Brad Vickers

Coaching development: Methods for youth sport introduction

Abstract:
The published literature of coaching development revealed themes of education and continuing professional development as essential aspects for increasing the knowledge and understanding of coaches. For the purposes of this study, coaching education was defined as a process to increase coaching competence through courses, self-study, workshops/clinics, and reading coaching manuals (Malete & Feltz, 2000). Further, continuing professional development was a related term that referred to the “process of keeping current in the state of the art, keeping competent in the state of the practice, and keeping open to new theories, techniques, and values” (Chalofsky & Lincoln, 1983) via essential practices such as clinics, observation, and mentoring (Cushion, Armour, & Jones, 2003; Bloom, Salmela, & Schinke, 1995). The literature suggested that coaches were responsible for their development and employed specific techniques (clinics, seminars and symposia; hands-on experience; passive observation of other coaches; and a structured mentoring program) to ensure that development.

Citation:
Vickers, B., & Schoenstedt, L. (2011). Coaching development: Methods for youth sport introduction. Strategies, 24(4), 14-19.