A superficial attitude in football insists on blaming head coaches when games are lost. Controversially, however, whereas decision-makers in professional football clubs claim to seek successful outcomes on the pitch, they often favor questionable judgements that affect their organizational sustainability by recycling coaches without substantial analyses. Albeit scholars have stressed potential causes and consequences of coaching turnovers, specific knowledge is needed around the recruitment and dismissal steps faced by professional coaches, and to what extent their experiences mirror the theoretical background of human resource management in sport. This study poses the following research question: how do football clubs actually handle coaching recruitment and dismissal processes? Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 elite coaches from Brazil, who had collectively been employed by all 43 clubs that participated in the Brasileirão from 2003 to 2020. Based on a deductive-inductive approach, the content analysis framed two categories (recruitment and dismissal stages) with three main themes (methods, decision-makers, and decision-making), which were sustained by specific subthemes. The results suggest how the recruitment, assessment, and replacement of head coaches neglect both a strategic and a sustainable rationale towards human resource management in Brazil’s elite football.

In professional football, head coach turnovers are arbitrarily perceived as a shortcut solution to convert losing streaks into winning results within time-limited competitive seasons. Despite a speculative mentality guiding turnover decisions, a new coach is invariably appointed with the expectation of improving performance. As often overlooked, however, coaching replacements inevitably create unintended club-wide spillover effects. This study addresses two related club-wide research questions: (1) How do head coach turnovers affect player development at the team level?; and, (2) What are the spillover effects for backroom staff? Undertaken in Brazil, where turnover rates exceed those in Europe, 30 backroom staff practitioners (i.e., assistant coaches, goalkeeping coaches, fitness coaches, physical therapists, physiologists, and a medical doctor) completed semistructured interviews focused on their experiences. A reflexive thematic analysis revealed an overarching culture of constraints driven by conflicting behaviors and working practices. Three themes were highlighted at the team level: pragmatic playing style, methodological mismatch, and delaying team cohesion. At the individual level, four themes were identified: internal disruption, repetitive adaptations, job insecurity, as well as mental and emotional unrest. The findings indicate how within-season coaching turnovers represent a hazard that unintentionally constrains the mutual collaboration among the stakeholders directly involved with player development.

Theoretically, professional coaches should improve team performance through a sustained, progressive, and structured training and competitive program. Nevertheless, the reality poses different expectations around football activities in Brazil, where coaching spells have lasted on average 65 days during the domestic league season. Adopting the conceptual foundation designed by the International Sport Coaching Framework (ISCF), this research aims to examine the competences perceived to be important for professional football coaches and compare them to the ISCF. This study asks the following research question: what coaching competences are expected and valued in Brazilian football, and how do they compare to the ISCF? Qualitative, semistructured interviews were conducted with 29 head coaches and 30 staff members. A directed content analysis yielded similarities around the ISCF’s functional competences, while also outlining one additional category: deliver short-term winning results. The findings reveal a set of subcategories that support the contextual idiosyncrasies of high-performance football in Brazil. Within their domestic territory, elite coaches must navigate across a puzzle of nonfootball demands to adapt to their social and political reality which apparently ranks short-term game results above the essence of sport coaching practice.

The involvement of volunteers in children's sport carries out an important contribution to the provision of services across community sport programmes, as well as in recreational and grassroots activities. For example, whereas voluntary coaches can take advantage of entry-level opportunities to improve their practical skills, youth and amateur organisations may also raise non-monetary benefits by offering room for development with different roles, tasks, and services around voluntary work (i.e. refereeing games; mentoring personnel; handling administrative or operational demands). Yet, in order to safeguard a positive youth environment, it is crucial that both volunteers and administrators become aware and get educated about child protection issues. This chapter focuses on a review of antecedents of voluntary coaching through the lenses of volunteer motivation and commitment, as well as volunteer education and social components in children's sport. Additionally, it briefly explores the literature of child protection and its meaning to volunteers, with particular attention to issues of abuse and harassment. Acknowledging that a misinterpretation of needs, expectations, and priorities may arise between coaches and children, this chapter also recognises the roles of incentive, power, and trust around volunteering in children's sport.