Reflections on a community youth sport coach developer initiative

Abstract

This study investigated a pilot community youth sport club coach developer initiative. Coach development and education literature indicate that coaches are central in Australian youth sport participation, development and retention. A Lead Coach Developer (LCD), 7 Club Coach Coordinators and 14 club coaches took part in interviews in this research. The interviews provided qualitative data that were thematically analysed to elicit key themes of perceptions and experiences of participants. Coaches provided positive feedback on the coach developer initiative; however, the LCD found the majority were not ready to engage meaningfully with the theory of education envisioned for the initiative. Club Coach Coordinators suggested that while the coach developer role was important, often the other roles were more urgent.