Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 1 | Page 38

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2018, Vol. 1
Promoting the Health
Benefits of Being a Coach
John McIlroy
UK Coaching
Abstract
Current coach recruitment activity tends to focus
on the altruistic function of a coach: promoting
the role as an opportunity to help people or give
something back to the community. This article
argues that coaches also receive a benefit from
their activities through increased physical activity
and the associated health benefits. It is argued
that recruitment and retention of coaches could be
improved if these benefits were promoted more
widely. People who work with coaches should not
shy away from promoting the personal benefits that
coaches experience from their role.
Combining existing research in volunteer and coach
motivation with evidence from a national survey of
20,000 adults, this article demonstrates that being
a coach leads to an increase in physical activity,
and that for many people might be the only activity
they get.
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Setting the scene
There is now compelling scientific evidence that
increased levels of physical activity can bring
wide-ranging health benefits. Inactivity has been
described as a silent killer by the Department of
Health (DoH) in the UK. To stay healthy, the DoH
recommends that adults should try to be active
daily and aim to achieve at least 150 minutes of
physical activity over a week, through a variety of
activities. Making activity part of everyday life is
one of the easiest ways to meet these targets.
The sport and physical activity sector is often
viewed as a priority area for increasing rates of
physical activity. Within this, coaches are seen as an
enabler of these benefits due to their role in getting
people active and retaining them in activity.
However, do coaches also receive a health benefit
from being a coach? This dual benefit of volunteers
helping others and themselves at the same time was
identified in the UK government’s strategy, Towards
an Active Nation 1 . To date, there is no research
about the levels of physical activity, and associated
health benefits, that coaches experience through
their coaching activities.