Abstract
Sport science is a popular area for university study and a sought-after field for employment. Employment opportunities in elite sport are few, thus a surplus of sport science university graduates seek employment often in community-level sport exists. Community sports coaches can be a gateway to the employment of sport science professionals, however coaches’ attitudes toward the use and value of sport science, and how this may translate to employment opportunities, is not well understood. This study reports the attitudes of ten community-level Australian football coaches, obtaining an in-depth understanding of their perceptions of a sport scientist's role, their value of the sport science field, current use of sport scientists within their club, sport scientist training and qualifications, and the feasibility of employing a sport scientist. Inductive semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted via an online platform using an open-ended interview schedule developed from a detailed literature review, determining key foci for inclusion. Coaches viewed the role of a sport scientist in community-level football to be broad, acknowledging that sport scientists can perform specialist roles. Coaches highly valued the profession overall and frequently used and endorsed the use of sport scientists in their sport. However, a commonly occurring theme was that sport science was not seen as particularly cost-effective at a community-level. This theme stemmed from the overarching perceived financial barrier coaches reported as limiting their ability to employ or effectively utilise a sport scientist in their club. The findings highlight key limitations to the employment of sport scientists in community-level sports.
Published Version
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