Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 2 | Page 20

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2018, Vol. 2
coaching, thereby using what Kolb (1984) refers to
as ‘abstract conceptualisation’ (learning from the
experience) in order to change his practice 4 . Pete
refers to the event as an epiphany: with knowledge, the system as described in Moon’s
‘brick wall’ metaphor fails to take individual learning
into account, and so the development opportunity
is limited 2 .
“From that moment on I stopped working from a
standpoint where I’ve got all the answers, I’ve got all
the power, I’ve got all the knowledge and [realised
that] unless I begin to reflect and respect the young
people in front of me and try to meet their needs
as well as the needs of football coaching, this ain’t
gonna work!” Pete’s enthusiasm for learning saw him return to
education and complete a degree, followed by a
PGCE teaching qualification and, later, a Master’s
degree in Sports Coaching. He became a lecturer
in sport and recreation at Stafford College for six
years, alongside a five-year coaching position at
Walsall FC, and later was appointed as Assistant
Director of Development for 7–14 years at Derby
County FC. These roles cemented Pete’s interest and
expertise in the Foundation Phase.
Pete’s subsequent fascination in creative session
design prompted a willingness to review his
coaching practice, which soon became based on
a player-centred approach. This approach centres
on understanding a player’s developmental needs
and designing an environment accordingly: one
that allows the player to take individual ownership
over their learning and challenge the information
they are being given, thereby resulting in more
meaningful learning. This pivotal learning episode
in Pete’s pathway (courtesy of Nathan) resulted
in a lifelong passion to become an expert in The
FA’s Foundation Phase, demonstrating the vital
importance of reflection-on-action to
coach development 5 .
Experiences of formal education
During this time, Pete completed coaching
qualifications, suggesting that as a novice coach
he valued a formal development pathway for the
career progression it offered. However, he found
that these courses did not cover the information he
sought regarding athlete/coach relationships:
“There were still elements of it that didn’t fit with
me. Just the formality of it… it didn’t seem to build
the kind of contact or connection with players that
you might need in order for them to listen to you
and improve, so I tried to develop my own style.”
Pete’s dissatisfaction with the course content
supports findings that formal education programmes
are inadequate in preparing students for the
unpredictable nature of everyday coaching 3 . During
linear progression dominated by formal education,
the coach’s role is a relatively passive one as they
are only required to reproduce their accumulated
knowledge during an assessment task 1 . This may
explain why Pete was frustrated during these
courses because he was unable to fully engage with
the content. “The way the courses were structured,
the assessment drove everything and you wouldn’t
ask a question and you wouldn’t challenge
anything.” Therefore, despite providing learners
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He undertook extensive independent research in
this age group, sourcing learning opportunities
that matched his interests, which suggests a
preference for unmediated learning. He professes,
“because of my fascination with the child, most
of my development around creating a playful
environment or a creative environment has come
from further reading”. As Pete created these
learning opportunities for himself, it can be argued
that the meaningfulness of the learning, and
therefore the effectiveness, was high 1 . However, he
still recognised the need to combine his unmediated
learning with formal qualifications and he completed
his UEFA ‘A’ licence in 2001. So, despite his learning
preferences, he was still aware of the regulatory
expectations of the coaching profession, in which
formal coach education is the social norm for those
that want to progress.
In 2002, Pete was made redundant, yet he took
this setback as an opportunity to establish his
own coaching business. When discussing these
three years of self-employment, Pete describes
the pressure of his position. “I knew that if the
kids didn’t come back I couldn’t put bread on the
table and so I had to make the environment as fun
and enjoyable as possible.” This pragmatic reality
was the second driving force in the creation of
Pete’s player-centred coaching philosophy, which
acknowledges where the player is in their technical
and physical development as part of the process of
deciding the best way to help them improve.
Three years later, Pete became The FA Regional
Football Coach for Yorkshire, which led to an
unexpected opportunity of taking on the additional
role of managing the England Futsal Deaf Squad for
two seasons, taking them to the European and World
Championships. Futsal is a FIFA-approved indoor
format of five-a-side football, played on a hard
court with a smaller, weighted ball. This was another