The Sport Psychology Canvas: Designing, adapting, and documenting Sport Psychology provisions in men’s football academies in England

Abstract

In this paper, we aim to: (1) identify common contextual forces influencing sport psychology practice in men’s football academies in England, (2) classify common sport psychology departments, and (3) provide a research-informed tool for designing, adapting, and documenting sport psychology provisions called The Sport Psychology Canvas. The study involved 16 sport psychologists working in men’s football academies in England, comprising six women and ten men. Data collection consisted of three stages: two individual interviews with each participant and one round of two focus groups with ten participants split evenly in each group. Following each stage, data were analyzed through open coding, followed by grouping codes into concepts. The findings informed the development of the second interview and focus group guides. The findings are presented in three sections. The first section discusses two key forces shaping provisions, (i) Uncertainty for Players and Staff: How players, parents/carers, and staff navigate existential needs, leading to significant stress and anxiety, (ii) Pervasive Unrealistic Expectations: The impact of unrealistic expectations, often shaped by notions of objectivity and ideals from other sport sciences. Second, we offer an overview of common organizational structures in sport psychology departments, highlighting their strengths and limitations. Last, we introduce The Sport Psychology Canvas, a flexible template for designing, adapting, and documenting sport psychology programmes. This Canvas can guide practitioners or department heads in delivering high-quality provisions tailored to their specific context.