RESULTS

Table 1 summarizes and defines the research’s eight overarching themes:

Table 1 – Results Summary

Note: Table 1 entails a summary of the eight overarching principles highlighted in the results: Intentionality; Person-Centred; Holism; Multi-Dimensionalism; Individualism; Collectivism; Agency; and Pragmatism.

Intentional, Person-Centred Approach

Data analysis across all methods highlights how social impact at Blaze is rendered through intentional programming targeting non-sporting outcomes. For example, one coach in an interview discussed how coaches share practice ideas and review each other’s sessions plans collaboratively through a coach WhatsApp group.  One coaches’ podcast discussion outlined Blaze’s fundamental coaching principle: “We can be really intentional…within our coaching…in a way that creates the kinds of behaviours which lead to social cohesion, but we have to be deliberate about it.” (Wright, 2021b)

Based on data from all methods, Blaze’s coaching strategies embed three components: recognizing wellbeing is influenced by multiple factors; realizing wellbeing’s viable outcomes are often overestimated within refined time frames (Blaze’s average members attend one-two times weekly); and coaches acknowledging when they cause wellbeing problems. One coach on a podcast reported how wellbeing issues arise when coaches prioritize performance results, creating unhealthy environments with people forced to survive sporting systems or drop-out (Wright, 2021b). Yet, data drawn from across all methods recognized that equilibrium between basketball and social elements must co-exist. For example, one interviewee discussed how Blaze selects specific role models to reinforce positive destinations and mindsets to participants. Rather than choosing renown players, Blaze advocates all-round athletes like Lebron James who places himself at social justice’s forefront because as one coach explained during a podcast, these individuals are more relatable to members facing similar issues (Wright, 2021b). This strategy prompts participants to think about the person rather than the athlete. This example reflects Blaze’s coaching approach which was explained on multiple public webinars for other practitioners to replicate whereby through flipping sport’s traditional components, Blaze advocates a person-needs-centred, community driven approach: non-sporting outcomes come first with performance results sitting secondary; connection first, activity-level second, and skills third; alongside prioritizing coaching’s who and why factors over sport’s common how and what approach (Actify, 2020a; Actify, 2020e; Actify, 2020f; Blaze Basketball Club, 2021). Blaze’s Coach Developer explained the approach on a podcast:

Every time I walk into a gym… I go in there with the mindset that I’m not the expert in that room…The experts are the people in front of me because I now have to shape that environment. I have to run that practice based on what they’re capable to do, not what I want them to do…because there can be a massive gap in disparity between those two things which often leads to confusion, frustration and ultimately a lack of progress. (Norbury, 2021)

As Blaze staff reported in interviews and one discussed during a podcast, understanding people’s needs and learning mechanisms helps shift participants’ dependencies from coaches to individual’s independence (Nerbun & Sanderson, 2019a). Based on their experience, Blaze’s Coach Developer stated on a podcast that failure to align coaching with people’s current capabilities can stunt growth and spark wellbeing declinations (Gromer, 2022a). An online interview conducted by basketballscotland (2020c) with one coach stated this altruistic onus “is what keeps me going”. At sessions, audio-visual and interviews highlighted how among various attributes, coaches intentionally develop: confidence; emotional intelligence (self-aware/self-managing/socially aware/socially managing); effective communicators; capable decisionmakers; good listeners; motivation; initiative; perseverance; resilience; robustness; and self-sufficiency (Nerbun & Sanderson, 2019a; O’Sullivan, 2018; Pilz, 2020; Wright, 2021a). Through participants developing soft skills supporting wellbeing improvements leading to emotional stability, one coach on a podcast discussed how they found members become better equipped to respond to negative wellbeing stimuli such as failure due to increased resiliency (Nerbun & Sanderson, 2019a). One senior coach on a podcast explained this approach’s value, discussing how non-sporting traits occur before and after sporting skills because to score a basket, pass the ball or dribble, people must decide when to do so and manage emotions afterwards (Toure, 2020). Whereas staff in interviews and podcasts highlighted how inabilities to handle emotions negatively affect others alongside organisational culture leading to member’s increased dropouts (Latif, 2020).

Holism and Multi-Dimensionalism

Data across all methods revealed that generating social impact involves considering participant’s broader circumstances. Holism helps develop baseline knowledge informing practice selection and directing practice adaptations towards specific non-sporting outcomes. Reflecting on their coaching experiences on a podcast, one coach stated:

In my experiences with coaches, we don’t go far enough with understanding who I coach. So, going beyond the physical and the skill attributes, thinking about the context those participants come from, what are they facing in their daily lives…going back to after our training sessions and what human needs does that generate. Not athlete needs…For example, do they have a strong need for connection? (Wright, 2021b)

Blaze coaches believe holistic, proactive and multi-dimensional practice planning is essential for achieving non-sporting outcomes (Nerbun & Sanderson, 2020a). Coaches discussed on a webinar how before basketball sessions commence, Blaze pursue participants’ problems and identify group needs through observing attendee’s behaviour or body language before taking notes and communicating observations with necessary personnel (Actify, 2020b). Problems comprise external circumstances (educational/occupation/personal) and/or internal factors (injuries/loss of confidence). By noting issues on training session plans, coaches pinpoint people to connect with, messages to convey and questions to ask surrounding straight-forward wellbeing inquiries:

Table 2 – Blaze Basketball Club’s Coach-Participant Communication Mechanisms for Improving Participant’s Emotional Wellbeing

Note: Table 2 outlines Blaze Basketball Club’s coach-participant communication mechanisms for improving participant’s emotional wellbeing, denoting two conversational stages, one conversational style (informal), examples of questions, the rationale and feedback from participants and parents about the club’s approach. (Adapted from Interviews; basketballscotland, 2020a; basketballscotland, 2022; Blaze, 2021; SportScotland, 2020; WPT, 2022; Wright, 2021b).

As one coach outlined during a podcast, participant engagement does not require expertise, rather informal conversational styles alongside messages and actions of positive reinforcement such as fist bumps (Wright, 2021b). When delivering sessions, addressing broader influences early helps participants continue reaping sports’ developmental outcomes. Through assuaging external issues, people partake without fearing failure through improved wellbeing stemming from increased confidence and satisfaction with themselves and the surrounding ecosystem (Gromer, 2022a). One coach’s podcast statement reflected the approaches outcome:

A player with good mental wellbeing is likely to become more confident, more committed, a better decision-maker…If you treat people properly…and if people are happy and comfortable, then they will stay and continue their development further rather than dropping out. (Wright, 2021b)

Insights from all methods highlight how this approach stems from coaches recognizing people cannot fully concentrate, apply themselves or maximize outcomes until external issues are discussed or addressed. If not quickly supported, coaches during interviews expressed how issues negatively impact broader training environments alongside other attendees. As Blaze’s Coach Developer outlined on a podcast, traditional coaching forces people to ignore wider issues, harming participant’s wellbeing when sport and wellbeing can co-exist (Gromer, 2022a). Explaining this point further, Blaze’s Coach Developer stated this is because participants are persons with different life circumstances, necessitating increased coach awareness and understanding (Gromer, 2022a). Yet, coaches need not undertake further training, but understand participants and coaches are people first. During an interview, one coach provided an example around a negative wellbeing issue coaches supported through person-first approaches: “I once had a discussion with a player who used to come to the women’s pick-up session and was thinking about going into the senior women’s team…but she was a bit anxious about how they would treat her.”

Following conversations with the Senior Women Team’s Coach, the coach adapted sessions, creating an inclusive environment focusing on drills generating participant-participant connections, helping her overcome her anxiety and join the team. Building environments putting people first, coaches found they nurture elements facilitating better and faster development as opposed to putting winning or performance first because sport involves significant mistakes (Gromer, 2022a). With one coach on a podcast admitting they previously avoided wellbeing conversations over personal fears, staff realized that deliberately and proactively planning connections earlier saves everyone unnecessary negative emotions, making positive differences (Wright, 2021b).

Individualism and Collectivism

To incorporate individualism and collectivism whilst balancing coach support, coaches on a public webinar discussed the weekly in-person and online mindfulness sessions:

We’ve been starting with a mindfulness practice at the beginning of every one of our team calls. The guys are talking you through a minute’s meditation or exercise. It’s just amazing!…We’ve got groups of coaches meditating for three minutes at the beginning of zoom calls. They’re talking about having this mindful minute at the beginning and/or the end of their sessions. (Actify, 2020a)

In an online interview, Blaze’s Wellbeing Manager explained Blaze use mindfulness to help people improve wellbeing through momentarily forgetting life’s issues with practices flexible and adaptable to different contexts and live sessions (Blaze, 2019). During sessions, staff educate participants on important wellbeing topics. From Blaze’s (2021) Impact Report, one example involved learning to savour moments with discussions entailing differences between formal and informal practices alongside labelling. Another saw participants’ silently warm-up, focusing on bodily feelings (Actify, 2020e). During a webinar, staff mentioned how taking notice and self-awareness made members, particularly youth, more comfortable discussing growth mindsets (Actify, 2020a). This openness for personal growth underpins Blaze’s tailored coaching practices:

Table 3 – Blaze Basketball Club’s Training Mechanisms for Improving Participant’s Emotional Wellbeing

Note: Table 3 documents examples of Blaze Basketball Club’s training mechanisms for improving participant’s emotional wellbeing based on the people’s developmental stages in life (children, adolescents and adults) alongside coaches’ reflections on the overall practices and club approach. (Adapted from Interviews, Actify (2020d), basketballscotland, (2020b), Gromer, (2022b), Latif, (2020); Places for People Scotland (2019).)

Data from all methods outlined how tailored practices cater to individual’s needs based on people’s current life position. Commenting on the Blaze’s coaching strategies during a webinar, SportScotland’s Lead Manager stated: “For me, that was really powerful! You’re proactively and intentionally deciding to substitute a physical skill for a social skill.” (Actify, 2020e)

From a webinar discussion, individualization occurs through intentionally substituting sporting skills for non-sporting skills relevant to individuals before considering types of interactions and personalized conversations (Actify, 2020e). One coaching podcast explained sessions key focus:

Every session involves some form of connection and really explicitly working on people becoming better friends and then working on those soft skills that can lift people’s wellbeing, positive touches, high fives, first bumps, working closely with other people, and then controlling that so it’s really fun and active sessions. (Wright, 2021b)

Rather than silently developing sporting skills, coaches on a webinar discussed how Blaze’s method means people develop physically, mentally and socially simultaneously whilst generating sporting and non-sporting outcomes (Actify, 2020e). Within sessions, participants and coaches learn personal information to help understand each other (Wright, 2021b). Interviews and audio-visuals involving staff reported intentional relationship-building enables improved wellbeing through social capital transferals (knowledge/life skills/ networks/opportunities), generated through connecting people from different age groups, ethnicities and social classes who otherwise would not communicate beyond sport (Actify, 2020b; Actify, 2020d; Nerbun & Sanderson, 2020b). Staff observations outlined in interviews and coaches reported in podcasts that as relationships deepen, development outcomes heighten through increased communication and socialisation between different demographics (Actify, 2020f; Krikorian & Carney, 2022). With development requiring participant’s regular attendance, as coaches discussed on a webinar, these positive experiences increase involvement through generating “loyalty” (Actify, 2020e). This loyalty is reflected in one Trustee’s comment in an interview: “Some of our trustees, their kids are not playing…for We Play Together anymore, but…they’re still involved…that’s the sense of community and belonging we’re talking about.”

As one coach explained on a podcast, anecdotal participant feedback gathered by coaches before, during and after sessions through conversations reported that activities focusing on connection generate positive feelgood factors, cementing cultures of connectivity and unilateral senses of belonging (Gromer, 2022b). Coaches also reported during interviews how these methods help properly coach participants through establishing people’s reality before managing realizations via advancing relationships based on authenticity, transparency, and trust. During an interview with one coach, they mentioned how this vulnerability through sharing personal information allowed greater growth capacities because people develop more interpersonally and meaningfully. Furthermore, coaches reported improved coach-participant relationships in interviews, allowing coaches to provide heightened support through better understanding participants. From ongoing supportive experiences, member accounts show greater susceptibilities to fully buying into programming and pursuing progressive pathways to improved wellbeing (Blaze Basketball Club, 2021). For example, one participant in an interview with SportScotland (2020) stated: “no matter how tired I am…it just gives me that buzz…a lift”.

Agency and Pragmatism

Coaches utilise the Rule of Three to determine when participants require support. Blaze’s Coach Developer explained the three steps on a podcast:

Step one is can players self-review, self-reflect, problem solve and live by themselves in the moment…[ask yourself] “Am I happy with that?”, Yes, then continue to do it…No, what will I change differently next time? Now we should see them change something…Level two is when [other] players are aware of this process… and help them with that…Do they correct because of their teammates’ impact or communication? If it’s a no, then the player is still struggling to find a solution…Now we get to level three which is the coach stepping in. (Nerbun & Sanderson, 2019b)

This strategy reflects Blaze’s middle-ground developmental coaching approach. Expanding on the process during a podcast, staff discussed how the ‘Rule of Three’ encourages participants to contemplate themselves and associates through conversations whereas coaches, via open communication, patience, effective practice planning and scanning during sessions, allow people to stop, reset and adjust (Latif, 2020). Coaches view basketball as a problem-solving activity whereby coaches create situations and tasks requiring resolutions, encouraging participants to support one another by collectively working towards individual and group success criteria established by the individuals and groups (Latif, 2020; Nerbun & Sanderson, 2020a). As discussed in interviews, coaches support participants via positive reinforcement, matching high challenges with high support through constant feedback counteracting perceived setbacks. Reinforced by another coach’s podcast conversation, coaches use “positive touches” such as high-fives to establish positive connections, leaving participants not feeling criticized with feedback emphasising positivity (Nerbun & Sanderson, 2019a). Whereas based on staff’s personal experience, discussed on a podcast, found low support produced arbitrary outcomes, meaning participants become increasingly susceptible to negativity, causing decreasing satisfaction and increasing dropouts due to challenging landscapes alongside inadequate support (O’Sullivan, 2018; Wright, 2021b).

Alongside coaches, Blaze found members help facilitate middle-ground approaches (Latif, 2020). Interviews with coaches discussed how members coach alternative groups, such as women for girls’ teams to increase inclusivity, psychological safety and provide female role models. Drawing on an example from an interview with a coach of an adolescent member coaching adults:

There were 18 ladies there and she managed to run the session… and they were actually happy …She managed to make a plan, gather us at the white board and explained to us what she wants us to do…It’s like she’s confident when she’s speaking about basketball and…this helps them…to grow, to be more confident.

Expanding on this example, the coach explained how coaching and playing serves double developmental benefit through learning from being coached and coaching others. Furthermore, connecting participants-coaches with closer ages found participants engaged more due to the ‘big brother/sister’ effect. Whereas sessions where youth coached older adults added new layers to participant’s development through intergenerational learning.

Data across all methods revealed Blaze’s approaches weaknesses. An interview with the Chairman mentioned how shifting from coaching sport-for-sport-sake to prioritizing non-sporting outcomes involved removing coaches as “You can’t go on with someone who…doesn’t really conform to everything everybody is trying to do”. Despite changing, these coaches continued coaching in ways harming people’s wellbeing. For example, one senior club official stated in an interview that one coach “was awful sometimes to female referees” and thus modelled negative behaviours to members. From all methods, Blaze’s approach proved sub-optimal through each person having understanding club strategies differently. Interviews revealed that less experienced coaches were not fully au fait with the coaching strategies. Thus, participants experience different levels of wellbeing development depending on who coaches what sessions, meaning everyone receives varying support.