Coach development as adventure and exploration: one coach’s account of their experiences in and the possibilities of a project-led approach to learning

Despite the increasing volume and variety of published academic literature which takes a position on the quality and efficacy of learning opportunities for sport coaches, we suggest that there is a scarcity of coach voices. Therefore, in this chapter, Alice offers a first-person perspective on her lived experience as a learner participating in a coach development programme for full-time academy football coaches in England. Of particular interest in this story, is the way in which Alice engaged with and succeeded through – what we consider to be – a novel and unique learning opportunity. Exploring the potential within a project-led approach to learning and assessment, which affords coaches the chance to identify and examine their current most meaningful and important issues, Alice articulates how, why, and with whom she developed a body of work that has had profound professional/practical and personal impact. The chapter concludes with a discussion about Alice’s unique contribution to better understanding and supporting parents as an essential collaborator in an academy football environment, where all of her project work was anchored. Finally, we summarise with several key messages: 1) allowing coaches and their context to speak for themselves is essential in better understanding increasingly sophisticated development programmes, 2) there is value in organising development programmes in such a way that they lead with the coaches interests and issues, not with content and pre-defined curricula, 3) when we do this we create opportunities for both personal and professional shifts, and 4) practical knowledge and ‘engaged scholarship’ like this is important and could feature more frequently in the published literature.