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Coaching as a profession is a complex role that requires professional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal knowledge . In order for coaches to develop expertise in these areas, continued education can be beneficial. The case study presented focuses on the development and dissemination of a coach-education intervention designed to challenge coach thinking surrounding the coach-expectancy cycle. The coach-expectancy cycle is a well-researched model of coach behavior that follows a 4-stage cyclical pattern in which coaches develop biases based on their previous experiences. These biases then affect coach behavior toward athletes, which in turn affects athlete performance and motivation. Finally, athlete performance reinforces coach expectations. The authors developed a 2-hr theory-based intervention promoting mitigation of the cycle in a group of youth-soccer coaches. Theories used, the intervention, and practitioner reflections are discussed.

In sport, as in life, people experience transitions on a regular basis. This exploratory research examined the experience of the transitional process within sport using a qualitative methodology. The seven participants had worked within their sport for over 30 years, first as an athlete, then a coach, and finally a coach developer. Semistructured interviews with each participant (x2) allowed for exploration of their experiences of changing roles within their organizations and revealed three themes: importance of timely support, ongoing professional conversations, and where am I going with this? These themes, exemplified by the use of direct quotes from the participants, were used to provide context and deeper understanding of the transition from athlete to coach to coach developer. The participants revealed a certain degree of serendipity, due to a lack of structure and process in their experiences. As a result, we suggest some practical steps that organizations could adopt to assist in this process.

Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders of the foot. Initial treatment of plantar fasciitis is typically conservative and may include heel padding, steroid injections, night splinting, calf stretching, ultrasound, foot orthoses, and taping. However, while custom foot orthoses are a common treatment method for plantar fasciitis, there is often a waiting period of a few weeks for them to be manufactured and delivered. Therefore, taping of the foot is often used as a temporary treatment to alleviate pain during the initial waiting period. Furthermore, taping may also be used as an alternative to foot orthoses for patients who may not tolerate the plantar pressures of an orthotic or for tight-fitting footwear that may not accommodate insoles. Specifically, the low-Dye taping (LDT) technique is one of the most frequently used methods, and recent literature has suggested that it may improve pain outcomes. Therefore, this critically appraised topic was conducted to determine the extent to which current evidence supports the use of LDT to reduce pain in patients with plantar fasciitis.

Assistant coaches play an important role in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic departments and spend substantial amounts of time working with student-athletes, yet no research to date has examined their knowledge of mental performance and mental health services. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to learn about NCAA Division I assistant coaches’ understanding and use of mental performance and mental health services. Thirteen assistant coaches employed at universities with at least one mental performance consultant and one licensed mental health provider were interviewed. Thematic analysis procedures were used, and five themes were constructed: (a) day-to-day responsibilities of the assistant coach, (b) needing both mental performance and mental health services, (c) factors influencing understanding of mental performance and mental health services, (d) factors impacting student-athlete utilization of mental performance and mental health services, and (e) confusion between mental performance and mental health services.

As the sport coaching profession continues to grow, there is a need to reflect upon and revise the knowledge and competencies coaches should possess to support quality sport experiences. The purpose of this paper is to document the revision process of the National Standards for Sport Coaches (NSSC) which were established to outline professional sport coaching standards in the United States of America (USA). The 3-year revision process involved two separate task forces organized by SHAPE America and several public reviews. The final revision aligns the NSSC with quality coaching frameworks and documents seven core responsibilities of sport coaches. Additionally, the NSSC includes standards meant to provide guidance on what a coach should know (e.g., professional knowledge, interpersonal knowledge, and intrapersonal knowledge), what a coach should be able to do (e.g., expectations of performance and developed competencies), and what common practices occur among coaches (e.g., shared values) to meet each core responsibility. It is hoped that the revised version of the NSSC continues to provide direction for all stakeholders to improve coaching practices within the USA.