Category Archives: Dissemination

Conference Presentations, Dissemination, Research

Research Conference Presentation

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The ‘ARC’ model of coaching practice

Dr Jim Lusted, Senior Lecturer in Sport & Fitness recently presented at the UK Sport Development Network (UKSDN) annual conference at Nottingham Trent University. The conference is designed to bring academic researchers and people working in sport together to learn from each other. Jim’s presentation, in collaboration with Dr Daniel Kilvington (Leeds Beckett University), introduced the ‘ARC’ model of anti-racist coaching practice and included recommendations for sport coaches and organisations to effectively support players and athletes from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

The ARC model was created by Jim and Dan out of a research project funded by The Premier League, who were keen to develop some good practice for football coaches at professional club youth academies. The research team conducted over 30 interviews with football coaches working across professional and grassroots boys football to explore their conceptions of anti-racist coaching practice and elicit good practice in coaching young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. From these findings, six core principles were established to form the ARC model, which include:

  1. Create an ARC environment
  2. Build culturally aware relationships
  3. Adapt practice to need diverse cultural needs
  4. Develop the person as well as the player
  5. Be culturally self-aware and reflective
  6. Be an ARC ‘influencer’

A number of recommendations to help coaches and organisations embed these ARC principles were also outlined. These include the importance of coaches seeking regular feedback on their practice from players, parents and other coaches and to develop a curiosity to learn more about their players and their specific cultural needs. Organisations should seek to prioritise and support the adoption of ARC principles, including using them for coach recruitment and appraisal processes and offer the time and space for coaches to get to know their players beyond just their football ability.

As part of the project, a 3-hour ARC training workshop was designed and has already been delivered to coaches at two premier league club academies. More workshops at a number of clubs are planned for the 24/25 season. In addition, an Open Learn course is currently in production titled ‘Anti-racist sport coaching practice’ which should be available to learners in the summer of 2025.

Congratulations to Jim for sharing his research with the sport academic and practitioner community!

Dissemination, Journal Paper, Research, Sport

New publication

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Steph Doehler, Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor within #TeamOUSport, has recently published a new journal article in Communication & Sport. Her paper, titled ‘‘Your Analysis Is as Useless as Your Ovaries’: Women Football Fans’ Experiences on Social Media’ explores the experiences of women football fans on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Notably, this study is the first to extend Pope et al.’s (2022) Model of Men’s Performances of Masculinities, offering a new theoretical insight and refinement of the original framework.

This research makes an important contribution to the fields of sports fandom and sports communication, shedding light on the diverse interactions and coping mechanisms of women who engage in football-related discussions on social media. It underscores both the positive role of these platforms in fostering fan communities and the challenges women face, including gender stereotypes and discrimination in the male-dominated football space.

The findings raise critical questions about how to ensure the online safety of women sports fans. The study suggests that social media platforms must adopt stronger policies and technologies to combat gender-based harassment. Likewise, sports organisations and governing bodies should play a more active role in promoting safer digital environments for their supporters. Additionally, the research invites reflection on the role individual users – both men and women – can play in addressing sexist attitudes online. Tackling these issues will require collaborative efforts from policymakers, technology companies, sports organisations, and online communities to develop strategies for developing gender equality and creating inclusive online spaces for all sports fans.

Congratulations to Steph!

Dissemination, Journal Paper, OpenLearn, Publications, Research

New Publication

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Following on from previous publications in the topic area, Dr Nichola Kentzer (and wider team, including S&F tutors Dr Jo Horne and Dr Mike Trott) recently published a systematic review in the International Journal of Care and Caring, exploring the barriers and facilitators to physical activity among informal carers in the international literature. Finding very little research in the area in UK based literature, the international literature offered a more in-depth perspective.

Lindsay, R. K.; Vseteckova, J., Horne, J. Smith, L., Trott, M., De Lappe, J., Soysal, P. Pizzol, D. and Kentzer, N. (2023). Barriers and facilitators to physical activity among informal carers: a systematic review of international literature. International Journal of Care and Caring, 1, pp. 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1332/239788221X16746510534114

As part of this ongoing research, Nichola has authored a further output – an Open Learn course, endorsed by Carers Trust, that educated carers on the benefits of physical activity in the caring role. The course ‘Physical activity for health and wellbeing in the caring role’ continues the work to support carers to access physical activity opportunities appropriate for their needs and has been well received by the caring population, and those who work to support them.

Congratulations to Nichola and the wider team!

Books, Dissemination, Publications, Research

New Book Chapters

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Dr Ben Langdown, a senior lecturer with #TeamOUsport was invited to contribute three chapters to a new Routledge book called ‘Strength and Conditioning for Golf: A Guide for Coaches and Players’. Ben’s applied strength and conditioning work with the West Midlands England Golf Under 18 Regional Squads provided inspiration and experience for his chapter on ‘The Junior Golfer’. Here he discusses the considerations needed for training junior golfers and some common misconceptions around strength and conditioning in this cohort.

Click on the image to see full contents page:

Ben’s other two chapters, ‘Meeting a Golfer’s Needs’ (focusing on conducting a needs analysis, profiling golfers and coaching considerations) and ‘Warming-up for Golf’ were co-authored with Dr Jack Wells of The Professional Golfers’ Association. Their recent research provided an evidence base to share within both chapters and allowed them to suggest many applied and practical solutions to working with golfers in a strength and conditioning setting.

The book, edited by Alex Bliss, was launched in August 2022 and features contributions from various experts from the world of golf and strength and conditioning.

Congratulations to Ben and his co-author Jack!

Books, Dissemination, Publications, Research

New Book Chapter

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One of the #TeamOUsport lecturers, Dr Jim Lusted, recently contributed a chapter to a book collection titled ‘Community Sport Coaching: Policies and Practice’, edited by Ben Ives, Paul Potrac, Laura Gale and Lee Nelson published by Routledge. His chapter is called ‘Coaching Ethnically Diverse Participants: ‘Race’, Racism and Anti-Racist Practice in Community Sport’.

The chapter explores how issues of ‘race’, ethnicity and racism can influence community sport coaching settings, and proposes some good practice suggestions for coaches working with ethnically diverse participants. It was co-written with Dr Dan Kilvington, an academic researcher with an expertise on racism in sport and Asad Qureshi, a community sports coach with many years’ experience of coaching in ethnically diverse settings. This blend of academic theory and professional practice offers a well-rounded discussion of the key issues that coaches should consider when working with participants from a range of ethnic backgrounds. The chapter proposes the need to develop a form of coaching practice that is explicitly anti-racist in its approach to ensure that all participants are able to feel safe, enjoy and thrive during their sport experiences.

Click on the image to read the abstract:

Jim and his co-authors are currently in discussions with sport organisations to create a range of resources and training to help coaches develop an anti-racist approach to their own coaching practice.

Congratulations to Jim and his co-authors!

Lusted, J., Kilvington, D., & Qureshi, A. (2021). Coaching Ethnically Diverse Participants:‘ Race,’ Racism, and Anti-Racist Practice in Community Sport. In B. Ives et al. (eds) Community Sport Coaching. London: Routledge. Pp. 77-96.

Conference Presentations, Dissemination, Scholarship

Research Conference – Presentation Accepted

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On 6th July 2022 AL Sport and Fitness Staff Tutor Jane Dorrian will be delivering an ‘Ignite’ presentation at the Advance HE Teaching and Learning Conference being held at Northumbria University in Newcastle.

Woman Writing on a Notebook Beside Teacup and Tablet Computer · Free Stock Photo (pexels.com)

The focus of the conference is ‘Teaching in the spotlight: Where next for enhancing student success?’ and Jane will be presenting her PRAXIS funded scholarship project titled

‘What is a tutorial? An exploration of ‘learning event literacy’ on student experience’.

The project is looking at issues connected to the fact that all learning events in the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport are currently labelled as tutorials on timetables even though their content, organisation and delivery differ widely. Jane is working with the Student Support Team to look at how students find information about what to expect when they attend a tutorial and she is undertaking analysis of a series of tutorials to identify different characteristics that could be used to distinguish them into different categories such as seminars, workshops or lectures. She is also trialling delivery of a different type of learning event, labelled as an assignment surgery on the timetable, to see how students respond to having an alternative type of session.

More information about the conference is available here: Teaching and Learning Conference 2022: Teaching in the spotlight: Where next for enhancing student success? | Advance HE (advance-he.ac.uk)

Congratulations on the presentation acceptance, Jane!

Conference Presentations, Dissemination, Research

Research conference presentation

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In November 2021, Sport and Fitness AL and Staff Tutor Steph Doehler presented findings from her publication on the media framing of Colin Kaepernick at the European Communication Research and Education Association’s Media, Sport, and Diversity conference. The online event hosted by Aarhus University in Denmark was attended by scholars from across Europe and included several presentations on sports communication and journalism. Steph’s research centred on how the American press responded to Kaepernick’s sustained activism during the 2016 NFL season, and compared this with their response to him in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

 

Books, Dissemination, Publications, Research

New Book Chapter

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Dr Nichola Kentzer, whose interest spans across sport psychology and education, recently published a book chapter combining the two areas. Nichola’s chapter, written with Dr Emma Huntley from Edgehill University, ‘Sport, Psychology and Christianity: The Importance of Reflective Practice’ examines how sport psychologists can work with athletes of faith effectively. The chapter forms part of a textbook aimed to support applied practitioners.

Conference Presentations, Dissemination, Research

Conference Presentation

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Back on 12th July, Dr Nichola Kentzer presented a round table discussion at the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Special Interest Group conference on ‘Mental health and wellbeing in education’. Nichola presented her research on the importance of this area to doctoral students on their PhD journey. The research was well received and a number of exciting projects, related to this area, are in the pipeline. Nichola also has a book chapter on ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing’ in education coming out this year – watch this space!

Dissemination, Research

Research Conference Presentations

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Dr Alex Twitchen has once again been accepted to present at the UK Coaching Applied Research Conference, being hosted at Derby County F.C., with two colleagues from the FA. Alex will be presenting in February 2019 on the UEFA B Vets project which is investigating the impact of a peer to peer learning environment. Alex previously presented at the 2018 inaugural conference on his research into ‘randomly applied constraints as a means to develop and improve the practice design skills of coaches’. Congratulations Alex!