Sport development policy implementation : the FA's Charter Standard scheme

This thesis explores the process of implementation of the FA's Charter Standard scheme in England. The football development scheme, for schools and clubs, is the first nationally led initiative to attempt instantiate structures and minimum standards of practice at the junior level of football in England. Implementation of the scheme has taken place within the context of New Labour s modernising drive for sport. Moreover, the area of grassroots football has escaped any sustained analysis in academia. Therefore, the thesis aims to provide insights into this area and re-dress the balance somewhat from the pre-occupation of analysing the elite levels of the game. The nature of implementation is complex and multi-faceted, and a primary aim of the study is to identify and analyse the dynamics of implementation in three distinct geographical areas (or clusters) of grassroots football. The study focuses on the meso level of analysis, which centres on the structures and dynamics of relationships between County FA personnel, grassroots football volunteers, teachers and sport development professionals whose responsibility it is to implement the Charter Standard. The macro level of analysis is also briefly considered, where the primary concern is to highlight how such individuals are constrained or facilitated in implementing the Charter Standard, and the relative positions of power they occupy. A qualitative methodology is utilised to elicit data in respect of implementation, generating themes and issues specific to each of the three case studies (or clusters), allowing for general comparisons. Within the case study approach, the dialectical approach to policy networks is applied to provide a framework in which to analyse and discuss theories and processes of implementation. This has proved useful in highlighting conflict and ambiguity between individuals regarding the ethos, and criteria within, FA Charter Standard criteria. Indeed, it is evident that implementing the Charter Standard is problematic for both professionals and volunteers within the context of modernisation. The study concludes by noting changes in the practice of grassroots football. Volunteers have been drawn into football development work which has altered their experience from a largely spontaneous, leisurely activity of choice, to one in which they are expected to conform to professionalised practices in order to implement, and gain Charter Standard accreditation for their club or school.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

An investigation into coach developers’ theories in practice, learning and development on a Continuing Professional Development course

Despite the importance of the coach developer in supporting coach learning, there is a limited understanding of how they develop. In response, this study explored the theories in practice of twenty-three English coach developers who undertook a continuing professional development (CPD) course. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations of coach developers’ practice and engagement on the course. The data were analysed using a phronetic-iterative approach, with Argyris and Schön’s ideas on theories in practice, mostly espoused theories and theories-in-use, providing the primary heuristic framework. The findings identified how before the CPD course the coach developers articulated espoused theories but as the course progressed there was a move to theories-in-use. This was due to their (re)constructed understanding of learning and working environment. The findings are discussed in light of how the CPD course, and tutors’ pedagogic approaches, influenced the coach developers’ knowledge and understanding. Based on these findings, it seems there is much to gain from supporting coach developers with a deconstruction and reconstruction of theories in practice

The Strategic Delivery of Video-Based Coaching: A Season-Long Investigation in One English Youth Soccer Academy

This article presents the findings of a season-long investigation of video-based coaching (VBC) practices in an English youth soccer academy. During the period of fieldwork, the lead author immersed themselves within the academy setting, in which they observed 22 VBC sessions and day-to-day interactions between coaching staff relating to these activities. In addition, 18 interviews were conducted with 5 coaching staff, totalling 8 hours of in-depth interview data. The fieldnotes and interview transcripts were iteratively analysed, utilising Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical writings and Groom et al.’s (2011) grounded theory of VBC. Our analysis produced two overarching themes. These were a) how the coaching staff concealed that VBC sessions were principally designed to develop ‘high priority’ players and b) how the coaching staff purposefully withheld critical thoughts and feelings about their player’s performances, preferring instead to strategically focus on the provision of positive messages during VBC sessions. These findings not only contribute towards the limited investigation of this aspect of coaching but demonstrate the importance of educating coaches to acknowledge how VBC can be influenced by and used to respond to workplace demands and expectations