Investigating policy enactment in community sport coaching: directions for future research

Ives, Ben ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7262-0693, Penney, Dawn, O'Gorman, Jimmy, Potrac, Paul, Nichol, Adam and Nelson, Lee (2023) Investigating policy enactment in community sport coaching: directions for future research. Sports Coaching Review. ISSN 2164-0629

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Abstract

This article calls for a sophisticated investigation of policy enactment in sport-related environments, with community sport coaching used as an example case. Emphasis is placed on the need for in-depth empirical research into and theorisation of: 1) political skills involved in the enactment of policy; 2) performative and fabricated aspects of policy enactment; 3) emotion management when enacting policy; and 4) impacts of policy enactment for the health and wellbeing of workers. In doing so, this article challenges scholars to move beyond the study of policy actor types and to develop more nuanced understandings of the political, economic, organisational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal forces influencing those involved in policy enactment. It is hoped that this article will encourage original and high-quality research into how sport, physical activity, and physical education policies are enacted by its workforce and provide a stimulus for professional learning about policy work across sporting communities.