Coaching care-experienced children and young people in sport

Participation in organised sport can foster personal development and social connections. However, many care-experienced children and young people have reported sport clubs to be ‘missing spaces’ in their lives, as the transient nature of care experiences often limits opportunities for sustained involvement. Given the notable lack of literature around coaching care-experienced youth, this chapter draws from broader sport and physical activity literature to explore the challenges these young people may face when engaging in youth sport contexts and the issues that coaches need to be cognisant of when coaching children and care-experienced young people. It first explores who care-experienced children and young people are and outlines the challenges they might face in accessing and maintaining involvement in youth sport contexts, before considering whether particular coaching pedagogies and practices may serve to either engage/include or alienate/exclude these individuals. The discussion then draws attention to how trauma might impact behaviour in youth sport contexts before exploring the value of trauma-aware pedagogies as a means of highlighting the significance of both contextual knowledge and positive relationships when coaching this population. It concludes by suggesting core assumptions and principles that may serve to shape positive coaching practices with care-experienced youth moving forward.