The workshop was held at Aspire Academy over the past three days and involved 50 participants from various sports disciplines as well as sports scientists, medical staff, and educators who collectively can create a climate that can positively influence student-athlete’s motivation and well-being.
The unique approach of this workshop is based on theories of motivation and sport coaching. The programme supports coaches in identifying how they might integrate the workshop’s perspectives into personal coaching style in training and competitions.
One of the major benefits of the course is that the content and approach are theoretically-based and informed by past research that has been conducted across the world for more than 30 years. The main goal of the workshop is to help coaches better understand how to apply a certain set of principles to help them optimise the coaching climate and, in turn, enhance the quality of student-athlete motivation.
Commenting on the workshop, Dr. Paul Appleton from Empowering Coaching, who teaches at the University of Birmingham about the Motivation in Sport and Exercise, said: “The workshop went really well. Participants really engaged and they enjoyed the workshop, which is the most important thing from a motivational perspective. They were reflecting on their practice and also discussed with their colleagues the strategies they use to create an empowering climate.”
During the workshop, the Academy coaches, sports scientists and medical staff were introduced to several topics including understanding motivation and motivational climate; identification of coaching philosophy; how autonomy, belonging and competence form the building blocks for high levels of intrinsic motivation; and the many elements that make up an empowering climate.
