the Scottish South children on REALrock climbing trips to Ceuse, Rodella, Santa Linya, Margalef, Dolomites, Gogarth, Peak District, Yorkshire and various Scottish destinations. He sees the traditional aspects of climbing as being just as important as the sport / competitive aspects and is a committed exponent of REALrock. He has written extensively of these trips for the MCofS magazine and website, but most importantly has encouraged the children to write as well. It was this impetus that saw us develop the Kids Feature page of the new website.
Neil has helped develop MCofS sports development initiatives, particularly those aimed at children and he has now been recognised by MCofS as one of our first ‘elite’ coaches. He is currently involved in a restructuring of the Scottish Coaching structure to improve performance and increase sustainability from FUNdamentals level to elite competition level.
Neil has been a long-time supporter of the MCofS, has given of his time freely to both the MCofS and the children, is greatly respected by everyone he has helped (and continues to help) and deserves to be acknowledged by honorary membership.
Professional Background:Qualifications: - 1yr studying Sports Coaching National Certificate (Telford College) - BA Outdoor Education in the Community (Strathclyde University) concentrated on coaching modules and youth development throughout study - BMC Competition Route Setting Trained & Assessed (BICC, BBC, BRYC's) - Attended Fundamentals of Rock Climbing Workshop (BMC) - Single Pitch Supervisor Award Work: - 6 years working at Glasgow Climbing Centre as route setter, youth club instructor - 3 years freelance climbing instructor for various Glasgow based companies - 5 years at Adventure Centre Ratho (EICA): o Route Setter, Coach, and youth development o Helped put in place EICA’s Youth Development Programme o Prepared and implemented Regional Youth Climbing Series Coaching programme o EICA Senior Instructor/Young Persons Activity Coordinator (2008 to2010) - Route-setting at various National competitions including BLCC, YCS National Final, GB Team Trials - Freelance Coach & looking after cats! |
Climbing Achievements:Sport Climbing: |
