Leadership, empowerment and coaching: how community sport coaches in the UK can effect behavioural change in disadvantaged youth through incrementally given roles of responsibility

Growing evidence outlines how sport can assist with community regeneration and other social policy objectives. Given that the impact of austerity measures within the UK has impacted significantly on funding patterns for sport, it is perhaps somewhat surprising that statements by the Conservative government continue to emphasise that sport and inclusive sport programmes have a crucial role to play in an effective society. The focus of this research was to understand how, in the context of austerity, experienced community coaches view good practice in sport intervention programmes. The research was undertaken by interviewing ten sport coaches with significant experience of community coaching in the south of England. Using Jennings et al.'s (2006) Critical Youth Empowerment (CYE) model to interpret the data, the findings suggest that developing leadership roles and community level empowerment facilitates changes in individual behaviour and more sustainable projects. Overall, the research demonstrates that the role of the coach is paramount to the success of these programmes. In particular, the research findings indicate how developing trusting, boundary-enabled relationships with participants is key to the success of the programmes.