Challenges and opportunities for community sport coach development: an appreciative inquiry project

Community coaches form the lifeblood of community sport and yet they can feel overwhelmed by the tasks involved in coaching. Personalised support is likely to come through key personnel in coaches’ own settings, however, little is known about those who hold formal or informal coach developer roles in community sport. This article provides a short overview of a UK Coaching funded project we conducted. We used appreciative inquiry framed workshops to explore the everyday challenges experienced by community sport coaches and coach developers. The workshops were also a pilot support process. A selection of insights gained are presented through a creative non-fiction narrative, along with recommendations from the wider project.