Examining football players' perceived social support across organizational levels and its links to holistic talent development outcomes in German youth academies.

Sport research highlights the significance of supportive relationships and a psychologically safe environment for promoting desirable talent development outcomes associated with young athletes' performance, wellbeing, and personal development. Against this background, this study aimed to investigate youth football players' perceived availability of different kinds of social support from various stakeholders along the talent pathway in German elite youth academies (1). It further sought to examine the link of such social support perceptions to wellbeing, sport commitment and individual performance satisfaction as relevant development outcomes (2). Finally, the study examined potential mechanism underlying these associations by considering psychological safety as a potential mediator (3). For this purpose, N = 271 youth academy players participating in teams of under-13s, under-15s, and under-17/19s age groups completed a multi-section online survey including the PASS-Q, PsySafety-Check, and WHO-5 as well as subscales of the ASQ (i.e., individual performance satisfaction) and YSCS (i.e., sport commitment). Multivariate analyses indicated significant differences in players' perceptions of social support depending on its kind and provider as well as on players' age group. Further, path models highlighted the importance of emotional and esteem support provided by coaches and management for players' talent development outcomes. However, psychological safety seemed to only play a minor role within those associations, partially mediating the effects of emotional support. Overall, these findings encourage a critical reflection of youth players' social support needs and opportunities to optimally address those within elite youth academies as prominent talent development environments in football.

There is no copy and paste, but there is resonation and inhabitation: Integrating a contemporary player development framework in football from a complexity sciences perspective.

Socio-cultural constraints shape behaviour in complexifying ways. In sport, for example, interconnected constraints play an important role in shaping the way a game is played, coached, and spectated. Here, we contend that player development frameworks in sport cannot be operationalised without careful consideration of the complex ecosystem in which they reside. Concurrently, we highlight issues associated with frameworks designed in isolation from the contexts in which they are introduced for integration, guised as trying to "copy and paste" templates from country to country. As such, there is a need to understand the oft-shrouded socio-cultural dynamics that continuously influence practice in order to maximize the utility of player development frameworks in sport. Ecological dynamics offers a complexity-oriented theoretical lens that supports the evolution of context-dependent player development frameworks. Further, tenets of the Learning in Development Research Framework can show how affordances are not just material invitations but constitute a vital component of a broader socio-cultural form of life. These ideas have the potential to: (1) push against a desire to "copy and paste" what is perceived to be "successful" elsewhere, and (2), guide the integration of player development frameworks by learning to resonate with the nuanced complexities of the broader environment inhabited.

High performance coach cognition in the wild: using applied cognitive task analysis for practical insights-cognitive challenges and curriculum knowledge.

Despite significant empirical work in the sport coaching domain, there remains a paucity of evidence to inform practice in high-performance sport coaching. As a result, there are gaps in our understanding regarding coaching expertise at different levels of athlete performance. A significantly underutilized approach in coaching research is Cognitive Task Analysis and it's knowledge elicitation tools. Addressing these concerns, here we utilize applied Cognitive Task Analysis and a semi-structured interview protocol to elicit the cognitive challenges and use of knowledge by a group of N = 7 high-performance endurance sport coaches from a single national governing body. Analysis suggested prominent and ongoing challenges in day-to-day practice which, in turn require significant adaptive skill. In addition, results show how coaches used knowledge flexibly and conditionally to meet the demands of their role. A novel finding being the identification of the use of curriculum knowledge to mentally project the needs of athletes. The findings suggest opportunities for utilizing Cognitive Task Analysis to investigate the cognitive challenges of sport coaching and enhance coach development practice.

An Individualized Coach Development Program for Older Adult Player-Coaches in a Masters Football League in Colombia.

Coaches contribute toward helping older adults achieve quality sport experiences, but there are few resources grounded in adult-oriented psychosocial approaches from which they can learn. The purpose of this Participatory Action Research study was to facilitate a personalized professional development program for a Colombian football (soccer) league of older adult men using an evidence-based self-assessment tool for Masters coaches. Data were collected from 23 coaches, who were also players in the league, via interviews, workshops, and observations. Data were analyzed via reflective thematic analysis that aimed to understand coaches' perceptions of how they learned through the workshops and how they implemented what they learned into their coaching. Findings indicate that personalized professional development enabled better structured leadership in the league, creating Quality Masters Sport Experiences.

Análise dos contextos de aprendizagem de treinadores de basquetebol universitários brasileiros / Análisis de los contextos de aprendizaje de los entrenadores universitarios brasileños de baloncesto / Analysis of learning contexts of Brazilian college basketball coaches

Este estudio tiene como objetivo identificar y discutir los contextos de aprendizaje para la formación de entrenadores de baloncesto que actúan en el ámbito universitario del Estado de São Paulo -Brasil. Quince entrenadores que compitieron en los Juegos Universitarios Estaduales (promovidos por la Federación Deportiva Universitaria Paulista) fueron entrevistados (entrevistas semiestructuradas). La tabulación, organización y análisis de los discursos se realizó con base en el método del Discurso del Sujeto Colectivo (DSC). Los resultados mostraron la importancia del contexto formal para la formación amplia del entrenador, así como una cierta distancia del entorno de la práctica profesional. Los entrenadores también utilizan contextos no formales (como cursos) e informales (como experiencias como atleta y/o entrenador, lectura de artículos y acceso a videos) para desarrollar conocimientos específicos del baloncesto en respuesta a los dilemas de su entorno de trabajo. Los resultados mostraron la escasez de acciones por parte de las entidades universitarias de gestión deportiva para la formación de entrenadores, así como las principales fuentes de conocimiento a las que acceden. Tales hallazgos permiten identificar aspectos importantes para el desarrollo de programas para entrenadores de baloncesto de diferentes áreas. (AU)

This aim of this study was to identify and to discuss the learning contexts of basketball coaches who work with college teams of the State of São Paulo -Brazil. Fifteen coaches (from female teams) who competed in the College Games of the State of Sao Paulo (promoted by the College Federation of Sports) were interviewed (semi-structured interviews). The tabulation, organization and analysis of the discourses were carried out based on the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) method. The results showed the importance of the formal context for the professional development of the coach, as well as a distance from the environment of professional practice. Coaches also use non-formal context (such as courses) and informal context (such as experiences as an athlete and/or coach, reading articles and watching videos) to build specific knowledge of basketball, in response to dilemmas of your professional environment. The results showed a lack of actions by college sports management entities for the professional development of coaches, as well as the main sources of knowledge accessed by them. Such findings allow us to identify main aspects for the development of programs for basketball coaches from different environments

Este estudo tem como objetivo identificar e discutir os contextos de aprendizagem para a formação de treinadores de basquetebol que atuam no âmbito universitário do Estado de São Paulo - Brasil. Quinze treinadores de equipes femininas que disputaram os Jogos Universitários do Estado (promovido pela Federação Universitária Paulista de Esportes) foram entrevistados (entrevistas semiestruturadas). A tabulação, a organização e a análise dos discursos foram realizadas com base no método do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (DSC). Os resultados mostraram a importância do contexto formal para a ampla formação do treinador, bem como certo distanciamento do ambiente da prática profissional. Os treinadores também recorrem ao contexto não-formal (como os cursos) e informal (como as experiências como atleta e/ou treinador, a leitura de artigos e o acesso a vídeos) para construir os conhecimentos específicos para o basquetebol, em resposta aos dilemas do seu ambiente de trabalho. Os resultados mostraram a escassez de ações das entidades gestoras do esporte universitário para a formação dos treinadores, bem como as principais fontes de conhecimento acessadas por esses. Tais achados permitem identificar aspectos importantes para o desenvolvimento de programas para treinadores de basquetebol de diferentes âmbitos. (AU)

Social and Cultural Constraints on Football Player Development in Stockholm: Influencing Skill, Learning, and Wellbeing.

In this paper, we consider how youth sport and (talent) development environments have adapted to, and are constrained by, social and cultural forces. Empirical evidence from an 18-month ethnographic case study highlights how social and cultural constraints influence the skill development and psychological wellbeing of young football players. We utilized novel ways of knowing (i.e., epistemologies) coupled to ecological frameworks (e.g., the theory of ecological dynamics and the skilled intentionality framework). A transdisciplinary inquiry was used to demonstrate that the values which athletes embody in sports are constrained by the character of the social institutions (sport club, governing body) and the social order (culture) in which they live. The constraining character of an athlete (talent) development environment is captured using ethnographic methods that illuminate a sociocultural value-directedness toward individual competition. The discussion highlights how an emphasis on individual competition overshadows opportunities (e.g., shared, and nested affordances) for collective collaboration in football. Conceptually, we argue that these findings characterize how a dominating sociocultural constraint may negatively influence the skill development, in game performance, and psychological wellbeing (via performance anxiety) of young football players in Stockholm. Viewing cultures and performance environments as embedded complex adaptive systems, with human development as ecological, it becomes clear that microenvironments and embedded relations underpinning athlete development in high performance sports organizations are deeply susceptible to broad cultural trends toward neoliberalism and competitive individualism. Weaving transdisciplinary lines of inquiry, it is clarified how a value directedness toward individual competition may overshadow collective collaboration, not only amplifying socio-cognitive related issues (anxiety, depression, emotional disturbances) but simultaneously limiting perceptual learning, skill development, team coordination and performance at all levels in a sport organization.

Instructional Cues in Futsal Teaching, Coaching and Matches / Pistas de instrucción en la enseñanza, entrenamiento y partidos de fútbol sala

This study investigated what are the verbal cues provided in futsal contexts of teaching-learning, training, and official matches, and what are their attentional foci. A cue refers is a short instruction that constrains the students/athletes to direct their attention to critical elements for successful performance. 1543 instructional cues were collected from Physical Education (PE) classes, futsal training sessions and futsal matches of an official championship. Data were analysed based on content analysis method and categorized through the Systematic Analysis of Pedagogical Content Interventions. Inferential analyses were run by the Trend Module (Trend Analysis and Multiple Comparisons) of PEPI software. The results showed that the category offensive technique (passing) was the one with the highest number of instructions in the classes, training and matches. It was also observed that rules and violations were similar between curricular classes and futsal training sessions. The findings allowed to verify (i) the primary cues physical education teachers and coaches provided, (ii) about which critical aspects they referred to and (iii) their specificity regarding the context specificity (classes, training and matches). The findings provide useful insights into the design of instructional tasks as the instructional cues allow students/athletes to gain knowledge about the learning task and to direct their attention to critical elements for successful performance. (AU)

El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar cuáles son las pistas instructivas proporcionadas por los profesores de educación física (EF) en el contexto escolar de enseñanza-aprendizaje. entrenamientos y partidos oficiales del futsal, y sus respectivos focos de atención. Se recogieron 1543 pistas instructivas de las clases curriculares centradas en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de fútbol sala, entrenamientos de fútbol sala y partidos de fútbol sala de un campeonato escolar oficial, en los que participaron cuatro profesores de educación física. Los datos fueron analizados con base en el método de análisis de contenido y categorizados a través del Análisis Sistemático de Intervenciones de Contenido Pedagógico. Los análisis inferenciales fueron ejecutados por el Módulo de Tendencias (Análisis de Tendencias y Comparaciones Múltiples) del software PEPI. Los resultados mostraron que las pistas instructivas de la categoría técnica ofensiva (pases) fueron las más utilizadas en las clases, entrenamientos y partidos. También se observó que las reglas y las violaciones eran similares entre las clases curriculares y los entrenamientos. Los hallazgos permitieron verificar (i) las principales pistas instructivas utilizadas por los profesores de EF, (ii) sobre los aspectos críticos a los que se referían y (iii) su especificidad con respecto al contexto de enseñanza (clases, entrenamientos y partidos). Estos hallazgos brindan información útil sobre el diseño de tareas de instrucción, ya que las pistas instructivas permiten a los estudiantes adquirir conocimientos sobre la tarea de aprendizaje. (AU)

The 3Ps: A tool for coach observation.

There is growing recognition of the value of "in situ" coach development practice across a variety sporting contexts. Unfortunately, however, there remains a limited number of tools available with which to observe coaching practice. In this study, we pilot and test a quasi-systematic tool for observation in the form of the 3Ps. Drawing on a range of representational perspectives, the theoretically neutral labels of "procedure", "planning", and "process" were developed for the purpose of holistic observation. In order to test the tool, a group of experienced coach development practitioners (n = 10) integrated the tool into their practice over a 12-month programme of professional development. Those participants subsequently took part in semi-structured interviews, in which they expressed a strong sense of acceptability, perceiving effectiveness and positive opportunity cost. We propose that the 3Ps tool presents a holistic and practically useful means of observing coaches' professional judgment and decision making. We also suggest future directions for the researcher who seeks to generate evidence in a naturalistic coaching context.

The Impact of an Authentic Sports Leadership Program for Coach.

Purpose: This paper studies the effects of authentic sports leadership training on coaches' self-perception of their own authentic leadership, perceived justice, competence, overall self-efficacy, and collective efficacy. Additionally, players' perceptions of their coaches with respect to their authentic leadership, perceived justice, competence, collective efficacy, satisfaction with the coach, and support for basic psychological needs were analyzed. Design: Twenty-five football and handball coaches were randomly assigned to two groups. Fifteen coaches made up the experimental group that carried out the training leadership program, while 10 coaches made up the control group, carrying out no training whatsoever. A total of 248 football and handball players participated in this study; 136 were led by coaches who participated in the training program, and 112 by coaches who did not participate in the program. Results: The results of this study indicate that coaches' self-perception is positively influenced after having received training in the variables of authentic leadership, perceived justice, competence, overall self-efficacy, and collective efficacy. Players whose coaches were part of the program perceive them as being more competent as coaches. Conclusions: The effects of an authentic sports leadership training program are effective for coaches and players alike.

What Do We Know About Research on Parasport Coaches? A Scoping Review.

The purpose of this scoping review was to provide a broad overview of the literature pertaining to parasport coaches, including information regarding the size and scope of research, the populations and perspectives obtained, and the type of methods used to conduct the research. Data were collected and analyzed using a six-stage framework for conducting scoping reviews. The results revealed that the majority of articles were based on interviews, and an overwhelming majority of the participants were men coaching at the high-performance level in North America. Three of the most frequent topics were becoming a parasport coach, being a parasport coach, and having general parasport coaching knowledge. Articles ranged in date from 1991 to 2018, with 70% of empirical articles published from 2014 onward, indicating an emerging interest in this field of research. This review has the potential to advance the science and practice of parasport coaching at all levels.

Erratum: Physical Literacy - A Journey of Individual Enrichment: An Ecological Dynamics Rationale for Enhancing Performance and Physical Activity in All.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01904.].

Sports Coaches' Knowledge and Beliefs About the Provision, Reception, and Evaluation of Verbal Feedback.

Coach observation studies conducted since the 1970s have sought to determine the quantity and quality of verbal feedback provided by coaches to their athletes. Relatively few studies, however, have sought to determine the knowledge and beliefs of coaches that underpin this provision of feedback. The purpose of the current study was to identify the beliefs and knowledge that elite team sport coaches hold about providing, receiving and evaluating feedback in their training and competition environments. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 8 coaches were inductively analyzed, revealing three broad themes: thinking and learning about feedback, providing feedback, and evaluating feedback. Findings revealed a detailed array of knowledge about feedback across a wide range of sub-topics. Coaches saw feedback as a tool to improve performance, build athlete confidence, help athletes to monitor progress, and as a tool to improve their own performance. Novel insights about evaluating an athlete's reception of feedback, and tailoring feedback for individual athletes, were provided by coaches. The findings also highlight areas in which future coach education offerings can better support coaches to provide effective feedback.

A Multi-Study Exploration of Factors That Optimize Hardiness in Sport Coaches and the Role of Reflective Practice in Facilitating Hardy Attitudes.

Hardiness has been identified as a key personal characteristic that may moderate the ill-effects of stress on health and performance. However, little is known about how hardiness might be developed, particularly in sport coaches. To systematically address this gap, we present two linked studies. First, interviews were conducted with pre-determined high-hardy, elite coaches (n = 13) to explore how they had developed their hardy dispositions through the associated attitudinal sub-components of control, commitment, and challenge. Utilizing thematic analysis, we identified that hardiness was developed through experiential learning, external support, and the use of specific coping mechanisms. Key to all of these themes was the concept of reflective practice, which was thought to facilitate more meaningful learning from the participants' experiences and, subsequently, enhance the self-awareness and insight required to augment hardiness and its sub-components. To investigate further the potential relationship between coaches' reflective practices and their level of hardiness, we conducted a follow-up study. Specifically, a sample of 402 sports coaches completed the Dispositional Resilience Scale-15, the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale, and the Questionnaire for Reflective Thinking. Using latent profile analysis (LPA), we clustered participants into groups based on their reflective profiles (e.g., type of engagement, level of reflective thinking). We then examined differences in hardiness between the five latent sub-groups using multinomial regression. Findings revealed that the sub-group of highly engaged, intentionally critical reflective thinkers reported significantly higher levels of all three hardiness sub-components than all other sub-groups; these effect sizes were typically moderate-to-large in magnitude (standardized mean differences = -1.50 to -0.10). Conversely, the profile of highly disengaged, non-reflective, habitual actors reported the lowest level of all three dimensions. Collectively, our findings offer novel insights into the potential factors that may influence a coaches' level of hardiness. We provide particular support for the importance of reflective practice as a meta-cognitive strategy that helps coaches to develop hardy dispositions through augmenting its attitudinal sub-components. Consequently, our research makes a significant contribution by providing a comprehensive insight into how we might better train and support coaches to demonstrate the adaptive qualities required to thrive in demanding situations.

Physical Literacy - A Journey of Individual Enrichment: An Ecological Dynamics Rationale for Enhancing Performance and Physical Activity in All.

Internationally, governments, health and exercise practitioners are struggling with the threat posed by physical inactivity leading to worsening outcomes in health and life expectancy and the associated high economic costs. To meet this challenge it is important to enhance the quality, and quantity, of participation in sports and physical activity throughout the life course to sustain healthy and active lifestyles. This paper supports the need to develop a physically literate population, who meaningfully engage in play and physical activity through the development of functional movement skills in enriched environments. This is a shift away from reductionist approaches to physical activity engagement and maintenance to an ecological dynamics approach that focuses on enrichment to support functional movement skill learning and development. This is an embedded approach to physical literacy that allows learners the space and time to "explore-discover" (ecological psychology) within environments that will lead to a concomitant self-organization of highly intricate network of co-dependent sub-systems (anatomical, respiratory, circulatory, nervous, and perceptual-cognitive) resulting in functional movement solutions for the performance task and enduring positive adaptations to subsystems supporting the physical literacy journey across the life course. "Explore-discover adapt" is at the heart of two contemporary learner-centered pedagogies: Non-linear Pedagogy (NLP) and the Athletic Skills Model (ASM). Both emphasize the importance of enrichment experiences from an early age, and throughout life course, and both appreciate the inherent complexity involved in the learning process and the importance of designing a rich and varied range of athletic, participatory experiences that will support the embedded development of physical literacy leading to ongoing physical activity for all. The final part of this paper will demonstrate the potential of an ecological dynamics approach for supporting the concept of physical literacy by providing a roadmap for a reliable and valid measurement of physical literacy when considered from both an ecological dynamics perspective and the phenomenology understanding of physical literacy.

[Sport coaching for psychological and social recovery after hematological cancer: An innovative perspective]. / Le coaching sportif pour un rétablissement psychologique et social : une perspective innovante.

This study is a first step towards the transfer of knowledge and practices between psychological support and performance in elite sport and a patient's "social recovery" in oncology. This proposal brings together people engaged in a variety of healthcare and relationship support roles, and aims to set up a support system beyond the hospital context. It questions the ability of elite sport management and its main actors, the "Great Coaches", to contribute to the support of patients in cancer remission through an onco-coaching approach. This innovative proposal is initiated by a life coaching pilot study designed for hematologic cancer patients in remission after a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Brief Report: Coaching Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder in a School-Based Multi-Sport Program.

While physical activity (PA) is often overwhelming for people with ASD, appropriate engagement strategies can result in increased motivation to participate and associated physical and psychosocial benefits. In this framework, the multi-sport Supporting Success program aims to inform good-practice coaching strategies for community coaches to engage with adolescents with ASD in order to foster socialisation. The project employs a community development approach and a Participatory Action Research (PAR) design. Methods include ongoing consultation, focus groups, briefing/debriefing sessions and questionnaire surveys. Preliminary findings indicate that coaching strategies and program design are fundamental variables in the use of sport/PA to help adolescents with ASD to develop social skills and share positive experiences with peers, coaches, educators and local community members.