Examining sports coaching philosophy: implications for policy, pedagogy and practice

This thesis showed that philosophy in coaching lacks the theoretical foundations of other helping professions, with a lack of guidance by formal coach education programs resulting in coaches adopting their own “sport philosophy”, which enabled coaches to operationalize it in ways that assisted their practice (observed through consistent coach behaviour).

Measuring and evaluating coaching performance using a 360° feedback process: a development and pilot study

 The research examined the development, design and use of 360° feedback in sports coaching. The results suggest that using outcomes in competition as a means of evaluating coaching performance overlooks many aspects of their work. 360° feedback is capable of providing a useful and insightful means of evaluating coaching performance.

Rural sports and recreational injuries in Australia: what do we know?

Objective: It is widely recognised that individuals residing in regional or rural areas have poorer health outcomes than those from metropolitan areas. Factors associated with these poorer health outcomes include geographical isolation, population declines, limited health care provision and higher levels of inactivity compared to urban areas. The mental, social and physical health of individuals and communities in rural areas can be improved through active participation in sport and recreation activities. Unfortunately, participation in such activities can potentially lead to injury. There is a suggestion that there is an increased risk of sports injuries in rural areas due to the lack of health professionals and coaching personnel, fewer available volunteers to organise and deliver sport, and the general attitude towards injuries in rural settings.

Results: There is very limited information about the number and types of injuries sustained during participation in sports activities in rural and regional settings. This is largely related to a lack of formal sporting structures and support mechanisms including research funding and trained personnel.

Conclusion: A range of factors need to be implemented to improve safety for sporting and recreational participants in these areas. These include improved monitoring of injury occurrence, stronger promotion of safety initiatives and wider implementation of education strategies.

The impact of sports on team performance management

Purpose – The purpose of this editorial is to introduce the special issue on the relationship of performance management to sports teams.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper explains the importance of performance management to sports teams and justifies the need for the special issue.

Findings – The paper finds that there are a variety of different types of teams that operate in the sports context, including professional league teams, college teams, teams at the workplace, volunteer teams and coaching teams.

Originality/value – This editorial provides an overview of this special issue, which comprises eight original papers that are best practice examples of the latest developments in the research on teams in the sports context. Each of these articles is briefly discussed in terms of its contribution to the literature.