APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2018 , Vol . 2
WHAT WERE THE KEY THINGS TO TAKE FROM THE CONFERENCE ? DO YOU THINK IT STIMULATED FURTHER INTEREST IN THE AREA ?
Coaching in the Community is playing an increasingly important role . Community coaches have been tasked with doing more than focusing on sport development alone . Instead , they are also charged with using sport and leisure activities to deliver social policy outcomes ( eg reducing crime , developing pro-social behaviour , overcoming social isolation and exclusion , rebuilding communities , developing healthy lifestyles , and raising educational aspirations and attainment ) by working with target populations ( eg disaffected youth , unemployed , disabled ). The importance of coaches engaging under-represented groups in the community has received significant attention in recent public Sport England reports . It was fantastic to hear about the research that is specifically trying to explore and understand those realities of practice for community sports coaches who are trying to deliver various different schemes on the ground level . The day was a great success , with a strong community feel . The presenters and delegates shared some rich insights into the current landscape of community sports coaching ; in particular , illuminating the ( micro ) political , emotional , uncertain and contested dimensions of working life in community coaching contexts . We felt as though we were able to expand our knowledge together and hopefully , by doing that , we can further grow and stimulate the interest and research into community sports coaching .
ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO RUN FUTURE CONFERENCES ?
There are plans to run two future events . Dr Ben Ives and I have plans to build on the success of the day through both a follow-up conference in 2019 at Buckinghamshire New University , and the development of an edited book into community sports coaching due for publication early next year . The CRiC also has a biannual conference that is held in conjunction with Sports Coaching Review to be hosted by the University of Worcester in 2019 .
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