Exploring life skills knowledge and influences on holistic coaching behaviours of primary school community football Physical Education coaches

In primary schools throughout England, coaches employed by community football foundations deliver Physical Education (PE) lessons. Primary school PE is a context that both promotes and is conducive to the development of life skills. However, the holistic development of life skills in primary school pupils during PE depends upon the knowledge, actions and behaviours of the coach. Semi-structured interviews of primary school six community football PE coaches were used to achieve two study aims. First, to investigate the coaches’ understanding of life skills in the context of holistic development. Secondly, to explore the factors that influence coaches’ capacity to embed life skills in primary school PE lessons. Deliberative and reflexive thematic analysis of interview data revealed how coaches did not comprehensively understand life skill development, and often could not differentiate between physical skills, technical skills and life skills. Additionally, outsourcing PE delivery to football coaches was problematic, as coaches’ prior coach education did not equip them with the knowledge or skills to deliver holistic PE lessons. Instead, coaches tended to learn how to deliver PE ‘on the job’ and prioritised physical and technical skill development in lessons. Findings also showed how constraints within schools including inadequate facilities, a lack of support from colleagues, the low prioritisation of PE within the curriculum and insufficient lesson planning time, meant coaches could not plan and deliver holistic PE lessons in which life skills were embedded.