Coach evaluation is an important component of the NCCP process, as it moves a coach from a trained to certified status. There is a number of barriers and enablers to the coach evaluation process.

The Coaches Perspective

Coaches feel that the evaluation process is incredibly valuable and for the most part an excellent learning experience. However, the challenges that are faced by coaches during the evaluation process are:

• Some coaches felt they were not prepared for what is expected during the evaluation.
• There is no follow up once the evaluation is complete.
• Sometimes the Coach Evaluator had a lack of information about the sport.
• Lack of in-person communication between the coach and the Coach Evaluator.

The Coach Evaluators Perspective

The Coach Evaluators are passionate about the evaluation process. In some cases, the number of evaluations that they are doing is equivalent to a full-time job. From the Coach Evaluators perspective some of the challenges were:

• Limited resources for Learning Facilitators (LFs), such as up to date manuals for evaluation, to prepare coaches adequately.
• Lack of funding for evaluators to travel to rural regions within the different provinces.
• Limited time, after evaluation, to follow up to see how the coaches are doing, leading to a “one and done” concept.
• Lack of communication to Community Sport Organizations about the evaluation requirements and results. 

The National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) is one of the main learning source for coaches in Canada. However, as lifelong learners coaches have different learning preferences, experiences and paths. If the NCCP does not have the same impact on all coaches, the following conditions seems to be supportive to optimal coaches learning within the program: 

• Offering a variety of learning situations and resources
• Taking lifelong-learning perspective and integrating constructivist principles into its design and delivery
• Tailoring curriculums to individual coaches’ learning habits
• Developing situational based learning opportunities (case studies)
• Supporting the coach learning process beyond the formal educational format
• Providing meaningful curriculum with current and relevant information
• Providing problems or scenarios that are relevant and having coaches work through solutions that lead to decision making. 

Combination of experiential learning opportunities and formal education provides optimal learning environment to create coaches as life-long learners.

For the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) to be delivered, training and evaluations events needs to be available and coaches needs to participate. Barriers and facilitators for both have been identified. 

Coach participation 

There are strong evidences that the main barriers and enablers to coach training and evaluation are related to the following areas: 

• Time and cost
• Geography, travel and Coach Developer’s accessibility
• Value of certification and coach buy In
• Tedious process
• Not enough coaches signed up for a course for the organization to run the course 

Coaches working full-time and/or being volunteers are unwilling to travel great distances to participate into NCCP training. Coaches perceive that the NCCP modules are too long and that they do not have enough time to devote to completing the modules. Furthermore, coaches find it challenging to understand what courses they need to take within the NCCP for them to progress 

Events availability 

For an organizational or system perspective, successes in implementing the NCCP might be influenced by the following factors 

• Provincial government funding and role in coach education
• Provincial demographics
• Different sport expectations
• Culture and importance of coach certification in provincial and local sport organizations

Based on what we currently know, coaches see the value in continuing NCCP education, are satisfied with NCCP modules, and report NCCP content being used in their coaching activities. The following NCCP modules have been specifically examined: Coaching and Leading Effectively, Psychology of Performance, Managing Conflict, Developing Athletic Abilities, Make Ethical Decisions.

For NCCP Managing Conflicts and NCCP Developing Athletic Abilities, coaches whose coaching practice had changed were involved in an important reflective process during one or both modules. Some coaches did make explicit what was previously implicit, without making substantial changes to understanding. Several other coaches did not feel comfortable in implementing their planned changes in practice. These coaches lacked the comfort level or confidence necessary to apply the planned changes.

For coaches who participated in Coaching and Leading Effectively, Psychology of Performance and Managing Conflict, the four factors that prevented change were (a) time constraints, (b) lack of understanding a new concept, (c) wrong time in the season to introduce a new concept, and (d) knowledge that was incongruous with the coaching context. For Make Ethical Decisions, all of the participants felt they were capable of making ethical decisions in sport after completing the module, and 73% reported that they had changed their thinking about ethical decision-making.

Gender based research has shown that women claim to doubt their abilities to be a coach and that NCCP coach education helps them enjoy coaching and provides them with confidence. However, retaining women in coaching is a challenge, especially those transitioning from recreational to competitive sport. 

The NCCP plays an important role in ensuring that there is a standard associated with coaching in Canada, while also holding all stakeholders involved accountable for coach training and certification. As such, some of the important factors and recommendations that need to be considered with regards the NCCP are as follows:

• Coaches who have taken NCCP see evaluation as valid and relevant but feel there needs to be a review of the processes involved in coach preparation and evaluation delivery.
• The delivery of the NCCP throughout Canada was found to have different experiences for coaches across multiple sports, which suggests a lack of consistency in delivery.
• The NCCP needs to broaden its scope as the focus is on youth sports and needs to be adjusted to include parasport and masters level coaches.
• Sport organization managers need to avoid the “one and done” concept. This becomes important for the evaluation process as it fosters a continuous learning process for coaches (i.e., lifelong learners).
• There is a lack of clarity associated with the coach’s education pathway as it pertains to training and certification.

Recommendations for research on the NCCP are as follows:

• Empirical research is needed to examine the how the NCCP is being managed.
• An evaluation is needed to establish the effectiveness of online (and e-learning) NCCP modules that is compared with in-person courses.
• Gain an understanding of global coach education practices.
• The effectiveness of NCCP delivery through Canada can be compared between sportspecific and multisport delivery.
• Research into how and if NCCP content is being applied within a practical context.