This post, or the study in full if you're really keen, is a must-read for all local/community clubs with a focus on coach development for all coaches within your football club.
Strap yourself in!
- Coaches are fundamental to the provision of sport experiences and player retention is more likely when players have a positive experience in the sport and therefore, understanding how to enhance coach development is essential
- In Australia, community sport is still mostly a volunteer service at youth and junior levels with only a blended professional area in adult sport where remuneration is available, but varied
- Coach learning occurs through a complex mix of experience in the game, accreditation-based formal coach development, non/informal coach development (coach and/or zone coach coordinator support) and self directed learning experiences
- Coaches often question formal coach education accreditation finding it too technical, lacking in relevant knowledge or of limited importance due to their own lack of practical knowledge (you don't know what you don't know)
- Coaches seem to place the most value on experiential learning and less value on formal/mediated coach development programmes typical of large scale national coach accreditation programmes
- Formalised coach mentoring programmes are becoming more common with expert coaches often having mentors themselves
- Beginner coaches benefit from close and direct guidance while experienced coaches value multiple contributions to their learning
- The environment in which mentoring/developer work occurs is important with respect to an openness/willingness of a coach to critically reflect on practice
- This study sought to answer what are the experiences of coach developers, community club coaches and the organisation of participation in a state league community club coach developer programme
- In coach developer work, coach engagement occurs in a socially organised form of knowledge in that learning is a social process situated within, and shaped by, the social/cultural contexts of the coach developer/mentee coach
- Context leads to a way of understanding the learning that is occurring and can be considered through 3 concepts x communities of practice, situated learning and legitimate peripheral participation
- Between club, coach developer and mentee, there exists a mutual engagement where each member knows exactly where to go for help and how to help others to facilitate the negotiation of meaning with the possibility of the sharing of responsibility
- The 4 themes that emerged were reliance on volunteers, coach development resources, barriers/facilitators of coach development and club culture
- Reliance on volunteer issues include that it’s hard to find volunteers that tick all the boxes as an experienced coach and most are very green with little support which then halts greater expectations clubs feel they can place on them
- Most coaches were willing to donate time to coach but not further time/responsibility to develop as a coach
- Most coaches are player parents which means already busy people are simply get busier
- There seems to be an expectation of the club to provide coach developer practices but the actual coaches don’t want to take part in them
- Clubs find it hard to attract/retain club coach developers
- Coaches are often parents and if their child stops playing then they often stop coaching, placing more pressure on the club
- If club developers are used, it is usually a short term fix but then the coaches under them never progress from novice to experienced, and then become coach developer’s themselves
- Senior/experienced coaches are used/chosen in grades where outcomes count the most leaving the inexperienced coaches to the usually younger age groups but this is where the most experience/assistance is needed
- Clubs find it hard just to secure coaches, let alone build succession plans
- Coaches are appointed because the are the most willing more so then the most able
- Coach development resource issues include that there is a need for age/player level appropriate content or you’ll always do what you’ve always done/coach how you were coached resulting in training sessions being an optimal fit for only a small portion of your team
- Of the resources that are available, there is no education on how to use them with different age groups/levels
- Coaches need to be self directed/prepared to put some time in to seek further education
- Difficulty in navigating websites means coaches don’t often look at the coach AFL website once accredited
- Resources are preferred to be attained face to face rather then online
- Coaches and clubs want greater availability of resources in the off-season before training starts to eliminate doubling up of time on top of training in the same night or having to find an extra night during the season to find time although coach development incorporated into training nights did aid in convenience/location/timing etc
- Peak body workshops and programmes are not widely promoted and are limited by timing/location
- Ultimately lots of resources are produced but rarely used
Part 2 Tomorrow.
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