RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Thematic analysis of the observations, focus group observations and interviews identified two interrelated themes that explain the dynamics of the interactions between study participants and the impact of the SFD program on peer-coaches: Empowerment and Self-Efficacy. These themes are grounded in participants’ lived experiences and are used here as analytical lenses to interpret how caste-based power relations shape program outcomes. Importantly, these themes are not only reflective of individual experiences but are also embedded within broader socio-cultural structures, necessitating analysis across both micro-and-macro – levels.

Empowerment

‘Empowerment’ here refers to increased personal and organizational capacity to perform as a coach through the acquisition of coaching knowledge, equipment and opportunity. The program effectively provided knowledge, equipment, and confidence to peer-coaches, enabling them to lead sessions in schools and communities.

“This is a huge exposure…for our children. The accessories they are using (bib, boot, cones, small goals) … Football for us was going to a ground and just play with one ball but this program taught us many novel ideas of coaching” (Phase 3 – Interview 3).

A community coach also stated that SPCP was able to improve their soccer skills and empower them to get invited to play for the local community club to represent the club in the inter-club soccer competitions:

“We go and play club football, previously we just played without knowing how to play but now our game has improved… Since our skills are improved, the local club (Ambedkar Club) uses our paddy kids to play for their club” (Phase 2 – Interviewee 2).

The last day of the Phase 0 session a community meeting was organized by the Nilgiris-Wynaad Tribal Welfare Society to formally thank the participants. “The community coaches were also awarded grass roots soccer coaching certificates issued by Sport4all Foundation Inc. and were also provided some basic playing equipment” (Phase 0 – Observation). The certificates were awarded for the community coaches to commission and promote them to be a soccer coach. Recognizing people or swearing-in during a community meeting is an accepted way of formalizing power and authority at the location of this study.

Soccer coaching knowledge and equipment enabled the student coaches in schools to conduct coaching sessions for juniors. “It was observed that student coaches were able to conduct coaching sessions for juniors” (Phase 2 – Observation 1). The peer-coaching experiences shifted the student coaches’ mindset with the realization that they had skills to impart to others; and they came to believe that children and youths can also be coaches. School B student coaches said that: “Adults used to teach us, but now this program is giving us the opportunity to coach” (Phase 1 – Focus Group 1).

The peer-coaching experience gained through school coaching opened the possibility of success not only as a player and a coach but also in other parts of life. A group of student coaches at School A stated that:

“We want to play well and go to other places and play and become popular. I would like to be a good coach like our coaches [community coaches] and would like to achieve things in my life” (Phase 1 – Focus Group 3).

In addition to conducting coaching program in their own school, “[School A] student coaches initiated coaching sessions in a primary school [attended by Adivasi and non-Adivasi students] not participated in this study” (Phase 2 – Interviewee 7). The above discussions demonstrate how the process of soccer coaching and training instilled individual capacity and efficacy (Kuokkanen & Leino‐Kilpi, 2000; Lawson, 2005). Therefore, we agree with past SFD researchers that SFD programs can be a useful tool to empower participants (García López & Kirk, 2021; Jeanes, 2013; Partington & Totten, 2012). The coaches demonstrated increased power to (Rowlands, 1997), reflected in their ability to act independently and assume leadership roles.

However, empowerment was not without limitations. Student coaches encountered practical challenges in delivering sessions, often requiring support from teachers or community coaches: “a physically challenged student…didn’t follow the rules” (Phase 1 – Observation 4). In these instances, support was sought from teachers: “student coaches sought the teacher’s help. The teacher resolved the issue” (Phase 1 – Observation 4). The collaborative support of teachers and community coaches proved beneficial, enhancing the effectiveness of student coaching efforts: “With the support of community coaches and myself [researcher], the student coaches managed to gather the players” (Phase 1 – Observation 1). This highlights the importance of collaborative and supportive environments in sustaining empowerment outcomes.

The community coaches worked together to establish a soccer league at Ambalamoola to conduct soccer matches. The coaching program also encouraged the participants to make their own equipment such as soccer goals. “Coaches were empowered and were able to construct small goals using materials available locally for their training; small goals had been introduced to the coaches through the soccer program” (Phase 3 – Interviewee 11).

A Soccer Committee was also formed to provide visionary leadership to make improvements and sustain the SPCP. This opportunity empowered the members to assess the true state of Adivasi community’s social network opportunities and set the vision for SPCP to deliver more activities to improve intergroup interaction. For example, an Adivasi elder who is also a Soccer Committee member said that:

“Now, Adivasi is like a frog in the pond, we only know the pond and what is inside the pond. This program helping the children to go beyond the pond and have interaction with the actors there. There are different program running for Adivasi and it is supporting them in their growth, but that is all within their community. There are very few programs helping them to integrate outside Adivasi community. I foresee that this soccer program helps Adivasi to integrate with non-Adivasi groups” (Phase 2 – Interviewee 6)

The above data indicate that the coach education and accreditation components of the SPCP played a significant role in developing both personal and organizational capacity among participants. Through access to structured training, resources, and formal recognition, peer-coaches enhanced their individual capabilities (Gutierrez, 1990) and demonstrated greater independence in initiating and delivering coaching activities (Mainiero, 1986). This was reflected in their ability to organize and lead sessions autonomously, extend activities beyond the formal program, and, in community contexts, establish local leagues and develop improvised resources. These outcomes signal a shift toward increased agency, consistent with the development of power to and power from within (Rowlands, 1997).

However, these gains must be interpreted within the broader socio-cultural context in which the program operates. In this case, caste-based hierarchies shape and regulate access to opportunity, authority, and social interaction. While the SPCP enhanced participants’ capacity to act, the extent to which this capacity could be exercised was uneven across contexts. This suggests that empowerment at the micro-level is mediated, and at times, constrained by entrenched social relations and structural inequalities.

Furthermore, empowerment was not without limitations. Student coaches encountered practical challenges in delivering sessions, often requiring support from teachers or community coaches. The collaborative support of teachers and community coaches proved beneficial, underscoring the importance of supportive environments in sustaining empowerment outcomes.

Taken together, these findings suggest that while SFD programs can effectively build individual and organizational capacity, empowerment should not be understood as an automatic or linear outcome. Rather, it is a context-dependent and relational process shaped by the interaction between individual capabilities and broader structural conditions.

Self-Efficacy

Peer-coaches demonstrated empowerment through increased self-belief and successful program delivery. Notably, one Adivasi coach was able to train players of higher social status, reflecting confidence gains. However, none of the other three Adivasi community coaches were able or willing to coach non-Adivasi players. A community coach, who was also instrumental in establishing the community coaching and soccer league did not show readiness to train non-Adivasi people. In response to the first author’s suggestion to include non-Adivasi players in coaching, he replied that he was not comfortable to train players from non-Adivasi backgrounds:

He shook his head in disagreement and said, it is not right, Sir. It doesn’t work. As if, he was not ready to challenge the present social system or unsure of any social consequences that may cause because an Adivasi shows interest in coaching non-Adivasi [mostly, higher in the caste system than Adivasi]. (Phase 3 – Observation 5)

Although the Adivasi participants were empowered through SPCP, in intergroup (Adivasi and non-Adivasi) community contexts, most of the community coaches (Adivasi) were unable to believe that they had the necessary capability to successfully implement the soccer coaching program. Therefore, we construe that caste-based systemic oppression (Philip et al., 2022) existed in India nullified the self-efficacy beliefs gained through the SPCP. Although participants developed confidence through coaching experiences, their belief in their ability to act was context-dependent and shaped by perceived social risks. An Adivasi elder also highlighted the role of contextual constraints: “Adivasi people are interested in sport. They have individual capabilities and physicality to do better in activities such as sport. But their social growth is restricted by their life situation and the society” (Phase 2 – Interviewee 6).

It was also observed that “two of the Adivasi student coaches [School B] had the opportunity to coach children from non-Adivasi background. However, the coaches struggled to establish eye contact with players.” (Phase 2 – Observation 1). Similarly, a student coach from School C deliberately avoided the combined coaching session noting that he was afraid to attend a coaching session with non-Adivasi students “I asked him why he did not attend the combined soccer coaching session…He replied ‘pediya’ [scared]. Who are you scared of… [non-Adivasi students] he replied.”(Phase 2 – Observation 5).

Adivasi student coaches who had attended the combined coaching session also commented that they were nervous at the start of the session. When I asked them to share their views on the combined coaching session, the student coaches responded that “we were scared at the beginning. But after some time, we were comfortable” (Phase 2 – Focus Group 1).This clearly indicate that the presence of non-Adivasi students can cause discomfort for some Adivasi students; thus, in inter-caste context, educational components alone were insufficient to foster self-efficacy (Welty Peachey et al., 2015). However, student coaches had support and encouragement from teachers, community coaches and school authorities to conduct the coaching sessions. Past studies show that supportive relationship had positive correlation to self-efficacy and empowerment (Benson et al., 2012; Werner, 1994). Moreover, teachers or community leaders were physically present during the soccer coaching at schools; and therefore, student coaches were able to conduct coaching for mixed groups. “Itwas interesting to note that the teacher’s presence itself is helping the players to be more focused and create an equitable environment” (Phase 1 – Observation 3). The above results indicate that contextual factors influence Empowerment and Self-Efficacy dimensions in a SFD program.

The data clearly indicate that student coaches from Adivasi backgrounds struggled to conduct intergroup coaching in the earlier stages of the SPCP; however, supportive environment, teachers being present and providing encouraging feedback enabled those coaches to conduct coaching. Therefore, in this context, it is not just the opportunities for facilitation and participation of a sport that empowered the student coaches (Wilson et al., 2006), it is the supportive environment for inclusive social development (Kunz, 2009) that provides the inner power (Rowlands, 1997) and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997; Maddux & Stanley, 1986) for student peer-coaches to successfully implement the coaching. Therefore, the authors argue that a supportive environment can act as an empowerment enabler in challenging intergroup settings to gain self-efficacy for individuals to perform effectively.

The above finding extends the current understanding of empowerment and self-efficacy linkages. Past research identified empowerment as a positive process (Kuokkanen & Leino‐Kilpi, 2000; Lawson, 2005) of transferring power and decision making authority (Heslin, 1999; Özaralli, 2003) to reduce dependency (Mainiero, 1986). Within this literature, empowerment is often assumed to lead linearly to action once resources, authority, and opportunities are provided.

This study demonstrates that knowledge, resources and opportunities (Gutierrez, 1990; Heslin, 1999; Wood et al., 2019) may not necessarily translate into enacted empowerment for individuals from low-power social groups. Internal resistance due to societal or cultural factors, in this case, caste-based systemic oppression for generations (Philip et al., 2022) inhibits empowerment initiatives in intergroup settings.

However, the micro-level analysis using Self-Efficacy Theory in this study identified that supportive environment and inclusive social relationships in SFD program delivery has the potential to mitigate the internal resistance and positively influence participants’ capability and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1997; Maddux & Stanley, 1986). In this case, verbal persuasion and physiological feedback (Bandura, 1997), teachers, researcher, and community coaches being physically present and providing a supportive environment were significant sources of information that enabled the coaches to construct positive self-efficacy. This represents an important theoretical contribution of the study.

Taken together, these findings suggest that self-efficacy, like empowerment, is not an automatic outcome of skill development but is a context-dependent and relational process. In contexts marked by entrenched hierarchies, individuals may demonstrate competence in familiar environments while remaining hesitant to enact these capabilities in socially stratified settings. This highlights that the development of “power from within” (Rowlands, 1997) must be supported by enabling social conditions to be effectively translated into action.

Importantly, differences emerged between school and community contexts. In school settings, structured support, institutional authority, and the presence of teachers appeared to reduce the perceived social risks associated with intergroup interaction, enabling student coaches to enact their self-efficacy. In contrast, community settings, while offering greater autonomy, exposed participants more directly to entrenched social hierarchies, limiting the expression of self-efficacy.

Overall, these findings extend existing theory by linking micro-level processes with macro-level socio-cultural structures, demonstrating that empowerment and self-efficacy are not solely products of individual capacity-building but are co-constructed within and constrained by broader social systems.