It can be an experienced coach/ex-player as long as they are willing to commit to doing their badges as we will soon have our Club Mark status and it's required for that as well as being good practice. I recognise that there are many able people out there who may have let their basdges lapse (cough, I may be one of them
).We do pro-actively support anyone wanting to do their courses - we have paid for 7 in total over the last 2 years and I have 4 people 'in the pipeline' so to speak. We need coaches ready to go to support junior development which is what is essential for us in the long-term so our policy has tended to be that we'll support anyone in getting their badges as long as when the time comes, they're able to provide some support in return.