As part of our commitment to be here for the coach, we are in the process of designing a research project and a pilot program for community coach development. The objective of the research is to ensure that volunteer community coaches experience a sense of support and connection in their coaching responsibilities.
In-situ development opportunities and communities of practice are increasingly recognised as vital in coach learning. However, these opportunities often only exist for coaches within a performance pathway.
We know that fewer coaches have access to a mentor now than they did in 2019, and that there is a large discrepancy between male and female coaches accessing support from a mentor. We want to develop an understanding of how in-situ development might support volunteer community coaches and influence an inclusive culture of ongoing learning.
The research will explore:
- what it feels like to be a volunteer community coach
- how volunteer community coaches benefit from access to a coach developer
- how best to support and enable the coach developer in their role
- what the challenges of supporting volunteer community coaches are and how best to solve them in this setting.
The data gathered will be used to inform the creation of a community coach development model for the UK, building on existing experiential insight and Sport Wales research (2022).
Proposals must be submitted via email by 5pm on Friday 14 July 2023.