This book offers new perspectives on game-based coaching (GBC), one of the most important practices for session design and instructional delivery in sport coaching. GBC emphasises the sport coach as educator and the development of ‘thinking players’, and this book demonstrates what that means in practice. It brings together leading and innovative thinkers and practitioners in coaching pedagogy, and aims to stimulate reflection by the reader on their own coaching practice. Reviewing recent theoretical developments and current research in GBC, the book provides in-depth examples on how research can be applied in practice, including the use of digital video games, immersive scenario-based coaching narratives, and the Game Sense approach as ‘play with purpose’. Representing the most up-to-date and engaging introduction to the theory and practice of GBC, this book is invaluable reading for all students of physical education and sport coaching, as well as practising coaches and coach educators.

Sport coaching has grown significantly as an area of research interest with an expanding number of sport coaching programs offered. The past decade or so has also seen significant interest in games-based approaches to coaching and teaching games. On a global level, Game Sense is one of the most recognized athlete-centred approaches for team sports, probably close behind Teaching Games for Understanding. Game Sense for Coaching and Teaching provides an understanding of how an Australian approach to coaching has grown and developed as it has been taken up across the globe. While the focus is on Game Sense, the book also offers insights into how any coaching or physical education (PE) teaching approach changes as it is adapted to different contexts across the world, examining the theoretical, historical and philosophical foundations of sport coaching and teaching in schools. This book is particularly useful for undergraduate and post-graduate sport coaching and PE courses but is also likely to be of interest for all practicing sports coaches or physical education teachers and lecturers.

Shedding new light on sport pedagogy and the teaching and coaching of games, this book shows how complexity theory can be used to improve team sport performance, coach education and young player development. The book draws together insights from both the humanities and behavioural sciences, including psychology, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, history, and play theory, into a new educational methodology for team sports. It shows how concepts from complexity theory underpin and inform team sport dynamics, including the uncontrolled nature of live human systems; the nature of complex systems and how this shapes student and young athlete learning; self-organisation and its relation to decision-making in play; and mental self-regulation and motivation. It presents an innovative and sophisticated definition of sport pedagogy that can help teachers and coaches deepen their understanding of teaching and learning in team sports, and help them to develop more motivated, more effective and more creative athletes.

"Sport coaching has grown significantly as an area of research interest with an expanding number of sport coaching programs offered. The past decade or so has also seen significant interest in games-based approaches to coaching and teaching games. On a global basis, Game Sense is one of the most recognized athlete-centred approaches for team sports, probably close behind Teaching Games for Understanding. Game Sense for Coaching and Teaching provides an understanding of how an Australian approach to coaching has grown and developed as it is taken up across the globe. While the focus is on Game Sense, it also offers insights into how any coaching or PE teaching approach changes as it is adapted to different contexts across the world examining the theoretical, historical and philosophical foundations of sport coaching and teaching in schools. This book is particular use for undergraduate and post graduate sport coaching and PE courses but is also likely to also be of interest for all practicing sports coaches or physical education teachers and lecturers"--

Association Football is undoubtedly a global sport, with millions of individuals participating in more than 200 countries. The need for an educated football coaching workforce to deliver appropriate coaching practices has never been greater. Formal coach education, which is often the primary medium for developing football coaches, is socially constructed, meaning an array of social, cultural, and historical factors underpin the design and delivery of any provision. Coach Education in Football: Contemporary Issues and Global Perspectives is the first book to explicitly explore these aspects, by providing critical insight into football coach education programmes from across the globe. Each chapter, organised via a central theme, highlights a contemporary issue affecting football coach education and development within a specific country, offering insights into the contextual opportunities and challenges. The book covers essential topics including the progression of female football coaches, coaches’ perspectives towards current provision, technological and pedagogical advances, and the historical development of formal coach education. Each chapter demonstrates the complexities associated with developing football coaches within grassroots and high-performance domains, while providing recommendations for national governing bodies, policy makers, and coach developers. This book is the first of its kind to explicitly investigate football coach education globally. This accessible book is an important read for students, academics, and practitioners with an interest in sports coaching, coach education, and football.

The Routledge Handbook of Coaching Children in Sport provides a comprehensive and extensive range of critical reflections of key areas impacting on children’s sport and coaching up to the age of 16. With coaching related chapters authored by academic across various disciplines, including nutrition, psychology, pedagogy, medicine, youth development and sociology, the text provides detailed reviews of the existing state of research and consideration of the implications of these particular factors upon parents, coaches, administrators and clearly the young people themselves as well as recommendations for future research. This new volume provides in-depth investigation to key topics of coaching topics such as Learning and Child Development, Protecting Young Athletes, Talent Identification and Development and Inclusive Coaching and finally introduce a broad array of contextual considerations for coaches from considering professional learning through to coaching in particular contexts. This book is more than simply an academic text and it offers insights that will further inform practice in children’s sport coaching. The handbook is relevant for students (UG, PG), researchers, academics, parents, coaches and administrators, as well as those interested in children’s sport coaching and the related topics therein. Martin Toms, PhD is a senior lecturer (associate professor) in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham, UK. A former professional sports coach with an MPhil and PhD exploring the sociological issues of young people in junior sport, Martin has been heavily involved in juniors sport all of his adult life. He has published widely and presented extensively around the world on youth sport, including working on international projects and for NBGs/Federations and National Governmental organisations. He has gained European and SCUK funding for youth and coaching related projects as well as being involved in international consultancy. He is a co-editor of the European Journal for Sport and Society as well as the current Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Golf Science. Ruth Jeanes, PhD is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, Australia. Ruth’s research examines inclusion and exclusion within youth sport, particularly examining how sport can be used to achieve broader social policy objectives targeted at young people. Within this, she is particularly interested in the role of coaches in facilitating broader social outcomes for young people. Ruth has published extensively in these areas with over 100 publications across journal articles, book chapters and books. She is widely cited and has been successful in securing extensive funding for her research including two highly competitive Australian Research Council grants.