On the 25th of April 2018, Manchester Metropolitan University (Cheshire Campus) and Buckinghamshire New University hosted the first CRiC Coaching in the Community one day symposium

Organised by Dr Laura Gale and Dr Ben Ives, this event built on a strong foundation of conferences previously delivered by CRiC.

The day provided an important platform for academics, coach educators, policy makers, and practitioners to come together to share and debate research, critical experiences, and expertise in relation to the development of community sports coaching. Particular attention was paid to exploring: a) the everyday realities of community coaching practice, b) coach education and mentoring, c) developing community coaching practice, and d) the politics of working with a voluntary workforce. One pleasing aspect of this event was to welcome a number of sporting body officers who were keen to listen to the most up to date research and contribute in the lively discussions that followed. 

Particular attention was paid to exploring a) the everyday realities of community coaching practice, b) coach education and mentoring, and c) developing community coaching practice.

The significance of these discussions were grounded in its generation of new and original knowledge in relation to the experiences and development of community sports coaches, who are increasingly being used to deliver schemes to achieve a variety of sporting and non-sporting policy priorities.