Design Thinking

The coaches on the MSc Applied Sports Coaching programme work together to review and develop their coaching. On the Athlete & Coach Development module which runs over the summer of the first year, coaches will visit each other’s sessions and explore the potential of mentoring to accelerate coach development. To aid coaches in structuring this observation and mentoring, we use a concept called Design Thinking.

The acknowledge of mentors is often prominent in the life stories of expert coaches. Mentoring is also a common element in coach development and is something that, when done well, can have a hugely positive impact. However, there’s a little bit of fuzziness, a little bit of uncertainty as to what mentoring involves. On the MSc Applied Sports Coaching, we use Design Thinking as a means by which coaches can have a structure, a scaffold around the mentoring conversations they are engaging in, to help them to get the most benefit from the experience.

So, what is design thinking? In typical problem solving, we would spend very little time defining the problem. We often jump quickly to one possible solution and we maybe don’t think about other possible solutions. We often don’t think carefully enough about the specific actions that are required to bring a solution to life as much as we could. Design thinking is a series of steps to follow that gives us that structure around the definition of the problem, structure around the development of potential solutions, structure around the specific action plan that we’re going to put together that allows us to be more effective in the mentoring conversations and the mentoring relationships that we have.

Where can coach developers learn more about Design Thinking?

We use Fiona Chamber’s book Learning to Mentor in Sports Coaching: A Design Thinking Approachv, which contains a range of examples of how the approach can be applied in sports coaching contexts.

The student perspective: Louise O’Brien (Gymnastics Coach)

Where can I read more about the programme?
A course overview is available here, or you can take a look at #MScAppliedSportsCoachingUL where you will find insights such as exemplar pre-course activities and examples of the type of research we will be engaging with. You can also explore these FAQs.

What is the deadline for applications?

Applications are reviewed on a monthly basis, and places awarded based on the calibre of application until the course is full. The next deadlines are:

·       June 30^th 2023

·       July 21^st 2023*

*subject to places remaining on the programme.

If you are interested in the programme or require further information please contact:
Dr Philip Kearney PhD
Course Director – MSc Applied Sports Coaching
Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences
University of Limerick
Limerick.
Ireland

Tel: 00-353-61202844
Email: philip.kearney@ul.ie