Sport Development, Sport Coaching, and Domain Specificity

This chapter presents evidence and supporting arguments to demonstrate that there is a correspondence between sport development and coaching domains. This relationship is placed in the context of policy directives that create a more extended understanding of sport and the boundaries of the coaching role. The emergence of a sport-for-development or community form of participation that emphasises the contribution to marginalised groups has raised questions about the capacity of the sport coaching workforce to address participant needs in this domain. The chapter concludes that there is a need not merely to diversify the existing coaching workforce but to create a newer coaching domain that moves beyond the improvement in sport performance that characterises the traditional sport hierarchy and emphasises the relational, social and diverting aspects of sporting activity. Such a move would reinforce the symbiotic relationship between sport development and sport coaching.