Coach Tracking Study(PDF) - sports coach UK

COACH TRACKING STUDY
© Action Images Limited/Reuters
1 Executive Summary
This report is based on a unique
four-year study of coaches in the
United Kingdom. Each year, over 400
coaches completed a survey, providing
details on their coaching practice,
professional development and motivations.
We have used this data to better understand
coaches and track their changes over time.
The coaches in this study represent a distinct section
of the national coaching population. They are better
qualified and more experienced than average and could
easily be referred to as the core of any coaching
workforce. As such, their views on coaching are worth
listening to and acting upon.
Below are six points to take away from this report:
1 Coaches play a vital role in participation. The 417
coaches in this study alone provided coaching to
over 13,000 participants. As club membership
increased, it was often these coaches who stepped in
to fill the coaching gaps.
2 Although coaches often have very practical reasons
for starting coaching (eg there was no one else
available to do it), as they develop, they experience a
range of different and more personal benefits.
There is the satisfaction that comes from seeing
athletes develop and a feeling of giving something
back to the sport/club/community.
3 Coaching allows people to stay involved in their
sport. It provides a social interaction with players
and, for some, provides a continuing involvement in
the competitive element of sport.
4 As coaches gain more experience, they start to
supplement their technical and tactical knowledge
with more interpersonal and reflection skills. There is
also a drift towards more informal learning sources,
which reflects the different knowledge being sought.
5 There is a depressing trend in coaches feeling less
supported by their governing body of sport and
national partners. While the majority still feel
supported, if this trend is allowed to continue, we will
reach a stage where, by the end of what has been
called a decade of sport, less than half of
experienced, qualified coaches feel supported.
6 The decision to stop coaching is rarely planned in
advance. Eight out of 10 coaches who stop coaching
did not intend to do so the previous year.
NEXT STEPS
This report provides information on themes
that emerged from the research. The next
step will be to create a series of detailed
reports concentrating on specific subjects
for appropriate audiences.
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