Coaching the coaches: appreciative reflection and appreciative inquiry in the development of sport coaches

Sports coaching is a complex and dynamic endeavour occuring in an ever changing open-system (Jones, 2006; Piggott , 2015a). North (2017) captures the manifold nature of coaching in his definition, ‘sport coaching has depth, is embedded, complex and contextual, is goal-orientated, resource dependent, involves/engages with reasoning, reflecting, strategizing and produces outcomes’. When the complexity of coaching is recognised, the value of supporting coach learning through challenge setting and reflective practice (RP) is particularly salient. RP is particularly important for coaches’ development when we recognise that effective coaching is ‘a never ending process of learning, discovery, and self-transformation’ (Denison & Avner, 2011, p. 224).