Coach Education Programs Research Articles

An Intervention for Mental Health Literacy and Resilience in Organized Sports.

ABSTRACTPurposeIn this study, we tested the effectiveness of a multicomponent sports-based program aimed at promoting early intervention, help seeking, and resilience among a sample of adolescent male sport participants.MethodsThe Ahead of the Game program comprised four intervention components and a messaging campaign. Two components targeted mental health literacy, intentions to seek and provide help, and resilience among adolescent boys. A mental health literacy program for parents and a coach education program to assist in the support of athletes’ psychological needs were also included. We evaluated the program using a nonrandomized controlled trial matching two regional communities. In total, 350 sport participants (mean, 14.53 yr) were included in an intervention group, whereas 466 (mean, 14.66 yr) received usual practice in a matched control community. One hundred and eighty parents or caregivers and eight coaches also participated in the intervention components. Between-group mean differences on the primary and secondary outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed models, adjusted for clustering at club level, participant age, and socioeconomic status.ResultsSignificant positive group–time interactions were found for the primary outcomes of depression and anxiety literacy, intentions to seek help from formal sources, confidence to seek mental health information, and resilience. We also found a significant positive group–time interaction for the secondary outcome of well-being. There were no group–time interactions for social distance (stigma), intentions to seek help from informal sources, implicit beliefs about adversity, perceived familial support, or psychological distress.ConclusionsGiven the high rates of sport participation worldwide and the increasing focus on mental health in this domain, translation and dissemination of the program may be warranted after replication.

Reflection in a High-Performance Sport Coach Education Program: A Foucauldian Analysis of Coach Developers

Reflection is a contested but taken for granted concept, whose meaning shifts to accommodate the interpretation and interests of those using the term. Subsequently, there is limited understanding of the concept. The purpose of this article was to consider critically the discursive complexities of reflection and their articulation through coach developers’ practice. Data were collected from a National High-Performance coach education program. Coach developers responsible for one-to-one support (n = 8) and on-program support (n = 3) participated in the research. Semistructured interviews were conducted with coach developers, and participant observations were undertaken of a coach developer forum and program workshops (n = 9). Foucault’s concepts: power, discourse, and discipline were used to examine data with critical depth. Analysis explored “Discourse of Reflection,” “Discipline, Power, and Reflection,” and “Coach Developers: Confession, ‘Empowerment,’ and Reflection.” Humanistic ideas constructed a discourse of reflection that was mobilized through coach confession. Coach developer efforts to be “critical” and “learner centered” were embroiled with intrinsic and subtle relations of power as “empowering” intent exacerbated rather than ameliorated its exercise. This article makes visible a different destabilized and problematized version of reflection, thus introducing an awkwardness into the fabric of our experiences of reflection.

Development of a Webinar for Sport Coaches: Suggested Best Practices for Supporting Athletes

Coaches regularly provide social support to athletes; however, few coach education programs have addressed this topic. Therefore, this project sought to develop a social support webinar for coaches. Content was based on findings from two research studies exploring support provision to athletes. The webinar was pilot tested and then delivered online to 133 coaches. An evaluation of the webinar, consisting of surveys with an open-ended feedback section, was conducted. Results indicated increased participant capability, opportunity, motivation, and behavior for providing social support. Areas for improvement, such as providing information specific to youth and para-athletes, and enhancing participant engagement, were suggested.

Examining the roles of coaching experience and coach training on coaches’ perceived life skills teaching

The present study examined the roles of coaching experience and coach training on coaches’ perceived life skills teaching. Canadian high school sport coaches ( N = 1356) completed a demographic questionnaire and the Coaching life skills in sport questionnaire. Results suggested that coaches with more experience perceived themselves to discuss and practice life skills and transfer to a greater extent than coaches with less experience. No significant differences were observed based on whether coaches completed coach training, and the interaction effect between coaching experience and coach training was non-significant. Implications for coach education programs are discussed regarding training coaches to explicitly teach life skills through sport.

From Center Stage to the Sidelines: What Role Might Previous Athletic Experience Play in Coach Development?

Traditionally, playing experience in sport has been used as a springboard into the coaching profession. Specifically, playing experience has been discussed in research as facilitating the transition into early coaching roles, fast-tracking through coach education programs, and being viewed as a desirable factor in high-performance sport. However, explorations into the intricacies that make this playing experience so valuable have been minimal. Thus, this Insights article is meant to foster discussion within the coach research community regarding the role of playing experience in coaching pathways from a position perspective. This unique area of inquiry may offer insight to those concerned with coach pathways, coach development, and coach education. To promote this discussion, the following article will present some avenues through which previous playing experience could be explored. In addition, the authors will present a study that was conducted with high-performance head ice hockey coaches who formerly played goaltender and offer interesting directions for future research inquiries. Notably, the authors will consider playing experience in connection with career advancement, potential implications for hiring processes, considerations for coach education, and possible barriers to coaching opportunities.

A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Concussion Education Programs for Coaches and Parents of Youth Athletes.

Coach and parent concussion education programs are essential for the prevention, diagnosis, management, and return to play of youth athletes. This systematic review examined the content and efficacy (changes in knowledge, impact on concussion incidence) of concussion education programs for coaches and parents of youth and high school athletes. Six databases were searched: SPORTDiscus, Academic Search Premiere, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Studies evaluated the use and/or efficacy of concussion education programs among coaches or parents of youth athletes. A total of 13 articles (out of 1553 articles) met selection criteria. Although different concussion education programs exist, only three have been evaluated in the literature: ACTive Athletic Concussion Training™, USA Football’s Heads Up Football, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s HEADS UP. These programs are well liked among coaches and parents and the suggested practices are easily implemented by coaches. These programs increased concussion knowledge among coaches and parents and promoted behavioral changes among coaches to reduce the concussion risk in high school sports. Few studies have assessed the efficacy of concussion education programs on youth athlete health outcomes. No studies included a longitudinal follow up to determine the degree of knowledge retention following the intervention. While online educational programs are sufficient to improve coach knowledge, in-person training may be a more effective educational tool for reducing the incidence of youth sport concussion. Future studies addressing the efficacy of concussion education programs should include a longitudinal follow up to assess knowledge retention and fidelity.

Lifelong learning pathway of a coach developer operating in a national sport federation

Coach developers play essential roles in “coaching the coaches,” and investigating their lifelong learning pathway is key for better understanding the mechanisms that lead certain coaches to become coach developers. Thus, the purpose of the paper was to conduct a case study to investigate the lifelong learning pathway of a coach developer operating in a national sport federation. The case investigated is Mille, a certified coach developer in charge of the Brazilian Rugby Federation’s coach education program. Data were collected through the Rappaport Time Line and two semi-structured interviews. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was adopted to explore the lived experiences reported by the participant. The results highlighted that Mille is an individual driven by challenges provided either by external factors (i.e. school, university, work) or by his own choices (i.e. becoming a coach, becoming a coach developer, starting a PhD) for personal and professional development. Specific life events led him to make decisions for evolving in his roles, from athlete, to coach, to coach developer, and to “master trainer,” which is the highest level of certification provided by World Rugby. Practical implications are suggested to contribute to the organization of education initiatives for coach developers through a lifelong learning perspective.

Understanding social networks and social support resources with sports coaches

ObjectivesResearch on social support with sports coaches is limited, yet the benefits of social support within other occupations have been widely reported. This study explored sports coaches’ social network structures, the social support resources available to coaches, and the situations in which coaches use social support. DesignCross-sectional. MethodData were collected with male (n = 6) and female (n = 7) British coaches (Mage = 34.20, SD = 13.37; Mexperience = 13.20, SD = 10.41) using semi-structured interviews and interviewee-aided sociograms. Interview data and sociograms were analyzed using abductive thematic analysis and social network analysis to create ego-network diagrams. The ego-network diagrams were created to provide information on the locality and influence of coaches’ social network members. ResultsThe ego-network diagrams highlight that the structure of coaches’ social networks encompasses support from peers, friends, family, and miscellaneous (e.g., media). The diagrams also demonstrate that support from friends tended to be perceived as most influential. The coaches called on their network for appraisal (e.g., affirmation), emotional (e.g., venting), informational (e.g., training), and or instrumental support (e.g., cooking dinner) for a variety of situations, such as training (e.g., drill ideas) and issues with athletes (e.g., venting about a misbehaving player). ConclusionGiven the pertinence of coaches’ social networks and resources for performance and psychological well-being, coach education programs should include a focus on the importance of building relationships. Longitudinal research methods are warranted to, for example, explore the dynamic functions of coaches’ social support. This will develop a more comprehensive base from which interventions can be developed.

Evaluating Changes in Caring Behaviors of Caritas Coaches Pre and Post the Caritas Coach Education Program.

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to examine program effectiveness in changing Caritas leadership, self-caring behaviors, and perceptions of coworkers of participants who completed the Caritas Coach Education Program (CCEP).BACKGROUNDThe CCEP has been a highly successful education program for individuals who wish to intellectually and experientially learn to teach, live, and practice human caring theory.METHODSA pretest-posttest descriptive design was used to evaluate changes in perceptions of self-caring, caritas leadership, and coworker behaviors after completion of CCEP.RESULTSThe mean scores of all measures improved significantly.CONCLUSIONSAfter completion of CCEP, participants demonstrated statistically significant changes in 3 caritas measures: leadership, coworker, and self-rating. Caritas Coach participants exhibited the greatest change in their self-caring scores.

Political socialization and the coach-created educational environment of competitive games: the case of grassroots youth soccer in Sweden

ABSTRACT Grassroots youth soccer is a major education environment in which coaching not only influences the quality of young athletes’ performances, but also their political socialization. I.e. their formation of political identities, values, attitudes and norms, their adaption to, learning about and sometimes changes in the political culture of a community. Based on an empirical study exploring competitive games of grassroots youth soccer in Sweden, the article contributes knowledge about political socialization in coaching and the coach-created educational environment of competitive games. In particular, it offers a typology that can be used in research, coach education programmes and for practitioners to analyse and understand the socio-political dimension of coaching practice. Two main coaching approaches are identified, Growth (include all and focuses on the process) and Selective (optimizing the team and focusing on the results), constituted by different social and learning norms having specific political socialization and education consequences for the players.

HOW DO COACH EDUCATORS INFLUENCE MEANINGFUL BEHAVIOR CHANGE IN SPORTS COACHES?

This article provides an overview of how coach educators influence meaningful behavior change in sports coaches. Drawing upon the extant research, we outline gaps in the literature before reviewing key factors that influence behavior change in sport coaches. The framework for this article provides examples of five specific hypotheses, including: H1 : Ensure coach education programs are structured and sequenced; H2 : Coach characteristics drive behaviors: H3 : Behavior change is more likely to occur when coaches understand the impact of their behavior: H4 : The learning environment must align with needs of coaches; and H5 : Delivering and receiving feedback appropriately informs coach education practice. We include evidence of how an experienced coach educator influences meaningful behavior change in sports coaches. We conclude with recommendations for sport coach development programs and future researchers.

Coaching Positive Youth Development in Brazil: Recommendations for Coach Education Programs

Coaching positive youth development (PYD) represents a challenge for many participation and high-performance coaches across the globe, including in Brazil. Coach education has been acknowledged as a formal learning context that may help prepare coaches to effectively foster PYD outcomes and provide high-quality developmental experiences for athletes across different sport contexts. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe the key concepts and existing guidelines for coaching and coach education in Brazil, and provide context-specific recommendations for coach education to include PYD materials. Coaching in Brazil includes a long preparation period that includes diversified opportunities for coach learning. However, there are some discrepancies between the objectives and outcomes prioritized by governing bodies and sport organizations and how learning contexts are framed. In other words, although PYD is considered to be a necessary endeavor, it is not explicitly included in any coach education program. Moving forward, we provide several recommendations, through a bottom-up approach, in order to embed PYD within the Brazilian sport system.

Online coach development and certification programs in sports: are they possible?

Anticipating the inevitable shift of coach education and Coach Certification Programs (CCP) to distance-learning platforms in the imminent future, I have attempted to identify obstacles that we are likely to face. After explaining the rationale and the potential benefits of such courses, I have identified technique as the most difficult component to both teach and evaluate. A specific viewpoint regarding technique is briefly discussed and several related guidelines are provided to assist in both teaching (coach education) and evaluating technique (CCP) within the context of distance education.

What the Empirical Studies on Sport Coach Education Programs in Higher Education Have to Reveal: A Review

Facing the increase in the number of publications, often spread across many journals, researchers have developed different approaches to review the literature. In the first part of this article we present the result of an “overview” type of review of literature on sport coach education programs in higher education (HE) between 2000–2018. By sharing the list of the 38 articles found, along with some general characteristics of these, our hope is, as suggested in many reviews of literature, that researchers will use the review to more easily frame their studies and discuss their results. However, there are very few examples of how this is done. We would argue that how researchers use the same review of literature varies depending of their context, research interests, and research paradigm. Therefore, in the second part of the article we highlight what we took from our review of the literature based on our specific research context—Brazilian HE sport coach education programs. The three key topics presented and discussed are: (a) the importance of considering the student-coaches’ biography, (b) how to prepare student-coaches for reflective practice, and (c) the complexity of internships.

(Dis)joint(ed) action, reciprocity, and professional status: an ethnographic investigation of two UKCC CL4 awards

ABSTRACT Coach education research has focused on studying coaches’ perspectives about coach education programmes with limited studies investigating the practices of other key stakeholders involved in programme design and delivery (e.g. managers, educators). The purpose of this study was to investigate the interactions and practices of coaches, coach educators, and coach education managers in two contexts of the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate Coach Level 4 (UKCC CL4) award. Over a period of 18 months, ethnographic fieldwork was conducted with 53 participants, comprising of 250 h of participant observations and informal conversations, as well as 51 semi-structured interviews. Symbolic interactionist writing by Blumer ([1946]. The field of collective behavior. In A. McClung Lee (Ed.), New outline of the principles of sociology (pp. 167–169). New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc.; [1969]. Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.), Mead ([2015]. Mind, self & society – The definitive edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.), and Strauss ([1997]. Mirrors and masks: The search for identity. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.) was utilised to make sense of the processes, relations, and tensions created by the UKCC CL4 award. The themes explore consequences and challenges of novel collaborations between course organisers from Governing Bodies (GB) and Higher Education institutions (HEi), opportunities and issues arising when university lecturers mediate theoretical course content for practitioner cohorts, and the value of postgraduate study to coaches’ professional lives.

커리어코칭 교육프로그램개발을 위한 탐색적 연구

커리어코칭 교육프로그램개발을 위한 탐색적 연구

Coach Developers as ‘Facilitators of Learning’ in a Large-Scale Coach Education Programme: One Actor in a Complex System

The Canadian National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) redesigned its coaching education programmes to utilise a learner-centred, problem-based approach. The purpose of this paper is to document the design, delivery, and subjective assessment of this large-scale coach education programme through the perspectives of the different actors, with a special focus on the coach developers (CDs) as an essential and important group within the coach education system. A constructivist view of learning, supported by the work of Jennifer Moon on the impact of short courses and workshops, guided this work. Part 1 of the results provides an overview of the studies conducted on the revised NCCP. Part 2 examines the perspectives of 26 CDs concerning their training and experiences delivering the redesigned NCCP. Conclusions include the importance of considering the cognitive structures of the CDs and coach learners; issues related to covering the module content versus addressing coaches’ learning needs; ensuring adequate time for questions and reflection to enable deep learning; specific training for CDs to support post-workshop learning; and the importance of taking a systems approach to coach development that considers all the actors involved in a national programme being delivered at the provincial/territorial or sport organisational level.

Participating in a Learner-Centered Coach Education Program: Composite Vignettes of Coaches’ and Coach Educators’ Experiences

Given the inextricable roles of the coach learner and coach educator in learner-centered (LC) coach education, research into their perceptions and experiences in these programs appears to be a priority. As such, building on Paquette and Trudel’s examination of Canada’s golf coach education program relative to its alignment with learner-centered approaches, the present study examined coaches’ and coach educators’ perspectives of their experiences participating in the abovementioned program that was found to have a LC design. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 participants (6 coach educators and 10 coaches), and data were analyzed using a thematic analysis. The finalized themes were used as a narrative skeleton for the creation of the four composite vignettes. The vignettes represented the experiences of four composite characters relative to their learning orientations to learner-centered teaching (LCT) and instructor-centred teaching (ICT): LCT Coach Educator, LCT Coach, ICT Coach Educator, ICT Coach. As influenced by their cognitive structures, the vignettes depict the composite coaches’ varied engagement and perceptions of the program, as well as the coach educators’ varied delivery of the program and adherence to the program’s LC design. These diverse experiences are discussed in relation to the impact of LC coach education.

Beyond Knowledge Transfer: The Role of Coach Developers as Motivators for Lifelong Learning

Research investigating coach education and development has grown significantly over the past three decades. Most of these efforts have focused on establishing how coaches learn; yet the actual impact of specific coach education and development interventions has received considerably less attention. Moreover, the role of coach developers in facilitating this impact remains largely unknown. To address this knowledge gap, this study used a realist evaluation approach to engage in a detailed exploration of a large-scale, multi-annual coach education and development intervention with high school coaches in the Philippines. Using interviews and focus groups at two different time points with multiple stakeholders, this study established a series of context, mechanism and outcome configurations that provide a nuanced perspective on how coach education and development works. More specifically, this paper offers a novel interpretation of the role of coach developers as ‘motivators for lifelong learning’ established through three key mechanisms: 1) being available, approachable, and supportive; 2) creating a sense of belonging; and 3) raising coaches’ aspirations by increasing their sense of purpose and duty. Practical guidelines for the education of coach developers, as well as future coach education and development programmes are provided.

“More Practice-based Courses and Not Just a Load of Papers to Read”: Youth Soccer Coaches Reflections on Coach Education Programs in Sweden

Abstract In Sweden, the formal soccer coach education programs are divided into different levels and are also divided into youth coaching and senior coaching. This paper focuses on youth soccer coaches and their reflections on coach education programs. In the background section the Swedish context is described, as well as current research on coaches’ education and learning. The aim of the paper was to investigate youth soccer coaches’ reflections on coach education programs and to analyse their reflections by using a cultural approach to learning. The empirical material of the paper derives from a web-based questionnaire, posing questions about competence, learning and stress. The coaches were also invited to reflect on the question “how do you believe that soccer associations can educate good coaches?” There were 369 responses, and these were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results indicated reflections about Flexibility in time, place and content, Mentorship supporting informal learning, Demanding mandatory education and emolument, Education focusing on wholeness and Education being based in practice. The conclusion was that decentralization of education and development of coaches’ contexts, abilities and motivation to critically analyse aims and contents of coach education programs are improvement areas for learning and coaching practices.