Anti-Racism in Coaching Community of Practice

Original report written by: Culver, D., Duarte, T., Rourke, S., Turner, C. (2023).

Summary

This report describes a pilot project intended to provide a quality sport development experience for coaches to pursue a more in-depth understanding of racism and anti-racism in sport. Interested coaches were required to commit to a six-month process beginning with the completion of the Anti-Racism in Coaching eLearning module followed by monthly community of practice (CoP) sessions diving deeper into the content.

It presents a summary of all CoP content and learning activities. The data collected documents the value created by the interactions for participating coaches. More specifically, how coaches adjusted their expectations and re-affirmed their place in their own personal learning journey, the second story illustrates the importance of connection in creating more empathetic coaches. There are also two examples of how learning value was created for facilitators. The first describes the need for facilitators to lean into discomfort and the second example explores how facilitators lead through vulnerability.

Key considerations for future social learning projects are time and value creation, the importance of breakout rooms, engagement over participation, and novice facilitator support. We found coaches’ perceptions of anti-racism in sport and coaching changed because of their participation in the CoP and of the ways in which they integrate anti-racism into their practice.

To request the full report, please send an email to research@coach.ca.