Community coaches form the lifeblood of community sport provision working with a broad range of participants to achieve outcomes in traditional formalised sport, physical activity, sport for health, and sport for development settings. Yet, research suggests community coaches can feel isolated, undervalued, and disconnected from support (Cronin & Armour, 2015; Cronin et al., 2018; Sport Wales, 2022; UK Coaching 2022).

They can feel overwhelmed by the tasks involved in coaching community sport, including practical sport delivery in public settings and ‘hidden’ work such as planning, organising and orchestrating individuals (Carroll, 2023; Cronin & Armour, 2015; Potrac, Nelson, & O’Gorman, 2016; Cronin, et al., 2023; Sport Wales, 2022).

This leads to high turnover in these roles (Ives et al. 2021; Sport Wales, 2022) and challenges with mental health (Carroll, 2023). It is apparent that community coaches would benefit from support.

View and download the report to explore the findings.