Background and problem definition
The Swiss Gymnastics Federation (STV) is planning to develop a systematic coaching programme for its clubs. The club coaching concept includes club-specific support and counselling. Different forms and formats of advice are to be developed on the basis of a typologisation of the STV clubs. The STV club coaching project strengthens strategies and structures (e.g. voluntary work, professionalisation, innovative sports offers), which contributes to the successful development of gymnastics clubs in Switzerland in the long term and thus also strengthens the development of the STV.
The Institute of Sports Science (ISPW) at the University of Bern (Department of Sport Sociology & Management) supports the STV in this endeavour and is primarily responsible for developing the concept of club coaching as well as its evaluation and scientifically sound further development. The coaching concept is based on the current state of scientifically sound counselling of sports clubs by associations and is oriented towards the systemic principle of "helping people to help themselves", whereby specialist input can also play a role.
The joint project has the following objectives:
- Development of a systematic, type-related, sustainable coaching system for STV clubs with different counselling formats;
- Implementation, evaluation and further development of the club coaching concept.
The evaluation, particularly during the pilot phase, will be used to identify potential improvements to the programme. Continuous scientific monitoring and further development of the programme should ensure that it best meets the needs of the gymnastics clubs in terms of advice from the association and ultimately strengthens Swiss gymnastics clubs in the long term.
Procedure
Project phase 1:
The first project phase initially focuses on developing a typology of STV clubs, which will serve as the basis for a differentiated coaching concept. At the same time, the systematic club coaching concept will be developed and a coaching network established. The concept will then be tested in a pilot phase with selected gymnastics clubs and further developed if necessary.
Project phase 2:
In the second project phase, club coaching will be implemented in collaboration with the regional gymnastics associations and implemented at a larger number of gymnastics clubs. This will continue to be accompanied and evaluated on a scientific basis. In particular, the extent to which the clubs can absorb and actually implement the counselling inputs and thus adapt club structures will be examined. The evaluation design and the associated survey instruments still need to be developed.
By evaluating the implementation of the coaching concept, recommendations for action regarding its further development are to be developed in order to make the programme successful in the long term.
