Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 3 | Page 19

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 3
Introduction
Sport England’s (2016) policy, Towards an Active
Nation, emphasised the importance of the quality
of sporting experiences. Research
supports this view, that how a programme is
delivered, particularly for young people, is more
important for positive engagement and well-being
than the content of what is being delivered (Bean
et al., 2018).
What a coach says and does, and how he or she
structures a session, creates a psychological
environment that has implications for sport
participants’ motivation and quality of engagement
(Duda and Balaguer, 2007). This environment is
often referred to as a motivational climate and can
be marked by empowering and disempowering
features. Empowering climates promote more
autonomous involvement in sport (ie participating
because one wants to, because one loves the
activity). This is done via behaviours that support
participants’ feelings of: (a) autonomy – they feel
their views matter and they can be involved in
decision making; (b) belonging – that they are
connected and respected; and (c) competence – that
they are able to meet the demands being asked of
them. These ideas are derived from a perspective on
motivation called self-determination theory (Ryan
and Deci, 2017; Duda, 2013). See Figure 1.
Delivering community sport programmes in the
‘right way’ is a philosophy embedded within
the doorstep sport programme pioneered by
StreetGames, one of the UK’s leading sport for
development charities. Doorstep sport provides
informal sporting opportunities for young people in
supports
What coaches
say and do and
how sessions
are structured
Autonomy
Belonging
Competence
disadvantaged communities. To help coaches create
motivational climates for optimising participant
engagement in doorstep sport, StreetGames formed
a partnership with the Empowering Coaching™
team at the University of Birmingham to develop a
bespoke six-hour workshop underpinned by over
30 years of research. The overall aim of the project
being to improve community sport engagement in
terms of recruitment and retention of young people
and participant enjoyment.
The Empowering Coaching for Doorstep Sport
(EC4DS) workshop starts with classroom-based
training entailing information about what
Empowering Coaching is via interactive activities
and self-reflection. This part of the workshop
focuses on optimising coaches’ understanding of
differences in motivation among doorstep sport
participants, the different climates coaches create,
and the impact these have for young people’s sport
engagement. The second part of EC4DS is practical;
after learning about more empowering principles,
coaches have a chance to put what they have
learnt into practice. Further group discussion and
opportunities to self-reflect brings the day to
its conclusion.
Since its launch, 216 community sport leaders have
attended EC4DS workshops from doorstep sport
and other community sport projects and groups. The
current case study focuses on the learning journeys
of some of the coaches who attended EC4DS by
examining how it has changed their approach
to delivering doorstep sport sessions, as well as
understanding the impact these changes have had
on young people’s experience of the programme.
and
contributes to
Young
people's
quality
motivation
Enjoyment
Continued
participation
Well-being
Figure 1: The relationship between coaching strategies and quality of young people’s
engagement in sport
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