Supporting Academy Football Coaches to Develop Psychological Attributes in Male Academy Players
type: CreativeWork
description: The overarching purpose of this thesis was to support academy football coaches to better facilitate the psychological development of young players. To achieve this purpose, three empirical studies were conducted, each with a respective aim. Study one (Chapter 3) aimed to first identify the key psychological attributes to develop within young academy players. Building on study one, study two (Chapter 4) aimed to explore the coaching strategies that can facilitate the development of each psychological attribute, and also to examine the observable behaviours that indicate that the attribute is developed. Finally, study three (Chapter 5) aimed to apply the knowledge constructed in study one and two by designing, delivering, and evaluating a sport psychology coach education and support programme at a case study football academy. Study one (Chapter 3) interviewed nine academy coaches who worked within a category one football academy, with eight psychological attributes constructed from thematic analysis of the interviews: commitment to develop, confidence, coping with the demands of high-level sport, drive to achieve goals, emotional control, resilience, self-aware and reflective, and strong work ethic. The findings provide greater direction for the attributes to develop in academy players but also indicate that current frameworks may not fully capture the key psychological attributes players need to develop in order to successfully progress out of the academy. Study two (Chapter 4) interviewed twelve, category one and two, academy football coaches to explore the coaching strategies used to develop each of the eight psychological attributes identified in study one. Fifty-two coaching strategies were constructed across the attributes providing academy coaches with a catalogue of user-friendly strategies to support their players’ psychological development with. Study two also identified behaviours that indicated the successful development of each attribute, knowledge that c…
abstract: The overarching purpose of this thesis was to support academy football coaches to better facilitate the psychological development of young players. To achieve this purpose, three empirical studies were conducted, each with a respective aim. Study one (Chapter 3) aimed to first identify the key psychological attributes to develop within young academy players. Building on study one, study two (Chapter 4) aimed to explore the coaching strategies that can facilitate the development of each psychological attribute, and also to examine the observable behaviours that indicate that the attribute is developed. Finally, study three (Chapter 5) aimed to apply the knowledge constructed in study one and two by designing, delivering, and evaluating a sport psychology coach education and support programme at a case study football academy. Study one (Chapter 3) interviewed nine academy coaches who worked within a category one football academy, with eight psychological attributes constructed from thematic analysis of the interviews: commitment to develop, confidence, coping with the demands of high-level sport, drive to achieve goals, emotional control, resilience, self-aware and reflective, and strong work ethic. The findings provide greater direction for the attributes to develop in academy players but also indicate that current frameworks may not fully capture the key psychological attributes players need to develop in order to successfully progress out of the academy. Study two (Chapter 4) interviewed twelve, category one and two, academy football coaches to explore the coaching strategies used to develop each of the eight psychological attributes identified in study one. Fifty-two coaching strategies were constructed across the attributes providing academy coaches with a catalogue of user-friendly strategies to support their players’ psychological development with. Study two also identified behaviours that indicated the successful development of each attribute, knowledge that c…
author: Wixey, Dan
language: eng
date published: 2024
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:39:51Z
provider: University of South Wales
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of South Wales