The coach has a crucial role to play in the furtherance of sporting performance however, unlike the athlete, scant attention has been paid to the development of the expert coach. This thesis investigated methods of coach education, which allowed coaches to develop their practice through the adoption of both structured and unstructured processes. It consists of three different studies, examining coach education, support and development, as perceived by sport coaches. The findings conclude that coaches questioned the effectiveness of formal coach education programmes, the support of their NGBs and the sports specific nature of many of the awards. Coaches progress using a variety of methods but key were the informal Communities of Practice (COP), critical thinking skills, a supportive club environment and a personal desire to develop their knowledge base in a range of areas. Some professions have integrated expertise development into education programmes using a variety of methods. Sport coaching should embrace the examples from these and introduce the concept of long term coach development into the coach education framework.

At the center of all coach education initiatives and programming is the coach. Although the study of traditional coach education programs has yielded rather discouraging findings, coach education can be significant in its contribution to coach development when coaches are addressed as learners and their unique learning needs and orientations are recognized and prioritized. Indeed, the conversation has shifted to the application of learner-centered (LC) approaches. The purpose of this doctoral dissertation was twofold: to explore the contribution of using the LC theory, including a well-established learner-centered teaching (LCT) framework, to support coach education; and to examine the LC initiatives of a coach education program. An immersion in the LC literature was followed by the collection of multiple sources of data: program documents (n = 5), coach survey data, in-depth participant interviews (coach development administrators, n = 14; learning facilitators, n = 6; coaches, n = 10), and audio-visual material. Program documents (449 pages) were analyzed using a summative content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) based on Blumberg’s (2009) LCT framework, and the interview transcripts (521 single-spaced pages) were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun, Clarke, & Weate, 2016). The findings are presented in three articles and an additional findings section. The first article presents a theoretical overview of the LC literature linked to current perspectives and issues in coach education, including validated framework for facilitating LC change and assessment. The second article looks at the evolution and current LC status of Canada’s golf coach education program, a distinguished program within the Canadian sport system. The third article, using composite vignettes, presents the coaches’ and learning facilitators’ perception of their experiences participating in the LC designed program. In the additional findings, the CDAs’ biographies and perceptions of their experiences participating and contributing to the design of the program are presented along with the challenges they faced. The main points from the findings in this dissertation are as follows: (a) given the strong conceptual links and evidence-based foundation, LCT offers a coherent and sensible framework to guide the study and design of coach education; (b) there were lessons to be learned when looking at the history and evolution of the coach education program; (c) the creation and implementation of LC program benefitted from leaders who understood and subscribed to a constructivist view of learning; (d) the LCT approaches were dependent on the role and effectiveness of the learning facilitators; (e) coaches’ and facilitators’ perceptions of LCT approaches and engagement in the program varied according to their cognitive structures, specifically their learning orientation; and (f) more broadly, the program’s impact and effectiveness was influenced by the dynamic and complex interplay between the program design, delivery, and coach engagement. The findings contribute to the emerging body of literature on the use of constructivist learning principles to support coach education; they provide scholars and practitioners with a robust framework to guide the study, design, delivery, and assessment of LC coach education; and they share the exemplary efforts, experiences, and challenges of a sport federation who successfully adopted a high degree of LCT within its coach education program. Finally, based on the findings and the coach education and LC literatures, a fourth article is presented in the discussion that offers a collection of practical recommendations for CDAs to support LC coach education.

The purpose of this research was to answer longstanding calls to explore the learning and development of coaches in disability sport (DePauw, 1986; Reid & Prupas, 1998). We know very little about coaches in disability sport and although there exists a growing body of work that has explored coach learning, there is an absence of in-depth sociological research on disability coaching and coach education. In order to address this gap in the literature, this research sought to examine the nature of coach learning through analyses of coach education and coaching practice. Drawing upon a critical sociological framework, the research was conducted on the premise that understanding social practice can generate critical insights into the nature of coach learning. The research begins to answer some of the criticisms levelled at previous research by operationalising the sociological framework of Pierre Bourdieu in conjunction with disability studies, to analyse data generated through a two-year case study evaluation of an impairment-specific mode of coach education, and ethnographic data generated from eighteen-months of fieldwork in a specific disability coaching context. Altogether, data were collected through in-depth observations, interviews, focus groups and qualitative surveys to generate data that had both breadth, gathering data from large numbers of participants, and depth, by understanding in detail a particular coaching culture (Polkinghorne, 2005). The findings reveal how knowledge about disability was often marginalised in coach education, with engagement in the field functioning as principle source of knowledge about coaching in disability sport. As a result, disability-specific coach education contributed marginally to coach learning and functioned as a platform for the transmission of medical model discourses about disability, in terms of the pedagogy adopted and its effects on coaches knowledge. In the ethnographic study, analyses revealed how disability was assimilated into a high-performance coaching logic that structured coaches learning according to high-performance ideals. The process of learning was revealed to follow the logic of reproduction as alluded to by Bourdieu (1977, 1990a), and reinforced in social practice through the continual (re)adjustment of class habitus to structural conditions. The mechanisms underlying this process revealed learning to have a symbolic nature, mediated by power, resulting in the uncritical reproduction of ideology related to coaching disabled people. Thus, the research extends an understanding of coach learning, taking into consideration social structure and agency, as a basis for further critical inquiry into coaching in disability sport.

The present article addresses issues within U.S. collegiate sport as it pertains to the physical preparation and health and well-being of intercollegiate athletes. Specifically, the sport coach is often perceived as “all knowing” about every facet of their sport when, in fact, they typically are not formally educated or well-trained in current methods of enhancing sport performance. Often strength and conditioning coaches, who may also be poorly trained, are tied directly (financially and administratively) to the sport coach—a situation which has led to a subservient role heavily influenced by the wishes of the sport coach. This has unfortunately resulted in the multidimensional well-being of the athlete clearly not being a primary objective in many programs.

The aim of this thesis was to undertake an evaluation of the United Kingdom Coaching Certification (UKCC) and discuss the implications for current and future designs of the programme. This study extends and expands the research that has previously evaluated coach education programmes by examining the participants’ perceptions of the programme and its impact on their competency. The study draws on Lyle’s (2010) monitoring and evaluation model and examines the relevance, fidelity and effectiveness of the UKCC. The broad research approach was a pre-post methodology utilising multiple methods of data collection and analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in the form of focus groups, reflective journals and surveys. Four UKCC sports in Scotland were involved in the study and these were rugby, squash, swimming and triathlon. Data was collected at 10 UKCC courses (levels 1-3) and a total of 136 participants were sampled. The study’s main conclusions regarding the relevance, fidelity and effectiveness of the UKCC were as follows. Relevance: At level one the UKCC appeared to play a big part in the participants’ initial development as a coach whereas at level two and three the UKCC played a smaller role in the participants’ development and instead these participants placed importance on their informal learning. The UKCC fulfilled the participants’ expectations however they believed it needed to provide more technical and sport science knowledge, practical coaching experience, and opportunities to learn from others. Fidelity: The importance of informal learning was emphasised by the participants. The participants believed that informal methods, such as learning from others and learning from practical experience, were effective ways to learn. A negative of the UKCC was that it was a rushed learning environment. Effectiveness: The UKCC had a positive impact on the participants’ perceptions of competency as post course competency was significantly higher than pre-course competency. Despite this significant impact, participants still only rated themselves as moderately competent at the end of the course and indicated they needed more technical knowledge and practical experience. Based on these findings, a number of implications were provided for the UKCC. Implications were provided in three areas: the structure of the UKCC, the delivery of the UKCC, and the role of the UKCC within overall coach development.

Advances in technology make it possible to transform the scope, duration, and format of formal coach education programs such as those operated by sport National Governing Bodies (NGBs). The United States Olympic Committee (USOC), which provides oversight to Olympic sports, has a strong interest in developing quality coach education programs. The purpose of this research is to better understand the challenges, changes, and trends in coach education administered by NGBs. We compared the findings from a 2003 survey administered by the USOC to 45 NGBs examining the content, delivery, and development of coach education programs with an updated version of the survey administered in 2015. An online, anonymous survey was sent to the individuals responsible for overseeing coach education at each of the 45 Olympic sport NGBs. The survey consisted of 32 multiple choice questions covering staffing, budget, content, and delivery of coach education programs. While 70% of NGBs have a system for identifying coaches, the majority (77.8% of NGBs) feel as if there are not enough qualified coaches in their sport. Whether this stems from an inadequate coach education system, limited appeal of the sport, or poor sport marketing, there is a clear need to enhance the education level of coaches. The number one challenge for NGBs in coach education is budget and the number two challenge is maintaining current, quality course content. Three strategies for maximizing impact with limited resources would be to partner with other organizations (e.g., National Alliance for Youth Sport), to pool resources between NGBs to create a unified foundation for a coach education program, and to create a mentorship program to allow coaches to learn in more informal settings. Mentoring is widely acknowledged as an important coach learning tool, yet only 38.9% of NGBs reported having a mentoring program.

Den här studien syftar till att belysa UEFA-Pro som utbildning för att förstå hur kravet på licens kan motiveras. Licensen ger behörighet att verka som huvudtränare på svensk fotbolls elitnivå, med andra ord Allsvenskan, Superettan och OBOS Damallsvenskan. Empirin utgörs av semistrukturerade intervjuer med tränare som verkar eller verkat på hög, svensk nivå, samt en representant från fotbollsförbundet. Som teoretisk utgångspunkt har vi använt oss av Coté & Gilbert (2009) för att undersöka i vilken utsträckning utbildningen täcker de kunskapsområden som anses viktiga i en svensk elitkontext. Hur utbildningen värderar tränarnas tysta kunskap är ytterligare perspektiv i studien (Nash & Collins, 2006). Det är en kvalitativ intervjustudie med ett induktivt förhållningssätt. Resultat av studien visar på ett brett kursinnehåll som täcker de berörda kunskaperna från studiens teoretiska perspektiv. Samtidigt visar studien att det behövs ytterligare forskning på dagens formella tränarutbildningar då den kritik som framkommit mot dessa till viss del upplevs utdaterad. Viss begränsning finns i studien eftersom empirin utgörs av endast sex intervjuer och således blir det svårt att återge en bild som är representativ för hela den svenska tränarkåren som verkar på elitnivå. / This study aims to highlight the UEFA Pro as an education to understand how the requirement for the license can be justified for eligibility to operate as an elite level coach in Swedish football. The requirement of UEFA Pro license applies to Allsvenskan, Superettan and OBOS Damallsvenskan.  The empirical data is obtained by semi-structured interviews with coaches that are or recently have been working at a prominent level of Swedish football. The Swedish football federation is also represented as an interview object. The purpose is to examine the image of the content in the educational process. As a theoretical framework, we have used Coté & Gilbert (2009) to investigate the extent to which the education covers the areas of knowledge that are considered important in a Swedish elite context. We have also used (Nash & Collins, 2006) tacit knowledge as a further perspective in the study. The method is qualitative and the approach inductive. The results proves that the content is wide and does cover relevant knowledge from the theoretical perspective. The study highlights that further research is needed on today’s formal coach educations as the criticism that has emerged against these perceived as outdated.  There is some limitation in the study because the empirical data consists of only six interviews, and it would be difficult to produce an image that is representative of the entire Swedish coaching staff that operates at elite level.

Volunteer youth coaches make up the majority of sport coaches in the United States, and therefore play a significant role in youth athletes’ experiences in sport. Recent data suggest that fewer than 30% of all youth coaches have received any coach training within the past year. Given coaches’ significant role in the youth development process, and the lack of training required of them, there is a need for innovative approaches to youth coach development in the United States. The purpose of this exploratory study was to implement a revised version of the Mastery Approach to Coaching (MAC) (Smith, Smoll, & Cumming, 2007) coach development program (CDP) (called the MAC-RGR), and to investigate coaches’ perceptions of the CDP. The MAC-RGR featured two notable adaptations from the original: (a) content was added from self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017); and (b) a novel in-situ method of delivery was employed, based on the partnership principles used by instructional coaches (Knight, 2018) and the parallel process model used in supervising counseling psychologists (Vella, Crowe, & Oades, 2013). The CDP was presented to seven coaches over the course of a six-week summer program, featuring both formal group sessions and informal one-on-one coach interactions. Data were collected via multiple modalities (observations, interviews, and field notes), and explored coach’s perceptions of the training’s content, and their insights into the value of the in-situ delivery method. Data were analyzed using an interpretive description methodology (Thorne, 2013). Coaches demonstrated significant use of need-supportive behaviors, such as asking questions, and reported learning these from the training. Coaches also reported numerous benefits from the in-situ delivery model and the practical implementation of such an approach. A description of coach development that took place in real time is presented. Findings are considered in relationship to instructional coaching and the parallel process of coach education, where the relationship dynamics between coach and athlete are paralleled in the relationship dynamics between coach-educator and coach. Additionally, the nuances of developing coaches in community-based sport settings are portrayed. Practical implications and recommendations for alternative methods of delivery of coach development programs are discussed.

6 ABSTRACT Title: Analysis of handball coaches' activities in selected area. Objectives: The aim of the thesis was to determine wether the activities of coaches in handball teams, divisions under the Regional North-Moravian Handball Association (OSSH), are in accordance with the recommendations issued by the Czech Handball Federation (CSH). Methods: For the entire research project was chosen the epirically analytical method. With respect to the geografically large area, we considered interrogation method which can be used to collect both quantitative and qualitative research data. All collected data were summarized by entering inno tables and graphs. In the verification of hypotheses the data was evaluated by using basic statistical methods, the arithmetic mean, absolute frequency and relative frequency. Results: The thesis was intended to result in recommendation for coaches' education and development in the mentioned region. With reference to the research results in this thesis the recommendation will not related to impetus for only participation in the trainings. As we found out, the passing of the education and training activities themselves is not a problem. The recommendation will be predominantly related to the change of approach. It is necessary to transform the passive approach into the active one...

The purpose of this study was to examine the following research questions in Turkish coaching context: a) How do coaches perceive sport science research? b) Which sources do coaches utilize when obtaining the knowledge they need? c) What obstacles do coaches confront when trying to access the knowledge they need? Participants were 322 coaches (256 men, 66 women) from diverse sports and coaching levels working in Ankara. &ldquo / New Ideas for Coaches&rdquo / questionnaire by Reade, Rodgers and Hall (2008) was translated and adapted into Turkish for the current study. There was a strong concurrence between Turkish coaches in terms of the belief that sport science contributes to sport (%78). Gaps exist, however, between what coaches were looking for and the research that is being conducted. Coaches were most likely to attend seminars or consult other coaches to get new information. Scientific publications were ranked very low by the coaches. The barriers to the coaches&rsquo / access to sport science were finding out the source of information, being able to implement the knowledge that was obtained from sport sciences into field of coaching, lack of monetary support for the expenses about obtaining knowledge, and language barrier respectively. Coaches&rsquo / demographic characteristics influenced their perceptions of and preferences for obtaining new information. Strategies to remove the barriers could include providing further education opportunities for coaches and eligible scientific knowledge sources to ensure successful knowledge transfer.