Sport participation can have a powerful influence on the physical, psychological, and social development of youth across the nation (Camire & Trudel, 2014; Gould & Carson, 2008). Within the arena of sport, coaches are one of the most influential stakeholders in ensuring that positive developmental outcomes occur at all ages of participation (Gould, 2016). As with any profession, understanding how coaches learn their craft is vital in understanding how to produce more positive outcomes for athletes. Coaches have shown a clear preference for learning from other coaches, as they view their peers as a valuable source of context specific information. However, currently the literature reflects little insight as to what these informal coach social networks may look like in practice. As such, the purpose of this study was to identify the structure of two regional coaching networks, identify the type of knowledge shared within these networks, and understand who is considered a person of influence and why within each network. A mixed method study was designed to address the study purposes, utilizing social network analysis and qualitative semi-structured interviews. The results of the study reflected a clear structure to these coaching networks, including the identification of several individuals who were influential within the network due to their central role and/or their role in helping to connect otherwise disconnected coaches. In addition, these influential individuals served as a connection between coaches across geographic region and club. The quantitative analysis also reflected that coaches appear to prefer talking about a range of topics with other coaches to whom they go to for advice. In examining how these individuals of influence gained that influence, it appeared that a few characteristics described influence within the network: a variety of coaching experiences, distinctive personal attributes (e.g., approachability, passion for the sport), and intentional, relationship oriented, actions. These results not only serve a theoretical purpose in providing a picture of what these informal coach social networks look like in reality, but they also offer a practical purpose in assisting national governing bodies of sport in understanding how knowledge may flow from coach-to-coach within a sport network.
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