The enactment of political skills in community sport coaching

Community sport coaches play a vital role in delivering sport and physical activity schemes to achieve (non)sporting government policy goals. While research has started to examine the social, relational and emotional features of this work, political skills remain underexplored. It is unclear which political skills are required and how they are enacted, learnt, and developed. This study addresses this gap through online semi-structured interviews with 17 community sport coaches, examining the political skills crucial for managing workplace dynamics, building relationships, and achieving professional goals. Through our application of political astuteness (Hartley et al., 2013, 2015, 2017) and political skill (Ferris et al., 2005, 2012) the findings highlight: a) the importance of reading and building effective relationships with key stakeholders in response to organisational and policy demands, b) the personal and interpersonal skills required to achieve goals strategically, and c) how these skills are typically learnt on the job, outside of formal coach education. This study contributes new insights to the critical social analysis of sport work by identifying the political skills underpinning community sport coaching practice. It also highlights the need to develop these skills in the coaching workforce and raises important questions about coach education and professional development.