Supporting the Setup of an Online Community of Practice in Action with Performance Foundation Coaches

Mark Scott and Dr Lisa Whitaker

UK Coaching

Abstract Coaches often learn through informal sources . One example of an informal type of learning that has been identified as effective for helping coaches to learn and develop is a community of practice ( CoP ). This article presents insight into setting up and evaluating an online CoP for sports coaches . Through the article , we provide an overview of the planning , training and support that took place in preparation for the online CoP , details about how the online CoP was supported to grow and the impact the CoP had on its members . Recommendations are made for future practice .

Key words Community of practice , observation , informal learning , online learning , coaches