In every end, there is also a beginning:Experiences of career transitions through sport

In sport, as in life, people experience transitions on a regular basis. This exploratory research examined the experience of the transitional process within sport using a qualitative methodology. The seven participants had worked within their sport for over 30 years, firstly as an athlete, then a coach, and finally a coach developer. Semi-structured interviews with each participant (x2) allowed for exploration of their experiences of changing roles within their organizations and revealed three themes: importance of timely support; ongoing professional conversations; where am I going with this? These themes, exemplified by the use of direct quotes from the participants, were used to provide context and deeper understanding of the transition from athlete to coach to coach developer. The participants revealed a certain degree of serendipity, due to a lack of structure and process in their experiences. As a result, we suggest some practical steps that organisations could adopt to assist in this process

Effective coaching in football

Coaches are held totally responsible and accountable for performance outcomes in football. Although this high degree of accountability might seem appropriate to the media and public at large, the reality of understanding effective coaching is more muddied. Effective coaching is complex and multifaceted and occurs within a chaotic, unpredictable, and often uncontrollable environment; that is, it is characterised by an incongruency between intended performance goals and actual results (Jones & Wallace, 2005). The emphasis on winning and the context of football coaching contribute to problematising effective coaching. Therefore, in this chapter, we highlight the problematic nature of judging coaching effectiveness; for example, the varying criteria for assessing coaching effectiveness. Furthermore, we considered the definition of coaching effectiveness in terms of athletes’ outcomes, coaches’ knowledge, and the saliency of context (Côté & Gilbert, 2009). Coaches have obligations to help players flourish through football and contribute to both professional and personal development. These developmental outcomes are contingent upon the quality of the coaching experience. The discussion on the complexity of coaches’ work, the differing tasks and roles of a football coach, will hopefully invite coaches to question and reflect on their current practices, and consider the nature of their impact on players, and what is the evidence of that impact. Finally, effective football coaches should strive to be lifelong learners to provide football players with quality sporting experiences

Drivers for change:Reflective practice to enhance creativity in sports coaches

Reflective practice has become a standard component of coach development programmes, almost taken for granted. This research examines the links between long-term reflective learning and the application to, and ongoing effect on coaching practice. Twelve elite sport coaches, from a range of sports, previously took part in a reflective intervention. Nine months after the intervention these coaches participated in semi-structured interviews, specifically, we were interested in what, if any, drivers for change had arisen from critical reflection. Data from the interviews revealed three key themes: extended role of the coach; evolution of decision-making; and creativity and innovation. Reflective practice must be a tool for coach development but to be an effective tool it must be utilised to its full effect, as it has the potential to drive change and encourage creative thinking and practice within sports coaching

Continuing professional development for sports coaches:A road less travelled

In the UK, there is currently no coherent model of professional development for coaching personnel. CPD should maintain currency of professional practice while enhancing knowledge and understanding. This study used interviews to examine coaches' views of CPD, whether they understood the key principles and to assess whether or not they value or appreciate its necessity. Three themes emerged from the interview data; the value placed on CPD, coach development and the input of the NGB/Sporting Organisation. Many coaches in this study felt that they did not value CPD, because they could not see it developing them as coaches nor did it appear to be to be a priority with their NGBs. This study suggests that any CPD model for coaching needs to move from a more prescriptive provision at the earlier stages of certification to one that is more individualized and flexible at the later stages

Feedback for coaches:Who coaches the coach?

The aim of this study was to investigate the feedback mechanisms that sport coaches utilized to enhance their coaching practice at various stages of their careers. Sport coaches (n=21) were interviewed in-depth with the resulting information being analysed using HyperRESEARCH qualitative data analysis software package. Results suggested four distinct dimensions that characterized the sources of feedback used by coaches: networks, players/participants, critical thinking skills and support systems. Those more experienced coaches with established networks of like-minded coaches seemed to be more open to constructive feedback. Similarly, novice coaches appeared to accept feedback from non-reliable sources in lieu of more informed sources. A distinctive emerging feature was the lack of formal feedback mechanisms within groups of coaches at all levels of qualification

'Just Let Them Play':Complex dynamics in youth sport, why it isn't so simple

This ethnographic case study examines the long-term impact of youth sport coaching within tennis, using observations, field notes, and interviews as data sources. We highlight the complexities that youth sport coaches face in their role in developing young players within, in this example, tennis, but suggest that these issues are transferable across the youth sport context. There are some key messages for youth sport coaches and sporting organisations arising from this study, particularly around the role of a youth sport coach. We advocate an expertise approach to developing youth sport coaches due to the many roles, within their sport and from a biopsychosocial perspective, that they have to navigate. Additionally, we suggest that simplistic narratives in youth sport coaching are misplaced

Sport science relevance and application: Perceptions of UK coaches

While sport science can have significant and positive impact on coaches and athletes, there is still a general consensus that the transfer of sport science knowledge to coaching is poor. Given this apparent dilemma, this study investigated the perceptions of sport science from coaches across four different sports (football, rugby league, curling and judo) across three different levels (elite, developmental and novice). Specifically, 58 coaches (19 football; 21 rugby league; 9 curling; 9 judo) drawn evenly from novice, developmental and elite groups agreed to take part and were interviewed. Three key features emerged from the analysis 1) Practical application and relevance 2) Integration and access, 3) Language. In short, there was significant variability in the extent to which sport science was considered relevant and to whom, although interestingly this was not strongly related to coaching level. This inconsistency of understanding was a barrier to sport science engagement in some instances, as was the challenge of operationalising information for specific contexts. Furthermore, availability of opportunities and resources were often left to chance, while overuse of jargon and inability for research and practitioners to consider sport specific needs were also considered barriers to engagement. Implications for research and practice are discussed