Exploring Coaching Practice and Coaching Perspectives at a Football (soccer) Club

Coaching in Australia has been grounded in the Game Sense coaching approach (GSA) since the mid-1990's, and the GSA is indicated in the Australian Sports Commission Playing for Life Philosophy In Australia, the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) have a curriculum for coaching following a long term player development model from entry into the game to elite participation that incorporates many similar ideas to those of the GSA. In this research, we set out to determine the awareness of the FFA curriculum and the GSA at local club level.

Siokos (2011) found limited adherence among football coaches to the tenets of the FFA curriculum. Our recent study found that the coaches had a good understanding of the tenets of the FFA curriculum, and supported the small-sided games practice form emphasised in the FFA curriculum. However, the coaches had no understanding of the process of shaping and focusing player game development using player-centred instructional strategies such as the use of well considered during practice, or pre-planned before practice, questions. In effect, it was found the coaches adopted primarily 'coach-centred' instructional strategies.

The GSA has been a mainstay of Australian sport coach education, embedded in coach accreditation courses and coach education manuals, for over 20 years. This study adds to the body of evidence suggesting that in many club coaching settings in Australia, the GSA remains largely unknown or misunderstood. However, unlike Siokos 2011 study, the coaches involved in our study adhered to many of the tenets of the FFA curriculum.

The full paper outlining the research and its findings is available as an open access paper at http://www.gymnasium.ub.ro/index.php/journal/article/view/14/11

To read an open access review of GSA research in coaching up to 2014, see https://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/research/centres_and_networks/ADPN/HMHCE-papers/resources/HMHCE_GS_Ed_Article_02_2014.pdf





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