Alaina Zanin (video) | Hugh Downs School of Communication

There are no doubt systemic, cultural and discursive factors that create barriers for volunteer coaches in underserved communities. Our project proposes to address this community need through by (a) developing an applied non-profit internship course at ASU to develop students as empowered role models and community youth sport coaches, (b) collaborating with local youth nonprofits and schools to create new sport access sites for girls, and (c) creating an empirically-based and culturally adapted volunteer coach training course. The following outline will provide specific details of the proposed project.

Project Purposes:

1. To develop a pipeline of well-trained, empowered coach role models for girls in youth sport.

2. To fuel pedagogy innovation for coaching in girls youth sport contexts.

3. To enrich our community by creating new sport access sites for girls in Maricopa Co. and partnerships with the ASU community.

Project Setting:

- Individuals Involved: ASU students, youth sport non-profits in Maricopa Co., local schools, and local community development nonprofits

- Method of Data Collection: Mixed method approach A) Pre & Post Test Survey & Interviews of ASU Student Intern Coaches Knowledge, Communication Competence, Growth/Fixed MindsetCoaching Competence and Identity Construction B) Retrospective Journals of Critical Incidents of ASU Student Intern Coaches This student-generated data will be used to conduct a Turning Point Analysis of managing critical incidents with youth athletes in an all-girls youth sport context. A Turning Point Analysis allows researchers to track group convergence on changes as a result of the training program. Findings from this analysis will be used to inform curriculum revisions.

- Benefits offered to participants: ASU students would be compensated for their participation in the course via course credit; however participating in data collection will not be a requirement to complete the course. - Benefits offered to community: Local youth sport organizations will benefit from the recruitment of volunteer coaches, and the creation of new youth sport sites. Girls in underserved communities will have more access to youth sports and sports role models.

- Deliverables: Multiple new sport access sites for girls in Maricopa Co.Culturally adapted volunteer youth coach training curriculum Recommendations to local youth sport organizations for coach recruitment and retentionSustainable pipeline of volunteer youth coachesPeer reviewed conference presentation and publicationsPossibility of extending research for external funding

- Overall Benefit: This research will provide insight into best practices for coaching pedagogy in underserved communities, as well as offer practical solutions for increasing girls’ access to and participation in youth sport.

Alaina Zanin also participated as a panelist for GSM Live: Is 2021 the Year for Women and Girls in Sport? and discussed her research on the role of sports in empowering girls' athletic identities.

Last Upated March 2021.