Coaching sports in prison: coaches’ experiences

Abstract Participation in sport can be a way to facilitate offender rehabilitation. Previous research has mainly studied outcomes of sport participation for inmates, largely neglecting the coaches providing such sport programs. This study examines the experiences that coaches describe about coaching sports programs in prison and seeks to identify similarities and differences coaches perceive between coaching sports in prison and coaching sports in other settings. The reflection protocols of five coaches were analyzed using qualitative, thematic content analysis, yielding four themes (plus sub-themes): Expectations (assumptions and approaches, role of own personality and performance); relationship with participants of the sports program (naming of participants, social relationships with participants); similarities with training groups in other settings (motivation of participants, training atmosphere); and differences to other settings (dealing with physical weakness, external disturbance sources, demands on coaches). The findings suggest that specific training is necessary to adequately prepare coaches for providing sports programs in prison.