Professor Sergio Lara-Bercial

The recognition of prior learning and work experience (RPL&WBE) in coach development is a fundamental part of project CoachLearn. CoachLearn is co-funded by Erasmus+ under the Strategic Partnerships Action within Key Action 2 – Cooperation and Innovation for Good Practices. It seeks to enhance sport coaches' learning, mobility and employment through the development of a European Sport Coaching Framework. This report provides an introduction to the topic and subsequently presents the findings from a survey aimed at gathering the views of a cross-section of coach education stakeholders across the European Union. Stakeholders represented in the sample included national lead coaching organisations, national Olympic committees, national and international governing bodies of sport and vocational and higher education institutions. The main objectives were to identify key challenges faced by organisations in relation to RPL&WBE and existing models of good practice. Central to this goal was defining major factor for the development of successful systems.

An increasing trend in the United Kingdom (UK) has been to argue for, and attempt to use, more detailed coaching workforce data to inform sport coaching system and programme development (e.g. Lynn & Lyle, 2010; North, 2009; Sports Coach UK, 2008, 2012; Winder & Townend, 2010). There have also been similar pockets of research activity internationally notably in Australia (Dawson, Wehner, Phillips, Gastin, & Salmon, 2013) and Canada (Reade et al., 2009) although their connection to the policy process is less clear. Recently there have been a number of UK centred proposals to the Europe Commission to explore the possibilities of opening up these methodologies to European countries and beyond, from Leeds Beckett University as part of its partnership with the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE), the European Coaching Council (ECC), and other European partners. This includes the 2011 Preparatory Action in the Field Of Sport bid CoachNet, written up in a final report by Duffy, North, Curado, and Petrovic (2013), and the 2014 Erasmus + bid CoachLearn, of which this project forms a part. As a result of early investigations related to the CoachLearn project it became clear that the UK context and motivations for the development and application of specific research methodologies, and the collection and use of coaching workforce data were fairly unique. This meant that some important assumptions underpinning recent successful bids with regard to coaching workforce data methodologies and their application across Europe required further examination. This paper explores the context and motivations for, and applications of, the collection and use of coaching workforce data in five European countries: Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and the UK to determine whether a common methodology and tools to underpin coaching workforce data collection is relevant, useful, and viable. In undertaking this work the paper faces into comparative issues concerning centralised ‘good practice’ frameworks, evidence based decision making, performance management, research and research methodology, which could inform wider debates both inside and outside sport.

Sport Coaches' Handbook supports the education and development of sport coaches by providing them with the knowledge required to fulfill their roles as coaches while considering their personal values and philosophy, the athletes they coach, ...

To enhance our understanding of the practices of successful people, a more comprehensive and nuanced examination of what underpins their successes is imperative; that is, why they behave the way they do. In this chapter, we provide an insight into what we have learned about highly successful elite sport coaches and how this understanding might inform coach recruitment and development. A “logic of person perception” approach to data analysis was used to make sense of the multiple data sets (surveys, interviews) representing multiple layers of a person’s psychology. In this research, 14 serial winning coaches (SWC) from 11 countries and 10 sports (128 medals) contributed multiple data sets that were complemented with data from some of their successful athletes. Overall, these SWC were high on conscientiousness and extraversion and low on neuroticism. Their striving content showed they were agentic and approach-oriented. Moreover, their dominant motivational themes were learning and personal growth, achievement, and power. Three key themes emerged from the interview data: vision, people, and environment. A metastory of these SWC portrays them as righteous adventurers with a higher purpose, and as a grounded realist. We conclude with several recommendations for coach developers on the basis of this research.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in the number of basketball court shifts and continuous playing time between age groups and game quarters during competition to optimize team preparation. Data from 28 official games was collected, which were completed in four different age groups: Under-14 (U14), Under-16 (U-16),Under-18 (U-18) and senior level. A total of 61 basketball players participated in this study. Permutation 2x2 ANOVA and post hoc tests were used to test statistical significance (p < .05). Age groups showed significant differences among court shifts, time, and their ratio (shifts·min

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With the mission of growing participation in Badminton and excite everyone involved, the SHUTTLERS project plays an important role for BEC. Recruiting and retaining kids to play badminton and continue picking up the racket and shuttle for the rest of their lives is important for the growth of the sport as well as allowing as many people as possible to profit from the many social and health benefits badminton provide as a game and as a community. The SHUTTLERS project falls under the responsibility of the BEC Development Committee and is placed under the strategic area of Grassroots which has the specific long-term strategic objective “To facilitate increased and retained participation within Members through engagement, inclusivity, promotion and recruitment”. The European Framework for the Recruitment and Retention of Young Badminton Players – based on sound research – will be instrumental in guiding the concepts and programmes that will be developed and implemented through the SHUTTLERS project. The framework will also play an essential role in the future development of recruitment and retention initiatives and programmes that BEC, the BEC Members, other sports or any other organisation may use to motivate and encourage kids to be physically active and lead a healthy lifestyle.

To better understand the challenges, successes and strategies of clubs across Europe when recruiting and retaining young in badminton we conducted a survey aimed at exisintg clubs. This report details the findings of such survey, draws conclusions from them and offers some 3 preliminary recommendations to inform the development of the deliverables described above.

To better understand the reasons why young children start and stop playing badminton we conducted a survey aimed at parents and their children. This report details the findings of 3 such survey, draws conclusions from them and offers some preliminary recommendations to inform the development of the deliverables described above.

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.

Over the past two decades, Spanish basketball has become a global powerhouse. The success of the men's and women's national teams at World Championships, Olympic Games, and European Championships, and the domination of junior national teams at the European level has been unmatched, except for the USA. The quality of coaching in the performance pathway has been proposed as central to these accomplishments. In this chapter, we start by providing a brief overview of the history of basketball in Spain and its success factors. The origins and current status of coach education are then explored, followed by a deep analysis of the education, identification, and development of coaches in the youth performance pathway. Through the personal experiences of the authors, multiple conversations with relevant actors over the last 20 years, document examination, and paper reviews, the main features of the youth performance coaching system are identified and discussed.

Sport participation is widely believed to positively impact on the psychosocial development of children and young people. Due to the nature of existing research, a full understanding of this process is, however, lacking. The purpose of this thesis was thus two-fold: i) to establish the philosophical and structural foundations of the field to propose a way forward; and ii) to develop a comprehensive picture of the process of psychosocial development through regular organised sport participation.  A variety of novel methodologies established that positivistic and post-positivistic epistemologies dominated the field, while quantitative methods accounted for the majority of research designs. Findings also revealed the predominance of negative views, emphasising the risks of participation and a fragmented structure divided in thematic silos. Based on the findings of the philosophical and structural analysis, a comprehensive and integrative, two-staged, case study was conducted based on an English youth performance basketball club, informed by Realist Evaluation.  Findings confirmed that participation in a performance youth development sport setting can lead to a broad range of psychosocial developmental outcomes including self, moral, emotional, social and cognitive development. Significantly, the case study also reported the potential of sport to produce negative effects, such as low self-esteem, social isolation and decreased emotional wellbeing. Nevertheless, stakeholders were overwhelmingly in favour of the positive impact of the experience. Four principle concurrent mechanisms were identified: i) directing the attentional focus of the young person; ii) engaging in structured and unstructured skill building activities; iii) providing deliberate and incidental support; and iv) regularly experiencing personal growth. Findings point towards an understanding of sport-based personal development as the deliberate and/or incidental continuous acquisition and maintenance of positive attitudes and behaviours moderated by the young person’s internal disposition and the environment’s contextual features. While sport is not a ‘one-size fits-all’, many of the elements that contribute to positive development stem from when coaches and sport clubs become more ‘deliberately developmental’.

Upon completion of this chapter the reader should be able to: 1. understand the critical role of sport development as the backbone of athlete development in HPS; 2. define sport development and athlete development, and understand the various types and goals of sport development; 3. recognise the benefits of the attraction, retention/transition and nurturing of athletes framework (aka ARTN processes); 4. understand sport management and science based sport development frameworks, their strengths and weaknesses; and 5. identify sport development stakeholders, the ways they are involved and the impact of their involvement with athlete development.

This chapter explores the significance of sport development in high-performance sport (HPS) and its role in shaping elite athletes’ pathways. While HPS represents the top tier of the sport development continuum, success in elite sport is not solely a product of natural talent, genetics, or luck. Instead, athlete development is a strategic and structured process requiring well-designed pathways, stakeholder involvement, and effective management of resources. The chapter examines contemporary sport development processes and practices that underpin athlete progression, focusing on the Attraction, Transition, Retention, and Performance Optimisation (ATRO) framework. It analyses who is involved in athlete development, how they contribute, and what outcomes are achieved. Through a critical review of athlete development mechanisms, this chapter highlights the interplay between sporting organisations, policies, and stakeholders in optimising athlete success. It argues that achieving excellence in HPS is not simply about individual performance but also about the systems, structures, and environments that nurture talent. By examining these factors, this chapter provides a comprehensive understanding of how sport development fosters sustained elite performance, athlete well-being, and long-term sporting success.

Helping a team win a gold medal at the Olympics or World Championships, or winning the title in a major professional sport league or competition is the pinnacle of most coaches’ careers – the thing they will be remembered for. Winning gold medals and titles repeatedly at the highest level is the prerogative of a very small and selective group of coaches. Members of this exclusive club include iconic names such as Sir Alex Ferguson, Emma Hays, Phil Jackson, Pat Summit, Lang Ping or our very own Fefe de Giorgi. These coaches have been able to find the holy grail of sport coaching – SUSTAINABLE WINNING. They have found a formula that worked for them and the teams they coach to win repeatedly at the world-class level over sustained periods of time.

Over the past two decades, Spanish basketball has become a global powerhouse. The success of the men's and women's national teams at World Championships, Olympic Games, and European Championships, and the domination of junior national teams at the European level has been unmatched, except for the USA. The quality of coaching in the performance pathway has been proposed as central to these accomplishments. In this chapter, we start by providing a brief overview of the history of basketball in Spain and its success factors. The origins and current status of coach education are then explored, followed by a deep analysis of the education, identification, and development of coaches in the youth performance pathway. Through the personal experiences of the authors, multiple conversations with relevant actors over the last 20 years, document examination, and paper reviews, the main features of the youth performance coaching system are identified and discussed.

Organised sports participation is a pervasive feature of 21st-century societies globally. Every day, hundreds of millions of people take part in athletic pursuits. Many of these activities are led by coaches, who therefore make up one of the biggest workforces across the world, even if most of them act as volunteers. This chapter considers the current sport coaching landscape and reviews the latest thinking around coach education and development (CED). First, current literature on the nature of coaches' learning and how it can be facilitated is explored. Second, the challenge of balancing the education and development of a workforce that includes volunteer, part-time, and full-time workers, and the resulting broad range of educational offerings, is considered. Third, the evolving nature and role of the coach developers is examined in light of its growing significance. Fourth, the issue of assessment and certification is reviewed. And fifth, all of the above is considered from the perspective of the current debate around the professionalisation of coaching and how different countries and federations are approaching it. The chapter concludes by offering an overview of what CED may look like in the future and what areas appear to be most important for stakeholders to consider going forward.

In 2011, the Innovation Group of Leading Agencies of the International Council for Coaching Excellence initiated a project aimed at supporting the identification and development of the next generation of high performance coaches. The project, entitled Serial Winning Coaches, studied the personalities, practices and developmental pathways of professional and Olympic coaches who had repeatedly achieved success at the highest level of sport. This paper is the third publication originating from this unique project. In the first paper, Mallett and Coulter (2016) focused on the development and testing of a novel multi-layered methodology in understanding a person, through a single case study of a successful Olympic coach. In the second, Mallett and Lara-Bercial (2016) applied this methodology to a large sample of Serial Winning Coaches and offered a composite account of their personality. In this third instalment, we turn the focus onto the actual practices and developmental pathways of these coaches. The composite profile of their practice emerging from the analysis revolves around four major themes: Philosophy, Vision, People and Environment. In addition, a summary of the developmental activities accessed by these coaches and their journey to success is also offered. Finally, we consider the overall findings of the project and propose the concept of Driven Benevolence as the overarching operational principle driving the actions and behaviours of this group of Serial Winning Coaches.

To enhance our understanding of the practices of successful people, a more comprehensive and nuanced examination of what underpins their successes is imperative; that is, why they behave the way they do. In this chapter, we provide an insight into what we have learned about highly successful elite sport coaches and how this understanding might inform coach recruitment and development. A “logic of person perception” approach to data analysis was used to make sense of the multiple data sets (surveys, interviews) representing multiple layers of a person’s psychology. In this research, 14 serial winning coaches (SWC) from 11 countries and 10 sports (128 medals) contributed multiple data sets that were complemented with data from some of their successful athletes. Overall, these SWC were high on conscientiousness and extraversion and low on neuroticism. Their striving content showed they were agentic and approach-oriented. Moreover, their dominant motivational themes were learning and personal growth, achievement, and power. Three key themes emerged from the interview data: vision, people, and environment. A metastory of these SWC portrays them as righteous adventurers with a higher purpose, and as a grounded realist. We conclude with several recommendations for coach developers on the basis of this research.

Learning from Serial Winning Coaches provides performance coaches and directors, coach developers, and researchers with the knowledge and tools to affirm and challenge policy and practice and conduct further research to inform future policy and practice in the identification, recruitment, and development of performance coaches. Leading an athlete or team to an Olympic or world championship gold medal or professional league title is a great achievement for a coach; a dream that comes true for a small group of privileged coaches. This outstanding accomplishment can become the defining moment of their careers. Winning multiple golds and championships with different athletes or teams, and across multiple major events spanning decades, is the prerogative of an exclusive club of coaches. This book reveals the secrets, experiences, and practices of 17 of these coaches across 10 sports and 10 different countries. Through a combination of in-depth interviews with the coaches and their athletes and a detailed analysis of their personality and motivational profiles, Mallett and Lara-Bercial offer a unique portrait of the day-to-day workings of these coaches: who they are, how they operate, their leadership style, and their inimitable and often serendipitous journeys to the top of the sporting world. Learning from Serial Winning Coaches goes beyond the description of isolated coaching behaviours provided by previous research to explore the personal realities of these exceptional men and women, coaches, and athletes. The emerging multi-dimensional picture sheds light on the unique conditions and practices that lead to the unparalleled success of these true outliers. This book is key reading for researchers, coaching and coaching psychology students, performance coaches and directors, and coach developers, providing a novel evidence-based theoretical framework to conduct further research, shape and reshape coach development, and facilitate the identification and recruitment of the next generation of serial winners.

Spanish basketball has over the last two decades become a global powerhouse. The success of the Men’s and Women’s national teams at World Championships, Olympic Games, and European Championships, and the domination of junior national teams at the European level has been unmatched outside the USA. The quality of coaching in the performance pathway has been proposed as central to these accomplishments. This chapter starts by providing a brief overview of the history of basketball in Spain and its success factors. The origins and current status of coach education are then explored, followed by a deep analysis of the education, identification and development of coaches in the youth performance pathway. Through personal experiences of the authors, multiple conversations with relevant actors over the last 20 years, document examination, and paper reviews, the main features of the youth performance coaching system are identified and discussed.

This book takes the broadest possible look at this topic, across every key discipline and on different continents, opening up important new directions for the future development of sport and physical activity education.

In this session, Professor Sergio Lara-Bercial will explain the importance of delivering positive early sport experiences to foster children's love for physical activity and sport. Sergio will provide top tips to create appropriate motivational and learning climates that children want to keep coming back to for more.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in the number of basketball court shifts and continuous playing time between age groups and game quarters during competition to optimize team preparation. Data from 28 official games was collected, which were completed in four different age groups: under-14 (U14), under-16 (U-16), under-18 (U-18) and senior level. A total of sixty-one basketball players participated in this study. Bootstraped 2x2 ANOVA and T-Test and post-hoc tests were used to test statistical significance (p <.05). Age groups showed significant differences among court shifts, time, and their ratio (shifts·min-1), with a tendency to decrease from U14 to senior level. Nevertheless, there were no significant differences in the variables studied among game quarters or positive relationships with the point differential. In conclusion, shifts·min-1 decreases as we progress through the age-groups from U14 to senior basketball. These results could help practitioners to enhance team’s preparation by proposing specific 5on5 training scenarios based on the most common occurrences as well as the outlying maximal situations. However, the lack of any correlation between the variables studied and game outcome should encourage basketball professionals to assume a holistic approach and explore additional factors to better understand performance.

A 6 day training course for Philippines Academy of Sport coaches

Professional youth football (soccer) academies face a number of challenges related to the contrasting and at times competing nature of their goals. Marrying long-term development of players with success in youth competitions and combining the development of young people as athletes with their growth as human beings are some examples. Professional football clubs and those tasked with leading their academies have to make key decisions as to how these challenges will be addressed. In this paper we argue that those decisions must be made based on a clearly shared philosophy and accompanying set of values. We present some of the key principles governing the work of the Sevilla Club de Fútbol Youth Academy and the rationale behind them. These principles span from developmental, methodological and pedagogical choices to the building of an internal long-term approach to coach development.

Introduction Activ8 Wildcats Clubs are multi-skills clubs which operate throughout Northern Ireland and are mostly operated by local council sports development units. A series of coach development needs for lead and assistant coaches have been identified through a development needs questionnaire embedded within the coach registration process for Activ8 Wildcats Club coaches. Through the same process, the needs of coach managers have also been identified. This paper will explore the development needs of multi-skills coaches and coach managers within a Northern Ireland perspective, the relevance and value of recognising a specific coaching domain for children’s coaches1 and the implications for the practice and training of coaches2,3. It will also investigate how coaches within the workforce have individually accumulated knowledge and skills in the absence of a planned and structured programme of workforce development. The paper will elaborate on the research findings and the positive steps taken to support coaches’ development. Method A mixed methodology, detailed in table 1 below, was used to gather relevant data. Table.1 Development Needs Questionnaire Online Survey Focus Groups Coach Observations Subjects Lead coaches (33); Assistant Coaches (21); and Coach Managers (10). Coaches (24); and Coach Managers (13). Coaches (4); and Coach Manager (4). Coaches (5). Purpose Obtain information relating to perceived personal development needs. Establish perceived knowledge, understanding, coach training and experience. Gather greater depth in areas investigated by online survey and information on practical application. Observe and analyse practical application of multi-skills knowledge and understanding. Results The most prominent coach development needs identified for coaches and assistant coaches were:  Child Development; Coaching the Whole Child and How children learning and think.  Facilitative coaching craft.  Planning; organisation and evaluation of multi-skills sessions and programmes.  Skill development in younger children.  The Fundamentals of Movement, Fundamental Movement Skills and knowledge of specific skills.  Motivating and Communicating with Children / child psychology and building confidence. The most prominent development needs identified by coach managers were:  Programme and session planning skills  Mentoring and observation skills  Knowledge of the new Activ8 Wildcats Coaches Resource and key principles of multi-skills. Results also indicate that a substantial variance exists between the knowledge and understanding of Activ8 Wildcats coaches, ranging from extensive to limited. These variances in knowledge and understanding can be linked to the coaches learning and development experiences. A wide variation also exists in the accumulation of knowledge of Activ8 Wildcats coaches with little over half of coaches having attended development opportunities with specific relevance to multi-skills coaching. Discussion & Conclusion The specific nature of the needs identified within this paper reinforces the need for the development of a specialist children’s coaching workforce and for the provision of appropriate support and development opportunities as highlighted within the UK Coaching Framework1. Prior to this research, the development of coaches within the Activ8 Wildcats programme had been self-driven and ad-hoc in nature rather than through a coordinated approach. The competencies and development needs identified suggest the development of the following:  The creation of an agreed coach profile for multi-skills coaches3.  The design and implementation of planned and structured coach development opportunities to support and enhance Activ8 Wildcats coaches2. To address these development points and to support coaches and coach managers within the programme the following interventions have taken place:  Development of a Lead and Assistant Coach Profile for the Programme.  Development Needs Analysis  Fundamentals of Movement Workshop Suite  Coaching the Whole Child Workshop  Multi-skills Development Level 2 Qualification  Coaches Resource Development4  Coaches Resource Orientation  Coach and Coach Manager Networks  Co-Coaching  Observation and Mentoring  Coach Mentoring Workshop

Introduction What is the developmental trajectory of a football player from the first time she kicks a ball up to reaching levels of expertise that allow her to compete in the professional leagues or in international competitions? What are the key factors that enable her to reach such high standards of performance? What happens in other team sports like basketball or handball? Many variables influence this journey (Burguess & Naugthon, 2010; Simonton, 1999). Understanding them will help coaches and programme designers at club and national team level to create the necessary conditions to support players to fulfil their potential. Argumentation The current literature offers a mix of, at times, contradicting findings, usually based on lower level evidence, correlations or personal narratives. Moreover, by and large it leads to generalisations devoided of context thus reducing their validity and usefulness for practitioners. The current paper will review the existing evidence in the field of talent identification and development with special emphasis on elements concerning team sports. It will specifically consider the shift from early talent identification towards the identification of those player trajectories conducive to the development of expertise long-term. It will thus analyse the various types of activity described in the extant literature in which players engaged during their early careers looking at the relative weight attributed to free play (FP) (Côté y Hay, 2002), deliberate play (DPL) (Bell-Walker & Williams, 2008; Côté, Baker, & Abernethy, 2007; Côté y Hay, 2002; Greco, Memmert, & Morales, 2010) and deliberate practice (DP) (Côté y Hay, 2002; Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Römer, 1993). Moreover, this paper will question some of the definitions of activity put forward by some commentators, in particular whether such definitions are valid within a team sport environment. It will also review the issue of the various stages (i.e. sampling, early specialisation, investment years, early engagement, etc.) and combinations of stages described in the trajectory-based literature as well as the varying proportions of FP, DPL and DP which accompany each stage. Implications The paper will to conclude that such stages and proportions are by their very own nature player, sport and country-specific and that attempts to generalise should be made with extreme caution. It will thereon consider how practitioners in the field are currently starting to use this information within team sports, reflect on the role of coaching methodology in talent development and make the case for new and innovative approaches to the understanding of player trajectories within team sports.

In 2001, The Philippines Department of Education (DEPED) initiated the Special Programme in Sports (SPS) in 17 carefully selected High School across the country’s 12 geographical regions. The SPS aimed to provide a structured and co-ordinated approach to talent identification and development spanning the length and breadth of the archipelago. Key features of the SPS include: - Prospective athletes identified on completion of Elementary School (approximately 11-12 years old) - Development of a ‘special track curriculum’ integrating sport provision with the core national curriculum. - Additional funding of PHP 500,000 per school per year ring-fenced for use in the SPS - Appointment of dedicated coaches in the selected sports - Provision for 2 hours of training a day every day of the week - A four-year syllabus spanning from Grade 7 to Grade 10 at which point athletes graduate from the programme After 11years in existence, DEPED recognised the need to take stock and evaluate the current status of the SPS, its achievements to date and propose and implement a number of targeted interventions to move the programme to new heights. To this effect, after a stringent tendering process, a Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) team led by Professor Pat Duffy and Senior Research Fellow Sergio Lara-Bercial was commissioned to undertake such review and support the implementation of the new SPS over a two-year period. Findings The current paper explores the scoping exercise conducted by DEPED and LMU, its findings and the associated interventions implemented to improve the programme, its challenges, its successes and its catalytic effect in the wider educational and sporting environments in the Philippines. Key elements include amongst others: - Re-positioning the programme in a participant-centred holistic manner pursuing multiple outcomes linked to the personal, vocational and athletic development of student-athletes. - Re-training of coaches and trainers to be better equipped to meet the needs of the student-athletes. - Inclusion of an additional curricular area aimed at developing the leadership skills of the student-athlete mainly through coaching and officiating and linked to the development of alternative career pathways upon graduation. - Considering new approaches to the identification and development of talented student-athletes, including talent confirmation and talent transfer. Future Implications Finally, the paper will explore the links between the re-vamped SPS and the creation of a network of Regional Sport Academies and the forthcoming opening of the Philippine High School for Sport

Using the definition of physical literacy proposed by Whitehead (2010) as a backdrop, this article will consider the implications of the publication of the International Sport Coaching Framework (International Council for Coaching Excellence, Association of Summer Olympic International Federations and Leeds Metropolitan University, 2013). We will argue that the education and development of suitably qualified and skilled coaches at all levels of the participation spectrum is paramount to the fostering of motivated, confidence and competent individuals who value and take responsibility for pursuing meaningful physical activity throughout their lives.

COACHING CHILDREN SUCCESSFULLY IN SPORT AN INTRODUCTION FOR COACHES This factsheet aims to provide a supporting framework for the development of child appropriate sports and physical activity sessions. It aims to increase the understanding of children’s reasons for joining and leaving sports and physical activities, children’s developmental stages, appropriate coaching approaches during these stages and the importance of developing the whole child. Too often, sessions offered to children in sport and physical activity are scaled down versions of adult activities. However, children’s needs and wants could not be more different from adults. To develop lifelong physically active individuals it is essential that coaches understand these needs and wants and help children to enjoy and feel passionate about participating in physical activity and sport.

While the impact of coaches on their athletes has been appreciated for more than a century, only recently have researchers reached a consensus concerning the key coaching principles and methods that consistently ensure the most positive outcomes for athletes and coaches. Sport Coaches’ Handbook presents this more holistic approach to coaching and provides possible applications to raise the quality of coaching around the globe.

On July 6th 2005 London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Singapore. The promise of building a successful legacy for children and young people around the London Games (Our Promise for 2012, DCMS, 2007) was highly influential in swaying the votes of the members of the International Olympic Committee towards the UK’s capital. In the years following the announcement, an unprecedented level of investment has been put into creating such legacy. Within this climate, coaching, and specifically the coaching of children and young people, has come to the fore as a key component of the system that will deliver on the legacy promise. In fact, in many cases, coaching has been the catalyst for systemic change in sport. As the leading national coaching agency, sports coach UK, has played a pivotal part in this process. The UK Coaching Framework (sports coack UK, 2008) established the direction of travel. Recently, sports coach UK has led an industry-wide group in the development of a Coaching Children Action Plan for the period 2010-2013 (Lara-Bercial and Fisher, 2010). With less than 15 months to the start of the London Games, coaching continues to play a big part in the delivery of the promise made by the London bid team in Singapore. The creation of a Coaching Children Curriculum (Haskins, Jolly and Lara-Bercial, 2011) has accelerated this development for a high number of sports. After a recent change of government, however, and deeply rooted in a global recession, there remain a number of key challenges.

This article explores how successful sport coaching hinges on soft skills and a people-first focus beyond technical know-how. Interpersonal, emotional, cognitive and values-based skills like communication, empathy and integrity are key to effective, ethical highperformance coaching. It frames soft skills via UNESCO, OECD and World Economic Forum as broad socioemotional competencies, with Serial Winning Coaches research highlighting vision, people and environment for sustainable success and athlete wellbeing.

Organised sports participation is a pervasive feature of 21st-century societies globally. Every day, hundreds of millions of people take part in athletic pursuits. Many of these activities are led by coaches, who therefore make up one of the biggest workforces across the world, even if most of them act as volunteers. This chapter considers the current sport coaching landscape and reviews the latest thinking around coach education and development (CED). First, current literature on the nature of coaches' learning and how it can be facilitated is explored. Second, the challenge of balancing the education and development of a workforce that includes volunteer, part-time, and full-time workers, and the resulting broad range of educational offerings, is considered. Third, the evolving nature and role of the coach developers is examined in light of its growing significance. Fourth, the issue of assessment and certification is reviewed. And fifth, all of the above is considered from the perspective of the current debate around the professionalisation of coaching and how different countries and federations are approaching it. The chapter concludes by offering an overview of what CED may look like in the future and what areas appear to be most important for stakeholders to consider going forward. This chapter considers the current sport coaching landscape and reviews the latest thinking around coach education and development (CED). First, current literature on the nature of coaches' learning and how it can be facilitated is explored. Sports participation is a pervasive feature of 21st century societies globally. CDs have recently emerged as a significant factor in the evolution and improvement of coach education globally. In many other countries, however, coach education programmes have just tended to recruit subject matter experts to deliver their content knowledge. A wide variety of approaches is being used in different coach education programmes. It has explored CED's past, present, and future. Sport coaching is a paradoxical occupation. In summary, CED is progressing, yet the difficulty of implementing the required changes within a largely volunteer workforce and within different national contexts and systems has been highlighted. The problem is complex and the solution multi-pronged.

Youth sport has become increasingly professionalised. As a result, youth athletes are involved in formalised talent development environments (TDEs) designed to facilitate their effective and efficient development towards the elite level. However, it is argued that athlete challenges relating to transition efficacy, developmental sacrifice, and health impacts are not comprehensively addressed in these environments. Consequently, athletes can be left with adverse outcomes, affecting them immediately and in the future in sport and life. Increasingly, research has sought to explore the positive and negative outcomes emerging from TDE involvement. In recognition of these outcomes, holistic talent development (HTD) approaches have been recommended, often associated with promoting personal and whole-person development. Despite this recommendation, there is currently no conceptualised and empirically explored model of HTD that captures this landscape. This state of play is particularly surprising considering the popularised use of the concept ‘holistic’, which has become mired in conceptual ambiguity. Adopting a pragmatic approach and using multi-methods, this thesis aimed to develop a model of HTD that was theoretically grounded and practically orientated, conceptualising outcome and environmental components. A working theoretical model was developed from current literature, which was subsequently applied and abductively developed throughout the thesis, incorporating data from athletes, parents and practitioners. Three empirical studies were undertaken. Study 1 examined perceptions of TDE effectiveness across a large multi-sport and country sample from the perspective of athletes (n = 571), parents (n = 759) and practitioners (n = 134). Study two explored practitioner (n = 23) understandings of HTD across six environments, using Appreciative Inquiry interviews. Study 3 explored HTD practice in one cricket TDE through an ethnographic approach with observations and interviews/focus groups with athletes (n = 17), parents (n = 9) and practitioners (n = 6). Corresponding with the data, positive athlete outcomes were framed within three domains (Athletic Performance; Health and Wellbeing; Life Readiness) and six sub-domains (Performance Skills and Characteristics; Health for Development; General Health; Varied Life Identity; Instrumental Life Skills; Prosocial Character). A wide range of TDE features were found to influence HTD athlete outcomes, and these were categorised into four theme-families (Community; Lifelong Outlook; Practitioner-Athlete Relationship; Personal Development). Connections between the outcome and environmental components of the model were explored. HTD outcomes were found to be sensitively influenced by numerous interactive environmental features. Through a rigorous process of conceptual exploration, development, and refinement, this thesis presents a promising model of HTD. This model is grounded in theory, stakeholder-informed and orientated towards practical utility, building upon previous research and providing fresh insight. Those in research and practice may reflexively consider the working model to inform their critical explorations of effective TDEs from a HTD perspective (e.g., programme building and evaluations).

There are current global concerns surrounding the lifestyle behaviours and future health and well-being of youth. One concept that has gained traction to address these concerns is Physical Literacy (PL). Organised youth sport is one context that can promote PL, offering multiple benefits coupled with a range of challenges. This leading article aims to provide a balanced overview of the key challenges associated with supporting PL within youth sport and offers solutions to overcome these challenges. The first challenge focuses upon attracting youth (and parents) to sport through increasing recruitment against social constraints (e.g., socioeconomic), popular entertainment (e.g., streaming) and family issues (e.g., scheduling). The second centres on retaining children in sport to maximise participation through the appropriate design, organisation and delivery of training and competition opportunities. The final challenge relates to the talent pathway and how sports can structure (e.g., [de]selection) and deliver (e.g., training intensification) a pathway to ensure that all youth athletes flourish along their PL journey. Our solutions focus on organisations (e.g., national governing bodies, clubs) understanding and considering, 1) PL as an individual’s relationship with movement and physical activity throughout life, 2) children’s rights (e.g., interests, opportunities, expression of views), and 3) sport policies and practices when designing and delivering sport experiences. Whilst these challenges and solutions are wide ranging and complex, our belief is that the adoption of a PL approach by stakeholders when designing, delivering and enacting sport programs can enhance the experiences of youth involved in sport and ultimately support their lifelong PL journey.

This study aimed to understand the role of the coach in the personal development of young athletes in a performance setting. Three major categories were identified: high expectations and demands; genuine care; and the transformational coach. The study corroborates that, in addition to the coach, the performance environment also contains features that may lead to organic or incidental positive and negative development. In this regard, it is suggested that the current debate around whether development must be explicitly or implicitly sought could be progressed by the inclusion of the overarching term ‘deliberate’. Personal development in sport may happen explicitly or implicitly, yet the evidence presented in this paper suggests that coaches should be deliberate in their attempts to foster it.

Increasing female participation in football is a central goal of UEFA’s current strategy. One of the flagship initiatives to achieve this objective is the Playmakers programme. In conjunction with Disney, UEFA have designed and implemented a pan-European programme to introduce young girls aged five to eight years old to football. Through story-telling and imaginative play built around Disney characters and films, the programme aims to fulfil the needs and desires of this specific population, including fundamental movement skills, basic football skills, life skills, and to foster a love for physical activity and football. The premise is to achieve this in a custom-designed safe environment which promotes learning, fun and friendship (Lara-Bercial et al., 2019). This study evaluated the impact, experience, and perception of the programme from the perspective of the participating coaches, girls, and their parents. A mixed-methods approach including surveys, interviews and focus groups was used. Across numerous countries, all participants in the programme were sent an online post-programme survey to share their experience and perceptions. A sub-sample was subsequently selected to participate in focus groups or interviews to gather further information on the impact of the programme. Both the quantitative and qualitative data was analysed to form a rich, contextualised understanding. Preliminary findings show participants perceived the programme to attract and engage young girls to the sport, while also increasing their basic football and movement skills in a fun and safe way. Participants felt the story-telling pedagogy suited the targeted age range, but the programme lacked a competitive element for some.

Children’s play is “any behaviour, activity or process initiated, controlled and structured by children themselves; it takes place whenever and wherever opportunities arise” (The United Nations, 1989). In addition, Bergen (2014) states that play is unique in its potential to develop a child’s creative, decision making, physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and communicative skills. Youth sport offers a unique context for children to access play experiences. When coaches utilise play within a safe, fun learning environment, this has the potential to enhance children’s holistic development, deepen children’s understanding of the sport they take part in, and harness internal motivation that will keep children playing their chosen sport for longer; consequently, helping to increase engagement and minimise dropout (Witt & Dangi, 2018). However, there are various barriers to coaches embracing play in sport including: a lack of understanding of the value of play; few development opportunities that focus on learning through play in sport; the belief that play is frivolous; and that play opportunities take time away from “true learning” (UNICEF, 2018). To begin to address these barriers, this presentation will outline an emerging framework of play in sport for coaches, that synthesises existing play theories and presents example activities that coaches can adopt in their practice to create more opportunities for play, and more playful experiences for children within youth sport contexts. Drawing on the author’s professional practice, recommendations for coaches and coach developers regarding the potential challenges and benefits of facilitating “time to play” in youth sport will be discussed.

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.

This study explores the perceptions and experiences of teachers involved in the Football in Schools Programme, also known as Skolbollen. An online survey, developed collaboratively by the Swedish Football Association and Leeds Beckett University, was distributed to all participating schools. The collected data, encompassing various demographic groups, was analyzed by Leeds Beckett University to highlight differing experiences within the programme. The findings presented in this report provide insights into the impact and reception of the Skolbollen initiative across diverse educational settings. Part of UEFA Grassroots Programme.

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.

Presentation delivered to the Wellbeing Science Institute

Executive Summary This report contains the findings of the second part of ‘The Children Sport and Physical Activity Workforce in the UK’ study. This research has been commissioned by UK Coaching to inform the wider work of the Children’s Coaching Collaborative (CCC). The findings presented here are taken from a series of qualitative interviews and focus groups conducted with 22 active coaches of children1, all of whom had been invited to participate after answering the quantitative survey which informed part 1 of the report. Of these 22 coaches, there are some key demographics to take into consideration: • 14 men and 8 women took part in these interviews. This mirrors the wider coaching landscape whereby 62% of coaches are men. • There is an even split between coaches working in grassroots and youth performance spaces (11 each). This is a different pattern to the youth coaching landscape, where 64% of coaches work in grassroots settings and 14.6% work in youth performance or youth representative. However, this is reflective of the purposive nature of the sample for this research. • In terms of payment, 16 of the 22 coaches were completely voluntary (received no compensation or expenses). This is a slightly higher proportion than reported in the survey, where 47% of coaches were completely voluntary, 16% of coaches received compensation, 23% were part-time and 14% were full-time. The coaches discussed a wide range of topics, including: • The value of coaching • The issues they encountered in their coaching roles • Their training and development needs • Their preferred learning contexts The report is structured around these four key topic areas, before concluding with some actionable recommendations for the CCC.

This study aimed to understand the role of the coach in the personal development of young athletes in a performance setting. Three major categories were identified: high expectations and demands; genuine care; and the transformational coach. The study corroborates that, in addition to the coach, the performance environment also contains features that may lead to organic or incidental positive and negative development. In this regard, it is suggested that the current debate around whether development must be explicitly or implicitly sought could be progressed by the inclusion of the overarching term ‘deliberate’. Personal development in sport may happen explicitly or implicitly, yet the evidence presented in this paper suggests that coaches should be deliberate in their attempts to foster it.

ICOACHGIRLS will aim to positively influence primary school age girls across these three domains and support them to become more physically active over the long term. - Think - Cognitive - Knowledge & Understanding - Do - Physical - Physical Competence - Feel - Affective - Motivation & Confidence

COACHING CHILDREN SERIES: WORKSHOP 2 INTRODUCTION This factsheet aims to provide a supporting framework for the development of child appropriate sport and physical activity games. It aims to explain basic theories and methodologies of skill acquisition and gives examples of how to apply these into practice. Specifically, this factsheet gives insight into children’s FUNdamental Game Skills i.e. children’s ability to understand and manage the complexities of games and competitions. This will enable you to apply a gamebases approach to your coaching sessions. This factsheet aims to assist you to design games that support the development of FUNdamental Game Skills and deliver inclusive and differentiated sport and physical activity sessions that cater for a wide range of children’s abilities including children with disabilities. “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” Fred Rogers

COACHING CHILDREN SERIES: WORKSHOP 2 INTRODUCTION This factsheet aims to provide you as the coach with information on child development and to consider your own approach to coaching and coaching skills for the development of child appropriate sport and physical activity programmes. It aims to help you explore your coaching approach and values. Identify the key milestones in human development using the SPEC model (Social, Physical, Emotional, Cognitive). Identify how this development impacts on your coaching practice. Understand basic learning theories and learn how to apply them to your practice, and identify key coaching skills that will allow you and each child to enjoy and get the most from your sessions. We know that sport and physical activity, when delivered appropriately, can have a positive impact on children's physical, personal and social development. However, we have to strive to create the right conditions to enable this positive development to happen.

In response to the increased global significance of coaching, ICCE, in conjunction with the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations and Leeds Metropolitan University has developed the International Sport Coaching Framework (ISCF). The International Sport Coaching Framework is an internationally recognised reference point for the development of coaches and coaching systems. It is responsive to the needs of different sports, countries, organisations and institutions and provides benchmarks for the recognition and certification of coaches. It is published by Human Kinetics.

The publication of version 1.1 of the International Sport Coaching Framework marks a watershed in the development of coaching globally. The International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) and the Association for Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) have prepared the document following a process of development and consultation that commenced in April 2011. This initiative signals a new and collaborative effort to recognise and support the role of coaches at all levels of sport across the globe. Under the joint chairs, Marisol Casado (ASOIF) and Pat Duffy (ICCE), the Working Group on the International Sport Coaching Framework (ISCF) has developed a comprehensive document that provides the basis for initial implementation and further worldwide development and consultation. We encourage you to join us in the mission of providing clear reference points for the development of coaching and the support, education and qualification of coaches.

Part 1 of this 2-paper series identified a wide and deep network of context, generative mechanisms and outcomes responsible for psychosocial development in a performance basketball club. In this – part 2 – study, the stakeholder’s programme theories were tested during a full-season ethnography of the same club. The findings confirm the highly individualised nature of each young person’s journey. Methodologically, immersion in the day-to-day environment generated a fine-grain analysis of the processes involved, including: i) sustained attentional focus; ii) structured and unstructured skill building activities; iii) deliberate and incidental support; and iv) feelings indicating personal growth. Personal development in and through sport is thus shown to be conditional, multi-faceted, time-sensitive and idiosyncratic. The findings of this two-part study are considered to propose a model of psychosocial development in and through sport. This heuristic tool is presented to support sport psychologists, coaches, club administrators and parents to deliberately create and optimise developmental environments.

Sport has the potential to support psychosocial development in young people. However, extant studies have tended to evaluate purpose-built interventions, leaving regular organised sport relatively overlooked. Moreover, previous work has tended to concentrated on a narrow range of outcomes. To address these gaps, we conducted a season-long ethnography of a youth perfor-mance sport club based on a novel Realist Evaluation approach [1]. We construed the club as a social intervention within a complex system of agents and structures. In this - Part 1 - account we detail the perceptions of former and current club parents, players and coaches, using them to build a set of programme theories. The resulting network of outcomes (i.e. self, emotional, social, moral and cognitive) and generative mechanisms (i.e., the attention factory, the greenhouse for growth, the personal boost, and the real-life simulator) spanning across multiple contextual layers provides a nuanced understanding of stakeholders’ views and experiences. This textured per-spective of the multi-faceted process of development provides new insights for administrators, coaches and parents to maximise the developmental properties of youth sport, and signposts new avenues for research in this area

Top level professional sport is subject to enhanced levels of scrutiny. Understanding the factors that lead to success and the role coaches play has become a priority in research and practice. This study used the Serial Winning Coaches Vision-People-Environment Framework (VPEF) (Mallett & Lara-Bercial; 2016; 2024) to case study Pablo Laso, a European professional serial winning basketball coach. Using primary and secondary data, the aims were to ascertain the validity of the VPEF as an exploratory tool for coaching practice, to identify which factors and processes were relevant and became prioritised, and to understand how Coach Laso rationalised the relative contribution of resources and execution. Findings suggest the VPEF is a suitable analytical device to explore Coach Laso’s practice – his anatomy of success. Factors that appear to be necessary for success were identified, yet we were still only able to generalise or speculate about the conditions that are ‘jointly sufficient’ to bring about success. What appears instead is a complex and elaborate mix of conviction, expertise, serendipity, purposeful endeavour and resources that enables rather than determines success. Nonetheless, Coach Laso’s anatomy of success may serve as a catalyst for other coaches’ reflection and development and to guide further research.

Over the last decade, there has been increased recognition of the size and role of the coaching workforce in Europe. This has led the European Commission to increase its focus on sport coaching and call upon Member States to take steps towards its regulation or professionalisation. However, despite this policy direction, the academic literature, albeit limited to a handful of European countries, has been critical of sport coaching’s capacity and need to move towards a more professionalised status. The purpose of our paper is to begin a discussion about the current and future state of sport coaching across Europe. To do so, we will present the results of an expert survey that provides baseline quantitative data on the current state of coaching across 26 European countries. Results show mixed, but potentially higher than expected, systemic professionalisation of coaching in Europe, though there are also substantial regional differences. We also find significant deficits in national data collection and management; this severely limits the development of a clearer picture and diminishes policymaking. In response to these findings, we propose potential avenues for research and policymaking.

This article provides an overview of the context, details, and outcomes of a consultation and review of the International Council for Coaching Excellence’s interactions and engagements with, and service provision to, the international sport coaching research community. The consultation and review were undertaken by the International Council for Coaching Excellence Research Committee (RC). The paper starts with a description of the sport coaching research landscape. It then provides details of the role of the International Council for Coaching Excellence, its Research Fair, and RC. The paper then offers an overview of the formal initiation of the consultation and review at the Global Coach Conference, Japan 2019, as well as a brief overview of the approach used. It then details the consultation findings providing direction for the RC moving forward. The resultant revised RC terms of reference are included as an appendix.

This chapter explores the notion of the professionalization of coaching and coaches based on the current work and previous experiences of the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE). It provides a historical review of the evolution of the notion of coaching as a profession through key texts published by ICCE as well as existing research and policy documents. The themes identified are then traced through a brief examination of examples from four different countries (Canada, Portugal, Croatia and South Africa) with coaching systems at different stages of maturity. Implications for practitioners, and for the future of coaching as a profession are drawn, and recommendations for the future are proposed.

Coaching high-performance professional athletes is a demanding role characterized by intense pressure, physical and mental strain, and a constant struggle to balance myriad resources and perceived control with high and sometimes unrealistic expectations and successful results (winning). This complex environment, marked by uncertainty and ambiguity, is shaped by intricate interactions between individuals, groups and events within specific governance and management structures. The coach is responsible for leading and sculpting this complex environment. In this chapter, we delve into the multifaceted nature of the coaching job in professional sport, more specifically, its position within the high-performance ecosystem, and the resulting tensions with those in managerial or leadership positions. To address the challenges faced by coaches, we emphasize the need for greater awareness among high-performance managers and leaders of the factors constraining or facilitating coach and athlete performance and wellbeing, and advocate for a greater balance of power leading to more efficient, effective, and healthier work practices. In closing, we offer some recommendations for coach education, development, progression, protection and well-being.

Coaching high-performance professional athletes is a demanding role characterized by intense pressure, physical and mental strain, and a constant struggle to balance myriad resources and perceived control with high and sometimes unrealistic expectations and successful results (winning). This complex environment, marked by uncertainty and ambiguity, is shaped by intricate interactions between individuals, groups and events within specific governance and management structures. The coach is responsible for leading and sculpting this complex environment. In this chapter, we delve into the multifaceted nature of the coaching job in professional sport, more specifically, its position within the high-performance ecosystem, and the resulting tensions with those in managerial or leadership positions. To address the challenges faced by coaches, we emphasize the need for greater awareness among high-performance managers and leaders of the factors constraining or facilitating coach and athlete performance and wellbeing, and advocate for a greater balance of power leading to more efficient, effective, and healthier work practices. In closing, we offer some recommendations for coach education, development, progression, protection and well-being.

COACHING CHILDREN SERIES: WORKSHOP 3 INTRODUCTION This factsheet aims to provide the coach with the building blocks to support the development of safe and efficient movement by children. It will facilitate you with ideas on how to engage in activities that target the development of children’s FUNdamentals of Movement and FUNdamental Movement Skills. In addition, it is aimed to assist the development of your coaching skills by considering the guiding principles for the observation of children’s movement skills and helping you to pinpoint where you can assist children to improve their movement ability.

COACHING CHILDREN SUCCESSFULLY IN SPORT AN INTRODUCTION FOR COACHES This factsheet aims to provide a supporting framework for the development of child appropriate sports and physical activity sessions. It aims to increase the understanding of children’s reasons for joining and leaving sports and physical activities, children’s developmental stages, appropriate coaching approaches during these stages and the importance of developing the whole child. Too often, sessions offered to children in sport and physical activity are scaled down versions of adult activities. However, children’s needs and wants could not be more different from adults. To develop lifelong physically active individuals it is essential that coaches understand these needs and wants and help children to enjoy and feel passionate about participating in physical activity and sport.

Sport coaching is at a pivotal moment in its short history. The publication of the International Sport Coaching Framework by the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) in 2013 has drawn attention to coaching world-wide and fostered a step change in the way coaching systems are understood and built. Within this evolving context, higher education institutions are increasingly playing a greater role in the education and development of coaches in many countries. One way in which they are doing so is through the delivery of partial or full sport coaching degrees. ICCE recognises this emerging landscape. In this article we present an introduction to the newly developed International Sport Coaching Bachelor Degree Standards. The Standards are the culmination of a 12-month process of cooperation and consultation between an expert group and the coaching community at large. They aim to respond to the needs of higher education institutions and serve as an internationally accepted reference point to aid the development of bachelor coaching degrees that prepare coaches to effectively support athletes and participants.

Sport has the potential to support psychosocial development in young people. However, extant studies have tended to evaluate purpose-built interventions, leaving regular organised sport relatively overlooked. Moreover, previous work has tended to concentrated on a narrow range of outcomes. To address these gaps, we conducted a season-long ethnography of a youth performance sport club based on a novel Realist Evaluation approach [1]. We construed the club as a social intervention within a complex system of agents and structures. In this - Part 1 - account we detail the perceptions of former and current club parents, players and coaches, using them to build a set of programme theories. The resulting network of outcomes (i.e. self, emotional, social, moral and cognitive) and generative mechanisms (i.e., the attention factory, the greenhouse for growth, the personal boost, and the real-life simulator) spanning across multiple contextual layers provides a nuanced understanding of stakeholders’ views and experiences. This textured perspective of the multi-faceted process of development provides new insights for administrators, coaches and parents to maximise the developmental properties of youth sport, and signposts new avenues for research in this area.

Part 1 of this 2-paper series identified a wide and deep network of context, generative mecha-nisms and outcomes responsible for psychosocial development in a performance basketball club. In this – part 2 – study, the stakeholder’s programme theories were tested during a full-season ethnography of the same club. The findings confirm the highly individualised nature of each young person’s journey. Methodologically, immersion in the day-to-day environment generated a fine-grain analysis of the processes involved, including: i) sustained attentional focus; ii) struc-tured and unstructured skill building activities; iii) deliberate and incidental support; and iv) feelings indicating personal growth. Personal development in and through sport is thus shown to be conditional, multi-faceted, time-sensitive and idiosyncratic. The findings of this two-part study are considered to propose a model of psychosocial development in and through sport. This heuristic tool is presented to support sport psychologists, coaches, club administrators and par-ents to deliberately create and optimise developmental environments.

The ICCE International Coaching Degree Standards (ICDS) were published in 2016 to support the development of fit-for-purpose sport coaching bachelor degrees globally. The ICDS were very positively received by the international higher education sport coaching community and have become a highly utilized resource. In this session, members of the ICDS core development group will provide a brief history of the development of the standards, how they have been used to date and what lies in store for the future. This will include the development of the ICDS Endorsement Process, whereby higher education institutions can get their degrees assessed by ICCE experts leading to full, major or minor endorsement. Case studies of those organisations that have been endorsed to date will be presented. In addition, a new and innovative Erasmus+ project, CoachEd6 will be presented. The project, led by Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, and supported by ICCE is developing a series of units, based on the ICDS, that can be adapted by higher education institutions to create sport coaching full or partial degrees.

Aimed at BEST PRACTICE strand And CONCEPTUAL ISSUES IN COACH EDUCATION theme Principles of effective curriculum design for sports coaches David Piggott and Sergio Lara-Bercial Leeds Beckett University The purpose of this paper is to introduce concepts and exemplars to assist coaches in creating effective developmental curricula. Through our research and experience in formal and non-formal coach education, it has become clear that curriculum design - and attendant tasks such as performance modelling and performance analysis - is conspicuous by its absence. Yet recent research with serial winning coaches (Mallett & Lara-Bercial, in press) and guidance from international bodies (ICCE, ASOIF & LBU, 2013) suggests that ‘developing a vision’ and long-term planning against this vision is a crucial task for head coaches in talent development and performance contexts. Through our own work as coach developers, we have conceived of curriculum design as involving three sequential steps: 1) developing a tactical, technical mental model (TTMM) of a sport; 2) developing a performance model; and, based on steps 1 and 2, 3) deriving an age/stage curriculum. The paper therefore begins with a brief review of concepts from philosophy (Suits, 1978), education (Bruner, 1977) and sport (Grehaigne, Richard & Griffin, 2005) that we have found useful in developing TTMMs. We then pick up on trends in performance modelling (e.g. the English FA’s recent ‘DNA’ project) to show how statistics and analysis can assist in developing a vision for target performance. Finally, we show how Bruner’s idea of a spiral curriculum (Bruner, 1977) can be applied, with the aid of age/stage models, to structure an effective developmental curriculum to enhance programme planning and seasonal and sessional coaching. We conclude the paper with example curricula from two different high-performance basketball programmes in England. Through these exemplars we show how the concepts have been applied in practical talent development settings. We also raise a number of issues for further research, mainly concerning the implementation of such curricula in complex environments where a number of coaches with different backgrounds are embedded in existing hierarchical relationships. References Bruner, J. (1977). The Process of Education. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press. Grehaigne, J., Richard, J. and Griffin, L. (2005). Teaching and Learning Team Sports and Games. London: Routledge. Mallett, C. & Lara-Bercial, S. (in press). Serial Winning Coaches: Vision, People and Environment. In Raab, Wylleman, Seiler, Elbe & Hatzigeorgiadis (Eds). Sport Psychology in Europe at the Start of the Third Millenium. London: Elsevier. ICCE, ASOIF and LBU (2013). International Sport Coaching Framework (v1.2). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Professional soccer is arguably more competitive than ever. The substantial financial and commercial rewards of winning international competitions. This chapter explains the challenges associated with talent identification and development of youths and why it may be better to stop thinking about talent per se; and second, to present six principles for establishing talent development environments (TDEs) in grassroots soccer that can be applied by a range of stakeholders (e.g., coaches, parents, and practitioners). In addition, effective system resourcing requires planning for other elements of the sport system related to long-term success, such as effectively educating and training coaches to be able to adequately implement the processes of identification and development and/or identifying emergent areas of research that might have value for future coaching and athlete development practice. Talent identification and development programmes have traditionally been associated with one primary goal.

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.

Coach education and development has been the subject of considerable attention and investment at government, international federation and national federation levels over a sustained period. The need for a systematic approach to the evaluation of coach education and development programmes has recently been highlighted (Duffy, North & Muir, 2012). Through the articulation of programme theories the core assumptions, intentions and values of programmes can be examined and the extent to which interventions work for different people, in what ways and in what circumstances can be explored. Using a critical realist perspective, a benchmarking study was conducted on behalf The Football Association in England. The purpose of the study was to examine the position of existing programmes relative to five international comparator countries; five leading UK sports and emergent trends within the international coaching community, including those outlined in the International Sport Coaching Framework (ICCE & ASOIF, 2012). Existing programme theories were identified in a number of key areas through document analysis; interview of key personnel and a collaborative process of refinement and co-creation with key FA technical personnel. These programme theories related to the game; the player; the coach; coach education; coach development; coaching as a profession and the environment. The programme theories provided the basis of an investigation of the current position of FA coach education development and highlighted areas of strength and possible avenues for further enhancement. This paper will focus on the way in which the role of the coach has been conceptualised and framed to date and the implications for the design and delivery of coach education and development programmes. An example will be provided of how The FA has been proactive in developing a new approach to the development of coaches within the context of the professional game in England. In addition, the implications of the study for the coaching strategy of The FA will be highlighted as well as the possible further evolution of the methodology employed within the study.

In 2015, the International Olympic Committee advocated for holistic development approaches in youth athletic development (Bergeron et al., 20151). Despite a growing holistic development agenda within talent development, there are few examples of good practice to support those in practice. ICOACHKIDS have complied real-life case studies of good practice from six different countries and sports. These case studies provide examples of how talent development environment seek to create holistic development outcomes. Each case study represents a version of holistic development in their context, each environment has its strengths and points of challenge. The case studies are written for those supporting or in talent development environments such as policy makers, managers, directors and coaches.

This position statement is the result of a consultation process carried out in 2021 as part of project CoachForce (CF21), an Erasmus+ co-funded initiative co-led by the International Council for Coaching Excellence and Leeds Beckett University. It is organised in two parts. First, the principal and extended position statements are presented. Subsequently, a short background and rationale paper are offered as supplementary information. Development of these documents took place in four stages. Stage one saw the CF21 expert group develop an outline of the contents of the position statement. Stage 2 included the development of a first full draft of the statement and the rationale paper by the core authors. Stage 3 comprised of a global consultation with the ICCE member base. Finally Stage 4 entailed the development of the final version based on the feedback received. The statement is intended to cover the period 2021 to 2030, however, it will be subject to periodical review and, if necessary, amended.

The contribution that sport coaches make to society has received growing recognition among policy-makers over the last decade. Sport coaching is no longer only associated with professional and Olympic sport, trophies, and medals, and it is regularly proposed as an activity that contributes to the development of individuals, communities, and societies. Unfortunately, sport coaching has also been associated with negative outcomes, such as institutionalized doping, abuse of athletes, and match fixing. The level of scrutiny and expectations on coaches are higher than ever, and, therefore, more and more countries and sport organizations are examining how coaches are currently recruited, educated, developed, supported, employed, represented, and recognized. In the current landscape, the need to review the existing International Council for Coaching Excellence position statement on “Sport Coaching as a Profession,” written in 2011, is paramount. The 2021 position statement takes into account policy, practice, and research developments over the last decade to propose a way forward for sport coaching over the next 10 years.

The General and Coaching Specific Education Frameworks in the EU – Knowledge, Impact and Future Needs Survey is part of project CoachLearn. CoachLearn is co-funded by Erasmus+ under the Strategic Partnerships Action within Key Action 2 – Cooperation and Innovation for Good Practices. CoachLearn seeks to enhance sport coaches' learning, mobility and employment through the development of a European Sport Coaching Framework. The survey aimed to gather the views of a cross-section of coach education stakeholders across the European Union which included national lead coaching organisations, national Olympic committees, national and international governing bodies of sport and vocational and higher education institutions. The first half of the consultation revolved around the identification of common challenges faced by stakeholders, the various tools they have used to overcome them and the role played by existing generic and coaching specific qualification frameworks and mobility tools. The second half investigated the views of the participants in relation to the development of the future European Sport Coaching Framework.

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.

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.

The research article summaries in the Digest are intended to direct International Sport Coaching Journal (ISCJ) readers toward research, authors, and organizations that may be of interest given the mission of the journal. The Digest summaries are carefully sourced, pertinent, recent coaching, and coach education/development articles from a range of sport-related journals, which may be of interest to coaches and scholars who read the ISCJ. It has been a feature of the ISCJ from the very first issue, and while the sources and focus of the Digest have evolved over the last 10 years, the mission to broaden awareness of coaching scholarship has remained. In this short editorial, we will provide an overview of the Digest across the last decade in line with a trend in recent years of examining historical coaching scholarship within the ISCJ (Hirsch et al., 2023) and across the field of sport coaching (Campbell et al., 2023). In doing so, we will highlight the contribution of the Digest to the ISCJ, consider the implications of the sources/topics included over the 10 years, and provide a call to action for the Digest moving forward.

Although global policy states that coaches are a key stakeholder group for anti-doping education, very little is known about how performance and participation coaches develop their understanding of anti-doping policy and practice. Therefore, 292 UK-based coaches completed an online survey exploring their experiences of anti-doping education (i.e., topics covered, how and by whom the programmes were delivered and how knowledgeable and well-equipped coaches felt to deal with doping-related matters). The results showed that almost a quarter of the surveyed coaches reported never learning about anti-doping. Only a third had engaged with a formal anti-doping education programme and coaches typically received information on detection-deterrence related topics (e.g., banned substances, testing procedures). Many coaches perceived themselves as only having ‘a little’ knowledge about anti-doping and declared themselves as ‘a little’ equipped to work with their sportspeople on doping-related matters. Nonetheless, 96% of coaches were inclined to learn more about anti-doping in the future. Given the World Anti-Doping Code states that anti-doping education for coaches should be compulsory, it is crucial that insights from coaches are made public to inform the development of evidence- informed anti-doping programmes that are tailored and targeted.

There are current global concerns surrounding the lifestyle behaviours and future health and well-being of youth. One concept that has gained traction to address these concerns is Physical Literacy (PL). Organised youth sport is one context that can promote PL, offering multiple benefits coupled with a range of challenges. This leading article aims to provide a balanced overview of the key challenges associated with supporting PL within youth sport and offers solutions to overcome these challenges. The first challenge focuses upon attracting youth (and parents) to sport through increasing recruitment against social constraints (e.g., socioeconomic), popular entertainment (e.g., streaming) and family issues (e.g., scheduling). The second centres on retaining children in sport to maximise participation through the appropriate design, organisation and delivery of training and competition opportunities. The final challenge relates to the talent pathway and how sports can structure (e.g., [de]selection) and deliver (e.g., training intensification) a pathway to ensure that all youth athletes flourish along their PL journey. Our solutions focus on organisations (e.g., national governing bodies, clubs) understanding and considering, 1) PL as an individual’s relationship with movement and physical activity throughout life, 2) children’s rights (e.g., interests, opportunities, expression of views), and 3) sport policies and practices when designing and delivering sport experiences. Whilst these challenges and solutions are wide ranging and complex, our belief is that the adoption of a PL approach by stakeholders when designing, delivering and enacting sport programs can enhance the experiences of youth involved in sport and ultimately support their lifelong PL journey.

Holistic development in the context of talent development is a popular yet ambiguous concept. A caring, healthy and ‘all future eventualities’ approach to talent development has been advocated, most notably by the International Olympic Committee (Bergeron et al., 2015). Yet, little is known about how coaches can create talent development environments (TDE) that can foster holistic athlete outcomes. This study aims to develop a working model of holistic development practice. First, holistic development was conceptualised from previous literature as a combination of three athlete outcomes: athletic skills, health and wellbeing and life readiness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with academy directors (n = 6), coaches (n = 8), and support staff (n = 9) from three team and three individual sport TDEs. Subsequently, a ten-week ethnography was conducted in one professional cricket club TDE, with male athletes (aged 10–18), to understand specific and contextual mechanisms of practice. Data were collected through observations of the environment (120 hours) and informal interviews recorded with descriptive field and reflective notes, and semi-structured interviews with the academy director (n = 1), coaches (n = 3), support staff (n = 2) and focus groups with parents (n = 9) and athletes (n = 16). An abductive approach to thematic analysis was adopted to iteratively compare data against the working model. Preliminary findings support the three-outcome conceptualisation of holistic development and suggest that coaches can adopt the following mechanisms in their environment to support holistic development outcomes: an explicit philosophy of holistic athlete development, stakeholder alignment and support, a climate of care, a long-term development focus, appropriate challenge, and integrated life-skill development.

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 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.

The health and wellbeing benefits of taking part in organised sport for children and adolescents have been widely reported (Holt et al., 2017) yet participation levels have declined steadily and globally over the last decade (Eime, et al. 2019). However, most of this research has been conducted outside of Europe and although it is safe to assume certain similarities, there is a need for research to explore youth sport participation trends specifically within Europe to inform youth sport participation initiatives. Therefore, the aim of this study, part of Erasmus’ co-funded project ICOACHKIDS+, was to explore organised youth sport participation rates across Europe. Participation data was collected for 5,565,860 children aged 6–18 years (males=4,456,915; females=1,108,945) across 18 sports and 27 countries. Differences in the participation rates between genders and biannual age categories were investigated using a generalised linear mixed effects model. Overall, youth male sport participation rates (∼80%) are significantly higher than females (∼20%). Sports participation peaks for both males and females between 12–14 years. Participation decreases significantly for boys from 14-to-18 years of age in most sports. Girls’ participation significantly decreases between 14–16 years but increases again between 16–18 years in some sports. Findings suggest that strategies to keep more youth engaged in sport, in particular girls, are needed. It is also recommended that sport policy focuses upon overall participation across sports using a longitudinal track approach, and that further research is needed to understand sport attrition from the perspective of the young person, and across a range of demographic variables

Modern day high-performance sport is arguably more competitive than ever before. National teams, clubs and sport programmes therefore focus on identifying talented athletes and developing them into the sporting superstars of tomorrow through structured talent systems and tailored talent development environments (TDEs). Recently, however, concerns have been raised over the short and long-term physical, psychological and social impact of young athletes participating in the talent development process.

Talent development environments (TDEs) are commonplace in sporting talent systems. National teams, clubs and sport programmes often fund and organise TDEs with the aim of developing future high-performance athletes. Although pursuing an elite sporting career can be an enriching experience, it is an intensive and long-term endeavour. It inherently carries a high level of physical, psychological and social challenge which needs to be managed appropriately to minimise detrimental impacts to athletes and maximise the potential benefits of TDE involvement. Consequently, calls have been made for holistic development approaches in talent development. This article presents the why, what and how of establishing holistic TDEs including six key principles of good practice.

Coach‐perpetrated interpersonal violence can pose significant risks to athletes' development as well as psychological, physical and social well‐being worldwide. This study examined the perceived harmfulness of witnessed coach‐perpetrated interpersonal violence behaviours in the North Mediterranean region, alongside any associations with coaching climates (empowering and disempowering). Data were collected from 494 active coaches across Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Spain and Portugal through an online questionnaire where they reported witnessing and perceived harm of psychological, physical, instrumental and sexual violence, as well as their coaching climates. The analysis showed psychological violence as the most frequently witnessed form and physical violence being perceived as the most harmful one. An empowering coaching climate, characterised by autonomy support and positive reinforcement, correlated positively with higher perceived harm, especially for psychological and instrumental violence. Conversely, a disempowering climate, marked by control and punitive behaviours, correlated with lower perceived harm. Gender, coach education and professional status were found to influence coaches' perceptions, highlighting that cultural and structural complexities have a role towards interpersonal violence tolerance. The study underscores the critical need for culturally tailored safe sport initiatives, mandatory training of coaches in safe coaching behaviours and practices and proactive safeguarding measures to mitigate interpersonal violence across diverse sporting contexts. Culturally informed interventions need to challenge the normalisation of violence in coaching and encourage empowering climates that place athletes in the centre and prioritise their welfare.

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.

Digest contains a listing of pertinent, recent coaching and coach education articles and updates from other sources.

Maturation is the process by which we change and develop throughout life. As children grow older, they do not only mature physically and physiologically but also psycho-socially. Over time their abilities to remember, retrieve and process information as well as to reason and problem solve develop. These changes in cognitive development go hand in hand with being able to recognise their own abilities and attributes, shaping an increasingly complex sense of self. Furthermore, children grow to recognise, and understand their own and others’ emotions and perspectives, allowing for increasing cooperation but also introducing challenges in terms of social interaction. Over time children face the challenge of establishing independence, a coherent identity and a sense of direction for the future. Knowing how children typically develop in these areas will allow coaches to better plan developmentally appropriate sessions, understand their participants’ changing behaviour, as well as cater for the various developmental challenges children face as they mature.

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.

Digest contains a listing of pertinent, recent coaching and coach education articles and updates from other sources

ICOACHKIDS+ is an Erasmus+ Sport co-funded project part of the overall activities of the ICOACHKIDS Global Movement. It aims to enhance sport participation and reduce dropout for children aged 13-18, and to maximise sport’s health enhancing properties. This report presents the findings of two unique studies conducted as part of ICOACHKIDS+ examining TDEs in Europe. In the first one, over 1,400 athletes, parents and coaches across five countries and twenty-seven sports responded to the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire (TDEQ-5, Li et al., 2015). This study, the largest study of TDEs to date, examined the perceived quality of these environments by the different stakeholders. The second study explored good holistic development practice in six exemplary TDEs. Twenty-three interviews with managers, directors, coaches and multi-disciplinary support staff were carried out. These clubs and programmes were nationally and internationally recognised TDES with a proven track record of applying a holistic development approach to talent development. The data from these studies have been used to inform the creation of guidelines for the development of holistic talent development environments. Through the findings of the two studies, we are able to offer a novel definition of Holistic Development in TDEs, and identify 5 key tenets of good practice, and the 10 guidelines that bring them to life.

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.

Despite the widespread health benefits of physical activity, globally, four out of five adolescents are insufficiently active. Sport participation, a key vehicle for physical activity, diminishes by as much as 80% as children get older. To-date no theoretically grounded, validated research meas-ure of dropout exists. In this two-paper series, we attempt to resolve this issue via the develop-ment, initial validation, and application of the Youth Sport Dropout Questionnaire. In the current paper – Pat I – we used the COM-B framework to design and initially validate The Youth Sport Dropout Questionnaire. Three sequential studies were conducted. Study 1 included a review of existing literature, an expert consultation and participant focus groups generating 49 reasons for youth sport dropout. Study 2 explored the functionality of the 49 items in a sample of 479 stu-dents. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 28-item four-factor solution. Study 3 tested the di-mensionality and reliability of the scale in a sample of 648 students from seven European coun-tries. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a final 16-item, four-factor solution, suggesting that reasons for dropout behavior were captured by capability (C), opportunity (O), motivation (M) with the important new addition of injury (I). This initial validation supports the YDSQ as a rig-orous research tool to capture the reasons underpinning youth sport dropout behavior.

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.

Relatively little is known about coaching systems within Olympic sport settings. Subsequently, professional development programmes for coaches in these settings lack evidence to draw upon to support design and delivery. Being aware, UK Sport commissioned a review of coaching in four funded sport settings assumed to be expert, effective and ethical (3 Es). Paralympic (2) and Olympic (2) sports were purposefully contacted. From each sport, a senior manager, head coach, assistant coach, sport scientist, and a focus group of athletes were asked and agreed to participate in the study. Interviews lasted 45 – 90 minutes. Interviews were structured to access views on the 3 Es. The need for expertise was contextualised as being an essential underpinning for effectiveness. The six domains of expertise previously identified by (Abraham et al., 2010) were highlighted. The importance of being able to predict future sport demands for medals was highlighted. Numerous strategies for effectiveness were identified. A universal strategy was the development of critical, trusting, relationships across athlete and support team. Examples of ethical practice as deductively aligned with ideas from medical ethics were consistently apparent. However, alignment was largely based upon being good people with good values. In conclusion, an effective coach in this setting was defined as one who evidences consistent achievement of medals or highly challenging goals through an ethical integrated system and interpersonal problem-solving approach. Effective environments existed where there was a culturally and strategically aligned environment. Ethical practice was typical, but its development was not formal.

Children’s physical activity levels and competence have declined steadily and globally over the last two decades. This decrease has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact in young people’s physical and mental wellbeing, now and in the future, has been demonstrated in multiple studies. Action is needed. ICOACHKIDS+ is an Erasmus+ Sport co-funded project part of the overall activities of the ICOACHKIDS Global Movement. It aims to enhance sport participation and reduce dropout for children aged 13-18, and to maximise sport’s health enhancing properties. This report presents the findings of a unique series of multi-country and multi-sport studies investigating the participation rates of children and young people in organised youth sport and the reasons why they stop taking part. Based on these findings, a set of recommendations to enhance young people’s participation in sport are proposed.

Organised sport is one potential antidote to the global youth inactivity crisis. Therefore, under-standing why young people drop out constitutes a key research endeavour. In paper 1 of this se-ries, we developed and validated a new Youth Sport Dropout Questionnaire (YSDQ). In paper 2, we used the YSDQ-LV (49-item long version) to examine dropout in 1127 university students from seven European countries. A four-stage analysis investigated the relative and combined im-portance of dropout reasons. Three items – the rocks – were statistically more important: “I prior-itised schoolwork and had no time left to take part in sport”; and “I found other things that I en-joyed doing more than sport”; and “I found it stressful when I did not perform/play as well as I expected”. On average, however, these rocks were rated as “moderately important”, along with 18 reasons (the pebbles) rated as “slightly important to moderately important”, and the remain-ing 26 reasons (the sand) rated as “slightly important to not at all important”. These findings suggest that sport dropout is not caused by a single reason but is underpinned by a dynamic tricky mix of reasons – a series of rocks, pebbles and sand unique to each young person.

Digest contains a listing of pertinent, recent coaching and coach education articles and updates from other sources.

Digest contains a listing of pertinent, recent coaching and coach education articles and updates from other sources.

Digest contains a listing of pertinent, recent coaching and coach education articles and updates from other sources.

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.

Given the importance of the environment in athlete development, recent years have seen an increase in research examining Talent Development Environments (TDEs). However, most research is limited to a single nation and the athletes’ perspective with little consideration of the views of parents or coaches. This study addresses these limitations by examining adolescent (13–18 years) athletes’ (n=202), parents’ (n=178) and coaches’ (n=59) perceptions of TDEs from five European nations. Athletes completed the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire-5 (TDEQ-5) (Li et al., 2015), with parents and coaches completing an adapted TDEQ-5. Items and subscales were analysed across athlete, coach, and parent groups. Parents (4.14±1.51) had less-positive perceptions of their associated TDE across all items, compared with athletes (4.42±1.45; p<0.05) and coaches (4.60±1.28; p<0.05). Across groups, Long-term Development (4.79±0.90) was the most positively perceived TDEQ-5 subscale. Support Network (4.02±1.23) and Alignment of Expectations (4.05±1.11) were the least positively perceived TDEQ-5 subscales. Furthermore, Holistic Quality Preparation (4.30±1.07) and Communication (4.47±1.12) scores for athletes and coaches were significantly higher (p<0.001) than parents. As parental perspectives of TDEs are consistently less positive than those of athletes and coaches, future research should explore reasons behind these differences and how they can inform developments considering the broader aims of TDEs. Moreover, recognising the performance and health implications associated with Support Network, Communication and Holistic Quality Preparation, together with the varying perceptions of these across the groups, offers opportunities for further investigation to develop European TDEs.

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.

Talent Development Environments (TDEs) aim to provide the appropriate conditions for youth athletes to realise their full sporting potential. How TDEs are designed and operated is therefore of great importance for the development of elite athletes. Stakeholders are vital in this process, yet their perspectives are poorly understood. This study assessed the quality of TDEs across 5 European countries, comparing athlete, parent and coach perceptions. A total of 571 athletes (Mean age = 15.2 ± 1.5 years), 759 parents and 134 coaches were recruited from TDEs across 27 sports. Participants completed the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire-5 or adapted versions. Overall, perceptions of European TDEs were positive. Coaches reported higher perceptions of TDE quality compared to athletes and parents, athletes reported marginally higher perceptions compared to parents. Across stakeholders, Long-Term Development was highest rated, followed by Communication. Support Network was lowest rated. Stakeholder perceptions varied most for the Holistic Quality Preparation subscale, highlighting perceived differences in TDE support for rounded athlete development. From an organisational perspec- tive, identified strengths and weaknesses provide direction to coach and parent education. Practically, TDE leaders should consider how they can refine stakeholder coordination through integrating stake- holder perceptions as valuable feedback into their environment, especially for intangible factors.

Purpose: Despite the known health and wellbeing benefits of taking part in sport for children and adolescents, it is reported that sports participation declines during adolescence. The purpose of this study was to explore current organized youth sport participation rates across Europe for both males and females and update current understanding. Method: Sport participation registration data was collected for 18 sports from 27 countries. In total, participation data was collected from over 5 million young people from Under 8s (U8s) to Under 18s (U18s). Differences in the participation rates between age categories were investigated using a generalized linear mixed effects model. Results: Overall, males were four times more likely to participate in organised youth sport than females’ participants, with this trend apparent across all age categories and across most sports. There was a significant decrease across sports in participation rates for males during adolescence from U14-U16 and U16-U18. There was a significant decrease in participation rates for females from U14-U16 for most sports except but an increase in participation rates from U16-U18 for 12 out of 18 sports. Soccer (1262%), wrestling (391%) and boxing (209%) were the sports that had greater male sport participation rates. In contrast, dance sports (86%) and volleyball (63%) had more female participants than males. This research shows male sports participation is significantly greater than female in youth sport across Europe. Conclusion: Furthermore, findings showed that for both male and female participants, participation rates increased from U8-U14 for the majority of sports followed by reduced participation rates during adolescence. Findings of this research can be used by national governing bodies and sporting organizations to inform youth sport participation initiatives.