Implications for practice

Whilst, there have been steps taken recently to develop sports coaching

conceptualisation (Lyle & Cushion, 2010), there remains an imbalance between the applied

coaching communities understanding of research and how findings may be used to inform

and change practice (Côté & Gilbert, 2009). Therefore, the thesis suggests two implications

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The first recommendation is the need of governing bodies of sport to be aware of

elements that influence individuals to undertake coach roles. This is perceived to be

significant in the voluntary sector. According to Nichols, Taylor, Barrat, and Jeanes (2014)

Sport policy makers need to be aware of the influence a move towards the professionalization

of sport coaching may have on role identity, how individuals perceive their role and how they

frame their role.

Finally, and of significance in improving the quality of youth sport coaching practice,

is the requirement for organisations who deploy coaches to be aware of the impact working

practices have on experiential learning and development. Identified in studies two and three

and supported by literature (Callery et al., 2013b; North, 2010), is the need to ensure

meaningful coach experiences are used to develop wider coach learning. An example could

be a young inexperienced coach working in community or school settings as a lone worker,

thinking they are doing a good job; but delivering counterintuitive practices. If they feel their

actions and practices are acceptable, or are not challenged by anyone, they would not

perceive there was an issue that needed to be fixed. Therefore, a recommendation would be

for organisations to evaluate working patterns and explore issues in practice. Through

observations and providing support structures to develop experiential learning (Kim 2009),

greater understanding of roles and behaviours would be achieved. This, if adopted

effectively increases the availability of meaningful experiences available in the framing

process. Examples could be, utilising communities of practice (Culver & Trudel, 2008;

Culver et al., 2009) to explore common themes and issues in specific contexts. Or through

providing mentor support (see Jones et al., 2009), especially in settings where autonomous

working practices are prevalent. These interventions could enable knowledge transfer

through experiential learning and provide a more effective platform to carry out meaningful

170 6.4 Implications for future research

The thesis has provided an exploration of elements that may impact on how coaches’ frame their roles in community youth sport. However, due to the scope and methodologies

used, limitations arise. Therefore, generalisation of results is difficult (Patton, 2002). To

explore the subject in greater detail further research is needed. According to Lyle and

Cushion (2017), to research the contextual nature of sport coaching, defining and delimiting

role expectations is crucial. In the domain of the youth sport coach, future research direction

needs to take into consideration nuanced conditions for practice. Therefore, from a personal

perspective, in this under-researched area (Griffiths & Armour, 2013), following on from

current studies it is proposed that research could include the following:

1. In the current pseudo-professional climate (Taylor & Garratt, 2010a), it is suggested

that there is a need for greater evaluation of coach role parameters and quality of

practice in primary school environments. Current research in the area, has tended to

be dismissive of the role of the coach in this setting (Griggs, 2012; Jones & Green,

2015; Smith, 2013); in particular curriculum delivery has been scrutinised. However,

very little has been done to assess the specific needs of coaches’ in this environment

in relation to training, experiential learning or wider skill development. Although it

appears that coaches’ play a significant role in the new primary PE orthodoxy (Smith, 2013), at present, it is taken for granted that all can undertake these roles.

2. More examination of role formation and development in volunteer settings would be

beneficial. As volunteer coaches make up a significant part of the UK coaching

workforce (Nichols et al., 2014; sports coach UK, 2015; Trussall, 2016) a greater

understanding of the motives for volunteering could have implications for coach

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specific organisations could provide both bespoke and model interventions that could

provide best practice case-studies (McQuade & Nash, 2015).

3. It is suggested, that longitudinal studies are required to look at the long-term

development of coach roles; and to explore any cultural, social or environmental

elements that influence development. These studies need to be bespoke to groups and

contexts. For example, do coaches’ in community disability scenarios frame roles

differently?

4. More research needs to be carried out “in the field”. Such as, extending the work of

Hall et al. (2015) through exploration of role identity as an underpinning concept in

contextually relevant settings would benefit an understanding of why some people

identify and undertake roles in specific settings. Using ethnographic research in this

area (Mills, 2015) may provide useful cases for investigation.

5. Strategies that enhance the ability of coaches to reflect need to be continued.

Whitehead et al. (2016) have recently used “think aloud” protocols to explore and develop reflection in rugby league coaches. Using this form of intervention linked to

experiential learning could support wider-coach learning.