“Your behaviours are your values in action": Exploring coaching behaviour in a football academy setting

Bell, Ben (2022) “Your behaviours are your values in action": Exploring coaching behaviour in a football academy setting. Masters thesis, University of Gloucestershire. doi:10.46289/6H1K6M6M

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2754 BELL Ben (2022) Your behaviours are your values in action Exploring coaching behaviour in a football academy_MSc Thesis.pdf - Accepted Version
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Abstract

Background: Research into the science of coaching has challenged the technical rationality underpinning the majority of existing literature. Supporting the view that sport coaching is an intricate power struggle riddled with interactions in which coaches use different strategies to reach a desired goal (Cassidy, Jones, & Potrac, 2009; Cushion, 2007; Jones, 2006, 2009, 2011; Jones, Armour, & Potrac, 2004, as cited in Nelson et al., 2013b, p. 205). Coaches have a leading influence on athletes in youth sport settings, the role of facilitating positive developmental experiences is highly significant (Erickson & Cote, 2016). While existing literature offers insights into the coach-athlete relationship, studies evaluating the implementation of innovative approaches such as person centred approaches (Garner et al., 2022) incorporating notions of ‘care’ (Cronin & Armour, 2018) are limited. This research is valuable as it offers an insight into an academy football setting. The purpose of this study is to better understand coach behaviour in a professional talent environment. Despite a wealth of literature on the coach-athlete relationship (Jowett, 2017; Turnnidge et al., 2014) and applying leadership models to sport settings (Turnnidge & Cote, 2018) it can be difficult for coaches to consistently implement what is discussed. Without diminishing the value of pedagogy and leadership models this study focuses on what influences coach behaviour and where the expectation of behaviour comes from. Objectives: This research aimed to analyse how coaches behave within an academy setting and provide an insight into how they interact with their athletes in a professional environment. To help achieve this, one main research question coupled with two sub questions are answered. The main research question focused on what influences coach behaviour with the sub questions exploring how coaches navigate their values and the extent to which they manage their behaviour. The study intended to better understand coaches’ behaviour within a professional academy, adding to limited literature into football academy settings. Methods: Semi structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data in this research with four youth academy coaches from one academy. All four coaches coach children aged 12-16 and were interviewed twice on separate occasions with the total interview time per participant approximately 90 minutes. Findings and Discussion: The findings in this thesis are centred around three main themes: Influence of Coach education, Coaching philosophy, and Coaching context.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Thesis Advisors:
Thesis AdvisorEmailURL
Roberts, Willwroberts1@glos.ac.ukUNSPECIFIED
Garner, Paulpgarner@glos.ac.ukhttps://www.glos.ac.uk/staff/profile/paul-garner/
Additional Information: MSc by Research
Uncontrolled Keywords: Coaching behaviour; Sports coaching; Football academy
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV557 Sports > GV0711 Coaching
Divisions: Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education and Science
Depositing User: Susan Turner
Date Deposited: 17 May 2023 12:51
Last Modified: 31 Aug 2023 09:06
URI: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/12754

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