Elite sports policy and coaching at the coalface

Abstract

This article marks an important watershed in the investigation of elite sport development in the 'Atlantic Isles'. It outlines some features of the emergence and development of international elite sports policy and its idiosyncratic diffusion to Northern Ireland (NI) specifically. Drawing on the SPLISS framework and the need for empirical work within Pillar 7 (coaching provision and coaching development), there is also an examination of elite coaches' perceptions of the policy factors influencing international sporting success. This goes some way towards redressing the dearth of knowledge about the complex social and political realities in which elite coaches ply their trade. A 'mixed methods' approach was employed, which incorporated secondary analysis of government and sports policy documents, the historical charting of the elite sports policy field in NI, the completion of an internationally validated survey and also semi-structured interviews with eight high-performance coaches (seven males and one female) who ranged in age from 38 to 59 years. The study demonstrates some of the unique challenges for the dual positioning of NI within Irish and British sports governance arenas. There, the resultant fractured elite sports policy landscape has constrained coaches' attempts to deliver upon performance targets. There was also less than convincing evidence of a 'high-performance' oriented sport culture. The article concludes by bridging the gap between sports policy and social policy in NI and, in so doing, offers some possibilities for developing a more integrated research agenda.

Labor migration among elite sport coaches: An exploratory study

“…Inarguably, coaches play an important role in developing talents and forming successful athletes (De Bosscher et al, 2015). Specifically, elite sport coaches represent the link between government policies and national sporting success (Liston et al, 2013). Thus, the situation of elite sport coaches is of interest to policy-makers because they are critical to the competitiveness of the sport system.…”

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“…Yet still, there are those who are far less concerned with such issues as identity, training and life post-sport (Hickey and Kelly 2008). This provides a unique set of challenges for those charged with responsibility for developing elite sport, elite coach and elite athlete development systems, many of which vary across national and cultural boundaries (see, for example, Liston et al 2012). Perhaps the experiences of the former athletes interviewed here could be utilized in a positive way, in a mentoring and human development capacity, for future generations of Portuguese athletes.…”

Revisiting Relations between the Sexes in Sport on the Island of Ireland

“…Yet this group is also socially differentiated and internally fractured. For instance, the historical dominance of the so-called Big Three (Liston, Gregg, and Lowther 2012) is mirrored in the status hierarchy of women's sports. The LGFA, organized independently from the GAA but dependent on the latter for access to training and playing grounds, has attained some measure of societal and sporting status.…”

“…Moreover, the extent to which these sports dominate media coverage on the island (when played by males) and receive substantial fundingfrom the Irish Sports Council (in RoI) and the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (in NI) and their respective sponsors-reinforces the dominant position of men as competitors, organizers, and leaders in, and of, these sports. Currently, the GAA, the FAI, and the IRFU are well positioned for continued government grant aid in the Republic of Ireland while, north of the border, the dominance of the same Big Three is evident in the fact that rugby union, soccer, and Gaelic games (football and hurling) have the greatest cultural significance and associated investment by the devolved government at Stormont (Liston, Gregg, and Lowther 2012). Notably, however, this traditional and longstanding dominance does not necessarily translate itself equally into financial or organizational advantages for males and females playing these games.…”