Wade Gilbert

The ‘small town’ effect on youth athletic development: insights from New Zealand ‘touch’

Abstract There is a growing worldwide interest in understanding optimal and healthy pathways for talent development in sport. The purpose of the study was to explore how familial, environmental and social factors facilitated the athletic development of elite Touch representatives who grew up in the small town of Petersville (pseudonym), New Zealand. An interest in understanding these factors influenced the decision to use an ecological model of development as an analytical lens and to apply (auto)ethnographic methodologies. The participants, which included the first author, grew up in Petersville and had represented New Zealand in the sport of Touch, in various capacities, i.e. of player, referee and manager. While the primary focus is on athletic development of the players who grew up in Petersville, they grew up in a community in which other members were active in the elite NZ Touch community. Consistent with an ecological view of development, the discussion illustrates how influential the referee (who was also the coach of the school Touch team) and the manager were to player development. The findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating a nuanced interpretation of the ‘birthplace effect’, particularly in countries with small populations and limited geographical areas.

Experiences of competitive masters swimmers: Desired coaching characteristics and perceived benefits

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of competitive masters swimmers by asking them to describe desired coaching characteristics and perceived benefits associated with masters swimming. The research questions guiding this study were: What are masters swimmers’ desired coaching characteristics? What are masters swimmers’ perceptions regarding the benefits of participating in masters athletics? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six competitive male masters swimmers aged 49–64 and the qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis. According to the athletes, their coaches used effective communication skills to establish positive environments that led to social, health, and performance improvements. In addition, the athletes reported how their coachs kept them focused and motivated prior to competitions when their training became more challenging. Results from this study are of interest to masters swimming athletes and coaches, and could be used to inform the development and design of programs that could optimise the performance and enjoyment of competitive masters swimmers.

A university sport coach community of practice: Using a value creation framework to explore learning and social interactions:

Coaches often identify social learning situations as the most valuable and influential to their learning. Thus, researchers have proposed implementing social learning initiatives, in particular, the community of practice approach. The purpose of the present study was to explore how an existing coach community of practice was created and sustained in a university setting, and to assess what value was created by participating in the community of practice. Participants included four National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 coaches from a university in the Southwestern United States. Data collection included an individual interview with each coach. Interviews were analysed using a value creation framework. The findings revealed that the coaches created value within all five cycles of Wenger et al.’s framework. In particular, the coaches learned a number of coaching strategies, some of which they were able to implement, and as a result, observe benefits in their coaching and athletes’ performance.