CoachLearn – Enhancing sport coaches’ learning, mobility and employment within the context of a European Sport Coaching Framework Erasmus Project

Project Title

CoachLearn – Enhancing sport coaches’ learning, mobility and employment within the context of a European Sport Coaching Framework

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 addressing more than one field

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Recognition, transparency, certification; Quality Assurance; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project Summary

CoachLearn was led by Leeds Beckett University (UK) in conjunction with the International Council for Coaching Excellence (UK), Trainerakademie Köln (Germany), Hungarian Coaching Association (Hungary), Haaga-Helia University (Finland) and NOC*NSF (Netherlands). The project was funded through an Erasmus+ bid (2014 call) under the Strategic Partnerships Action within Key Action 2 – Cooperation and Innovation for Good Practices. It started in October 2014 and was completed in August 2017.
Sport coaches are at the front-line of sport development and delivery. Based on previous studies, it was estimated that there could be as many as 5 to 9 million coaches operating across Europe, with a likely reach of somewhere between 50 and 100 million sport participants. The development of a suitably educated coaching workforce has thus been recognised as a priority area at the highest levels of European policy. The 2007 White Paper on Sport, the 2011 Communication on Enhancing the European Dimension of Sport, and the Work Plans for Sport 2011-2014, 2014-2017 and 2017-2020 all highlight the need to review and improve the way coaches are trained. Over the last ten years, the European Coaching Council (the European branch of the International Council for Coaching Excellence) has led a number of initiatives to develop coach education within the Union. These initiatives have reflected the wider changes in the overall education landscape. Notwithstanding this considerable work, a number of key issues remained to be addressed where identified.
In order to address the above issues and contribute to enhancing coaches’ learning, mobility and employability, CoachLearn:
a) Completed a series of research reports to provide a clear picture of the needs of sport coaches, coach developers (trainers of coaches) and a variety of organisations with a stake in their education, employment and mobility.
b) Compiled examples of good practice at a global and European level in relation to systems and frameworks of education, employment and mobility of sports coaches.
c) Developed suitable guidance and practical tools to facilitate the adoption and implementation of recognised protocols and systems for Recognised Prior Learning within European Union coach education stakeholders
d) Produced a European Sport Coaching Framework (ESCF) responsive to the needs of coaches and the idiosyncrasies of international, national and sport specific contexts. This Framework is aligned to EQF and the International Sport Coaching Framework, and referenced against other relevant European qualification systems and tools.
e) Created implementation tools to support member states and coaching stakeholders evaluate their current coach education systems against clear reference points (European Sport Coaching Framework) and plan for the development of future, enhanced systems.
CoachLearn has been disseminated extensively throughout the duration of the project. Members of the working group have presented the intellectual outputs of the project at a multitude of events and conferences in Europe and around the world. These included the USA National Coaching Conference 2015 in West Virginia, the Global Coach Conference 2015 in Finland and 2017 in England, the Global Coaches House 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, the European Network of Sport Education Conference 2015 in Italy and 2017 in Denmark, and the Estonian Presidency Conference on Sport 2017 in Tallinn. Likewise, based on the contribution made by the project research and intellectual outputs, several members of the working group were invited to sit in the Human Resources in Sport Expert Group of the Sport Unit of the European Commission where CoachLearn was amply discussed.
The intellectual outputs of the project, and specifically the ESCF and its application tools have been extremely well received by stakeholders in the field of coach education and employment. Feedback from end users had been very positive and the guidance provided in these documents has started to filter into the day to day practices of all those involved in this area of work. Of special significance was the choice of ‘The Role of the Coach’ as the main topic for the current Estonian Presidency of the European Council which was directly influenced by CoachLearn and the ESCF.
CoachLearn has therefore fulfilled all the objectives it set out at the project application stage and has had a significant impact at ground level making a major contribution to enhancing sport coaches’ learning, mobility and employment through the development. The ESCF has become the recognised reference point across the Union for the development and benchmarking of coach education programmes and coaching systems. Over time, the ESCF will enhance national systems of vocational education and training in sport coaching and create a step change in the way coaches are educated, developed and employed across the European Union.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 374672,02 Eur

Project Coordinator

LEEDS BECKETT UNIVERSITY & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Magyar Edzok Tarsasaga
• Trainerakademie Köln des DOSB
• INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR COACHING EXCELLENCE
• NEDERLANDS OLYMPISCH COMITE-NEDERLANDSE SPORT FEDERATIE VERENIGING
• HAAGA-HELIA AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY