Dr Gary Hodgson

Delivered 3 hour workshop to FIFA Talent Development Coaches as a part of the wider FIFA Talent Development Scheme

Research presentation delivered to coaches

The role of the Coach Developer (CD) has broadened over the last two decades. Today CDs fulfil multiple functions such as tutor, facilitator, expert or mentor. They also play a significant part as learning designers. CDs are normally not trained to perform this role. This practical advances paper provides an overview of the role and required skills of learning designers, specifically in the context of the creation of an online coach development resource: the ICOACHKIDSTM Massive Open Online Courses. The paper offers a novel description of the development process. It describes four stages including: i) agreeing target audience and learning outcomes; ii) choosing the pedagogical model; iii) selection of technological solutions and partners; and iv) content development. For each stage, the working parameters, associated challenges, and the learnings gained by CDs are described. Each of these phases present unique challenges and require different competences. We conclude that, learning design, especially in relation to MOOCs (and perhaps more broadly, online), must become part of the CD development curriculum going forward.

For over 25 years, coach education research has looked to identify a range of group and individual wants, needs, and preferences to meet the demands of its consumers: coaches. While ‘consumer’ may seem like a corporate, or marketing term, a range of social media platforms are now able to capture the attention and imaginations of consumers through different digital technologies. It is through these media – TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, among others, that we find ‘content’ competing with one another; I.e. what grabs their attention. Coach education and development, in its many forms, has now also become a player in this space. Within this field of competition, education providers are now tasked with finding ways to elevate their core messages, values and impact in 60 seconds (or in most cases, less) in order to convert these consumers into coaches. ICOACHKIDS, a global movement whose mission is to promote sport policy, education and practice that puts kids first, demonstrates first-hand experience of occupying this field to inspire the next generation of youth sport coaches, developing, deploying and evaluating a range of digital resources and initiatives, with partners such as Nike, FIFA, UEFA and the IOC. These resources have aimed to meet and fulfil the learning dispositions of the emerging coaching audience (even if they don’t know they want to be coaches… yet). Against this background, this insights paper aims to case study and explore the key learnings from a 3-year programme aimed at attracting the next generation of sport coaches.

In the European Union (EU) there are approximately between 7 and 8 million youth sport coaches (Fig. 1) and the majority of them hold lower-level coaching qualifications or no qualifications at all (Lara-Bercial et al., 2017b). While sport includes benefits such as personal and social development as well as providing a nurturing and caring environment (Holt et al., 2017; Lara-Bercial & McKenna, 2018), there is evidence across the continent that participants continue to drop out of sport, especially in the adolescent years (Emmonds et al., 2021). Sport alone therefore, is no magic bullet, and coaches need to recognise the important role they play in creating positive environments for children and young people in youth sport. Environments that not only bring children to sport, but keep them in sport as active, healthy adults. The vision of ICOACHKIDS is of a world where every child has access to positive sport experiences that foster a love of sport, play and physical activity.

Research shows that women and girls face multiple challenges to participate in sport and physical activity. For example, the gendered nature of sport, a lack of female role models and unequal provision all hinder girls’ ability to participate. Girls in the EU across a broad range of sports and countries, are four times less likely than boys to engage in organised sport (Emmonds et al., 2021). By not participating, girls are missing out in all the potential physical, mental, social and professional benefits of regular physical activity. Importantly, early negative experiences of sport, physical education and physical activity during the primary school years contribute to girls’ lower levels of activity. ICOACHGIRLS (ICG) is an Erasmus+ funded project, which is part of the larger ICOACHKIDS (ICK) family. ICOACHGIRLS has two key objectives: 1) To increase physical activity and sport participation among primary school age girls 2) To increase the number, competence and confidence of female coaches.

Research shows that women and girls face multiple challenges to participate in sport and physical activity. For example, the gendered nature of sport, a lack of female role models and unequal provision all hinder girls’ ability to participate. Girls in the EU across a broad range of sports and countries, are four times less likely than boys to engage in organised sport (Emmonds et al., 2021). By not participating, girls are missing out in all the potential physical, mental, social and professional benefits of regular physical activity. Importantly, early negative experiences of sport, physical education and physical activity during the primary school years contribute to girls’ lower levels of activity. ICOACHGIRLS (ICG) is an Erasmus+ funded project, which is part of the larger ICOACHKIDS (ICK) family. ICOACHGIRLS has two key objectives: 1) To increase physical activity and sport participation among primary school age girls 2) To increase the number, competence and confidence of female coaches.

Sport coaching has often been considered a cognitive activity, aligning to a dominant psychological discourse within a process-product paradigm (Lyle & Cushion, 2017). It is a logical extension of this line of thought to turn to cognitively informed perspectives to help us understand how coaches learn, and in turn how to develop coaches and their coaching. This chapter aims to explain internal processes of learning and development, with examples from sport coaching and coach development situations. It foregrounds what is involved with respect to learning from this perspective, then considers who the coach learner is, and finally explores how cognitive approaches can help us in supporting coaches’ learning and development. While acknowledging limitations to the available evidence from sport coaching, understanding internal processes such as perception, attention, memory, and the integration of different types of knowledge into changing mental models can offer much-needed focus for coach development and coach developers, for the benefit of sport coaching as a profession and a discipline.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that approximately 3% of the world population has intellectual disabilities (Li & Wang, 2013). Many health problems present at higher rates in individuals with intellectual disability than in the typically developing population. For populations with disabilities, including intellectual disability, participation in physical activity is reported at lower rates when compared to their typically developing peers. There is, however, growing evidence physical recreation and activity can confer multiple health benefits for people with intellectual disabilities (Hassett et al., 2024) but more insight is needed. Individuals with intellectual disabilities face multiple barriers/problems when it comes to sport participation, and these occur at an individual, social, physical environment and political levels (Aksit et al., 2023). To mitigate these issues, Special Olympics International commissioned ICOACHKIDS and Leeds Beckett University to conduct a narrative review of three “factors” that impact the experiences of young people with ID in sport: 1. Coaching 2. Coach Education 3. Competition In this symposium, we will look at the findings of the narrative review of these three “factors” through the lens of Special Olympics ideals, initiatives and insights. Coaching Given the size of this population, there is a need for good quality descriptive research concerning the successful practices of coaches to understand the strategies that coaches can use to effectively meet the needs of their athletes while fulfilling the mission of SO (Cybulski et al., 2016). Critical to the success of Special Olympics is the expertise of their volunteer coaches in engaging athletes with intellectual disabilities in sports training and competitions. They have to adapt their sports and coaching skills to the particular needs of athletes with intellectual disability. Coaches of individuals with an ID, in particular, must adapt their coaching to ensure that it meets their specific and individual needs. This element of the symposium explores the challenges coaches face when working with participants with ID. More specifically examples of how this coaching workforce perceives and meets these challenges, and where more support is required. Coach Education While Special Olympics is committed to offering athletes with access to qualified coaching personnel, coach training and certification requirements are not overseen nor regulated by the organisation (Turgeon et al., 2023). Coaching children with intellectual disabilities who have mixed levels of motor competence requires specific training and expertise. The SO coaching workforce is often dependent on volunteers. These volunteer teacher–coaches, however, do not necessarily have training in physical education, sport, or educational strategies to support students with ID (O’Rourke et al., 2023). While there must be a balance in what can be asked of volunteer program leaders in terms of the time they have available for training, there is evidence to suggest that these coaches would welcome additional sources of knowledge development (MacDonald et al., 2016). This element of the symposium explores the training available to coaches of individuals with ID and recommendations for future coach education practice in this space. Competition Competition has been an integral component of youth sport for decades. Every week, millions of children take part in matches, games, races, fights, tournaments, festivals, and other forms of competition globally. Competition per se is neither good nor bad; its impact depends on the way it is designed, presented, managed and interpreted by the adults in charge, and those spectating (Lara-Bercial et al., 2023). Notwithstanding this, recent research suggests that for many children, competition can be a significant factor in their decision to drop out of sport (Lara-Bercial et al, under review). This element of the symposium discusses what is known about competition; the motivations children have to compete (or not), the positive and negative impact competition can have on children, key considerations those organising competitions for children need to be aware of, and the multiple ways in which competition can be adapted to lead to more positive outcomes for children.

Research shows that the coaching workforce in most countries is composed of a blend of volunteers, part-time and full-time paid individuals (Moustakas & Bales, 2022; UK Coaching, 2023a). However, the exact make up of this workforce across the youth sport1 participation spectrum is not well understood. While previous studies have sought to understand the coaching landscape, very few studies have focused specifically on the youth sport landscape. Given the societal importance of youth sport, and the positive contribution that coaches make (Lara-Bercial, Bales, et al., 2022), this is an area that needs further attention. Using a mass survey methodology, this study aimed to create a detailed picture of the current landscape of youth sport coaching in the UK. Findings show some similarities to previous workforce audits. For example, youth sport coaching is primarily a voluntary activity (62%) – yet opportunities to access paid positions have grown. Moreover, findings also show that the youth sport workforce is not a homogenous entity. This signals the need for further research to gain an accurate understanding of the needs and wants of coaches individually, and in their specific working environments, before implementing any recruitment or development programmes.

Our two new courses are all about supporting teenagers make the most of their sport participation, be it at the grassroots or performance level. In MOOC 4, “Maximising Sport Participation and Engagement in Youth Sport”, we look at the youth sport dropout phenomenon and explore what we can do to help young people stay in sport for life. In MOOC 5, “Developing Effective Talent Development Environments”. we explore what “talent” is and what effective and holistic talent development environments look like.

In 2016, ICCE and Leeds Beckett University, together with another six European organisations develop project ICOACHKIDS thanks to an Erasmus+ Sport grant. The project aimed to create high quality, free resources for youth sport coaches to support the creation of a suitably trained coaching workforce. The project delivered the ICOACHKIDS Coaching Children Literature Review, the ICOACHKIDS Pledge, the European Coaching Children Curriculum, the ICOACHKIDS website and three Massive Open Online Courses. The success of the project was unprecedented attracting attention and interest from non-EU nations, International Sports Federations and Global players in health and industry. Championing a ‘kids first’ and ‘coaching matters’ ethos, ICOACHKIDS continues to harness global interest and momentum for the development of a global sport system that provides a safe and supportive environment for children everywhere. This session will review the achievements of ICOACHKIDS to date as well as the latest developments, including the creation of the Global Movement Committee, the development of a new interactive website, the production of the ICOACHKIDS Essential videos in conjunction with Nike, and the implementation of the new Erasmus+ project ICOACHKIDS+ conducting research to create strategies to minimize sport dropout as well as fostering the development of holistic talent development environments.

Our two new courses are all about supporting teenagers make the most of their sport participation, be it at the grassroots or performance level. In MOOC 4, “Maximising Sport Participation and Engagement in Youth Sport”, we look at the youth sport dropout phenomenon and explore what we can do to help young people stay in sport for life. In MOOC 5, “Developing Effective Talent Development Environments”. we explore what “talent” is and what effective and holistic talent development environments look like.

Our two new courses are all about supporting teenagers make the most of their sport participation, be it at the grassroots or performance level. In MOOC 4, “Maximising Sport Participation and Engagement in Youth Sport”, we look at the youth sport dropout phenomenon and explore what we can do to help young people stay in sport for life. In MOOC 5, “Developing Effective Talent Development Environments”. we explore what “talent” is and what effective and holistic talent development environments look like.

Research shows that the coaching workforce in most countries is composed of a blend of volunteers and part-, and full-time paid individuals. However, the exact makeup of this workforce across the youth sport1 participation spectrum is not well understood. While previous studies have sought to understand the coaching landscape, very few studies have focused specifically on the youth sport landscape. Given the societal importance of youth sport and the positive contribution that coaches make, this is an area that needs further attention. Using a mass survey methodology, this study aimed to create a detailed picture of the current landscape of youth sport coaching in the United Kingdom. Findings show some similarities to previous workforce audits. For example, youth sport coaching is primarily a voluntary activity (62%)—yet, opportunities to access paid positions have grown. Moreover, findings also show that the youth sport workforce is not a homogenous entity. This signals the need for further research to gain an accurate understanding of the needs and wants of coaches individually, and in their specific working environments, before implementing any recruitment or development programmes.