One Million Coaches, One Goal: Toward Integration of Youth Development and SEL into Coach Training

• In Event: Infusing Social and Emotional Learning Into Academic and Enrichment Activities

Abstract

This research is part of a larger implementation study of the Million Coaches Challenge (MCC). The MCC is a collaborative effort to (1) develop or improve coach training that integrates social and emotional learning (SEL) and positive youth development (YD) and (2) train one million youth sport coaches in those practices. This project examines how MCC partners are integrating SEL and YD into coach training. Specifically, we are exploring whether and how the trainings are designed to foster coach competencies, youth/athlete competencies, and coach SEL/YD practice.

This study is grounded in an interpretive approach to qualitative research, with an emphasis on culturally and contextually situated analysis. We draw on the systematic approach to grounded theory delineated by Glaser and Strauss (1967) and Strauss and Corbin (1998) to ground findings in the voices of MCC Partners. Additionally, we employed strategies from constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006), allowing space for preexisting ideas and context. Balancing these approaches helped to leverage existing youth development theory without influencing the coding process from the beginning. After initial coding, we cross-referenced codes with research on youth development conducted by the National Research Council (2002) and expanded by Perkins and Noam (2007) as well as Coakley’s (2011) critique of sport-related decision-making and its grounding in neoliberal ideologies.

We conducted a document review of all training materials to extract key information into a separate form for coding. Our approach to coding leveraged analytic strategies from grounded theory – specifically, memoing, line-by-line open coding, axial coding, selective coding to elevate themes, and theoretical coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1990; Charmaz, 2006, 2011). Nvivo software supported the coding process and was particularly instrumental during the initial phases of open coding.
MCC partners submitted training materials for analysis as part of the larger MCC implementation study. We reviewed and analyzed 33 different trainings. Training materials included online courses, PowerPoint slide decks, facilitation scripts, and other supporting materials for the facilitator or training attendees.

We have elevated 27 different types of practice areas that coaches are being trained to implement. Eight of those practices were present in at least one of each Partner’s trainings and therefore serve as a core group of practices that we explored more deeply. These practices include, for example, how coaches can build trust and develop relationships with youth/athletes, supporting a mastery climate, and fostering youth/athlete voice, choice, leadership, and autonomy.

The findings provide an initial understanding of priority coach training practices, while also highlighting further questions and gaps for future exploration. The larger MCC implementation study, and specifically this project on training content, is unprecedented due to the unique nature of the initiative. To date, there has been no systematic review of coach trainings or efforts to document how these organizations are designing coach training to contribute to youth development and the use of grounded theory for document review is limited. This project has the potential to spur discussions about the role of coach training in these areas, marking the beginning of an important conversation.

Authors

• Jessy Zadrazil Newman, American Institutes for Research

• John Kochanek, American Institutes for Research

• Amelia Auchstetter, American Institutes for Research