5C´s coaching education – For positive youth development Erasmus Project

Project Title

5C´s coaching education – For positive youth development

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

The National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland (ISI) in association with The Youth Association of Iceland (UMFI) has run a project called “Sýnum Karakter” (Developing Character) since 2016. That project ́s aim is to bring focus on developing character through sports participation. The organization’s ISI and UMFI, wanted sports clubs to be more socially inclusive by focusing more on the individual then competition and results. The project has a homepage www.synumkarakter.is which hosts different articles, from scholars, coaches, elite athletes, etc. This has brought the sports club’s attention to the value of coaching character. Following the start of the project, the Sports Associations found a gap in the coaching education regarding how to coach life skills or how to develop character in training.

The aim of this Erasmus+ Strategic partnership application in the field of education, training, and youth is to develop this work further and provide the Sports movement with innovative education regarding coaching character, teaching life skills, and helping sports clubs becoming more inclusive. To implement this we will focus on the application of the 5Cs model (Harwood, 2008; Harwood et al., 2015) for engaging, connecting, and empowering youth through sport via coach education and community sports engagement. The partnership will support the newly signed Memo of Understanding (MoU) between Loughborough University, the Icelandic Olympic and Sports Association, the Icelandic Football Association, The Icelandic Gymnastic Association, and the Icelandic Youth Association in addition to Reykjavik University.
Principally, we will work on this aim by engaging and educating sports coaching staff in the 5Cs ‘model and method’ as part of coach education. This will enable them to introduce, model, and integrate the key concepts of Commitment, Communication, Concentration, emotional Control, and Self Confidence in their natural club coaching sessions. To supplement this education, we will create (and apply existing) educational resources to support parents and young athletes to wrap around the coach delivery. This will include some online resources/bite-size education over the course of the sports season. We aim to build a website dedicated to the 5C´s in Icelandic which will support the website www.synumkarakter.is. Build Course Curriculums for Coach Education regarding the 5C´s methods and training for the Sports Associations to teach future coaches. Create promotional materials about the 5C´s, and materials for athletes and parents. Finally, the Universities will write research papers about the project and its results as well as journal articles.

The project will involve two large Icelandic sports clubs – a youth football club (Fylkir) and gymnastics club (Ármann) – a total of around 400 youth (target age is likely 11-17 years old), 30 coaches, 400-800 parents.

Research using a mixed-methods implementation science model will be conducted to examine the impact, processes, and perceptions of 5Cs education to coaches, athletes, parents into the community system, and explore a variety of psychosocial outcomes – importantly linked to psychosocial literacy, character, and life skills development. The impact of the 5Cs initiative on coaching satisfaction and quality of parental involvement will also be evaluated in order to inform the ongoing application and sustainability of such psychosocial education and training going forwards throughout Icelandic youth sport.

The desired impact of the project is as follows:
Local – That the 5C´s will positively affect the sports environment in which athletes, parents, and coaches of the cooperating clubs operate. That it will raise awareness of psychosocial factors as necessary ingredients in talent development. That stakeholders have access to education on the 5C’s and how to implement them. That the intervention will display positive effects through psychosocial assessment (questionnaires, focus groups). That there will be a spillover effect to groups not directly targeted in the intervention.
Regional/National – That the 5C’s will become a feature in coach education at Iceland’s largest sports Associations. That sports clubs under the umbrella of the Icelandic sports Association will adopt the approach into their coaching strategy and encourage their coaches to educate themselves on the framework.
This could have a big impact in the Nordic countries, Danmark, Sweden, Finnland and Norway. All of these nations cooperate and share ideas and coaching education there have also the same gap regarding coaching character and interpersonal skills.

The long term benefits will be a healthier, well-balanced youth with a strong character, emotional control, and the self-esteem to make the future what they want it to be.
Increased participation of youth participants and coaches who care for the individual over the out

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 187297 Eur

Project Coordinator

IPROTTA – OG OLYMPIUSAMBAND ISLANDS FELAGASAMTOK & Country: IS

Project Partners

• Fimleikasamband Íslands
• Knattspyrnusamband Íslands
• HASKOLINN I REYKJAVIK EHF
• LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY
• Ungmennafélag Íslands