Preceding the ICCE Global Coach Conference 2015, coaches, coach developers, and researchers were invited to the ICCE Research Fair during 21-22 August to promote collaboration and understanding. The Research Fair incorporated Master Classes on the first day, and Research-focused Forums on the second.
Master Classes included ‘Good practice principles for performer development systems’ – Julian North and Sergio Lara-Bercial (Leeds Beckett University); ‘Why coaches coach the way they do: self-determination theory’ – Cliff Mallett (University of Queensland); ‘The use of concept maps in the development of high performance coaches’ – Pierre Trudel; ‘Transformational leadership and coaching’ – Jean Cote; and ‘Coach developers: Where are we now? So what? What now?’ – John Alder, Kristen Dieffenbach (West Virginia University), Masamitsu Ito & Jun Sekiguchi (Nippon Sport University).
On 22nd August, John Bales presented ICCE research priority topics; and Pierre Trudel gave an overview of the ICCE Research Committee Terms of Reference. Members of the Research Committee facilitated discussions on the five priority topics: (i) Giving coaching a strong voice; (ii) Building the global community of coaches – including a group who discussed women in coaching; (iii) Coaching as a profession; and (iv) Well-educated coaches. Information from both forums will be reviewed and brief summaries uploaded onto the ICCE website. The Fair concluded with an overview of the rolling membership of the ICCE Research Committee to foster transparency of membership as well as an international representation. Further, a request for applications for a vacancy on the ICCE Research Committee was communicated to participants and details for applying.
Overall, the Research Fair was well-received and the inclusion of coaches and coach developers was considered important and useful. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the focus of the Fair is research – developing research capacity and relevant coaching research programs and projects. The feedback from the research forums during 22nd August will guide planning for the 2017 Research Fair.
