Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 3 | Page 21

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 3
Supporting autonomy: giving young people
‘voice and choice’
The quality of the relationship coaches form with
young participants is key to the success of doorstep
sport. Coaches often create protected and inclusive
environments. This is illustrated by one coach
who said for the young people who attended his
sessions, “at least for these three hours [they’re]
safe, [they’re] getting fed and [they’re] a kid again”.
From the workshop, many coaches recognised this
existing approach to coaching practice supported
young people’s sense of belonging, helping young
people feel cared for and welcome. The workshop
also helped coaches to identify new strategies
to support a sense of autonomy by giving young
people opportunities to input into sessions through
young people: (a) being given a choice over what
sports and activities they want to do; (b) being
allowed to genereate rules and regulations; and
(c) having an opportunity to provide feedback to
the coach. Participant feedback for session development
Prior to attending the EC4DS workshop, many
coaches trusted and drew from their own coach
education, previous sport experiences, and
reflections to inform session delivery and ongoing
session development. Many coaches did not think
of asking participants for their views: “I never used
to ask them what they think, ‘nice session, see you
next week’.” Through discussions round what is
meant by and the benefits of being more autonomy
supportive, the workshop helped coaches see the
value of gaining the views of young people and
identified opportunities for their honest reflections
to be given. In a project led by one of the coaches
interviewed, time during sessions is now protected
for feedback and reflections. “When [we] finish, [I]
ask them ‘how do you think it went?’, ‘could [I] make
it better?’ Take their opinions.” This coach then
used this feedback to improve session content and
delivery, and demonstrate that the young people’s
voices were valued and had been heard.
Participant-chosen sports and activities
Before the workshop, many coaches assumed what
young people wanted to do and rarely provided
a choice of activities. As one coach said: “When I
first started doing it, it was football, and whatever
else for the girls, and you didn’t even ask them.
You came, and that was what’s going on. So when
the tutor said, I was like ‘wow, that makes a big
difference, they might not even like football’.” Supporting belonging: equal inclusion
Coaches found new ways to create doorstep
sport environments that are more inclusive to all
participants. As one coach indicated: “Before the
workshop, if you [the young person] wanted to
sit there and moan you could sit there and moan.
But now it’s encouraging them and doing it with
a smile.” A volunteer coach reflected that we try
to ensure “…everyone is equal in the activity”.
This view of inclusivity was reinforced through
more empowering (and less disempowering) coach
behaviours of fair-team selection, not showing
favourites, and eliminating language that compares
young people with other members of the group
(eg winners versus runners-up).
The same coach explained further, “now, when I go
to a session I can go and say ‘right, what
do you want to do?’”. Instead of preparing
sport-specific content, session plans centre on
organising equipment for multiple sports to provide
meaningful choice to the 8–30 young people who
attend. “You can’t plan it, you just do what the kids
want to do, you give them the option, so usually I
have a basketball, a football, some dodgeballs and
a handball and you just sort of say to them what
would you like to do and they will tell you, and you
just do what they want to do.”
Participant-generated rules and regulations
In recognising the importance of being autonomy
supportive, some coaches sought other
opportunities to give participants greater input into
how sessions are run in terms of expectations of
behaviour, and by what rules the sports were to be
played. Working within agreed codes of conduct sets
clear boundaries for session engagement of what is
acceptable and what is not.
Supporting competence: communication for growth
The workshop helped coaches understand that
when, why and how young people experience
competence can vary from person to person. To
help young people develop a robust and resilient
sense of competence, it is best to focus on oneself
(how one is improving and trying hard), rather
than constantly comparing with others. One coach
recognised that he sees many young people in
the sessions whose competence is dependent on
where they perceive their abilities rank against
others. The coach now adopts language to help
young participants reflect more on their own skill
development, rather than worry how they rate
within the group. In his words: “I tell them that it
doesn’t matter that that child is better than you, he’s
just had more practice than you. But if you practise
more and train harder, you can get to the same level
as him or better. It isn’t about how good they are,
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