Coaching for All (CFA) research report

Coaching for All (CFA) was funded by Sport England and delivered between March 2020 and June 2021 by Sporting Communities which is a Community Interest Company. Programme delivery was supported by UK Coaching and Sporting Equals. Loughborough University was commissioned to undertake research to capture the transferable learning from the pilot programme and to provide recommendations to enhance the diversity of coaches who are active within communities. The research involved online surveys with coaches at the start and end of the programme, qualitative interviews and focus groups with coaches and programme deliverers. The programme recruited 29 participants from disadvantaged communities who identified as Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic or as a Refugee. All participants were aged 16+ and lived in, or near, Stoke-on-Trent or Derby. Participants engaged in a 12-month learning process focused on becoming paid sport coaches which enabled gaining insight relevant to developing a more ethnically diverse coaching workforce. The restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic impacted significantly on the delivery of the programme and as a result the majority of the programme was delivered online with coaches engaging remotely.