Research impact: Social impact of sport

Research summary

Research undertaken between 2017-2018 for Sport England provided a comprehensive review of the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC) - an endorsement and accreditation framework set up for all national governing bodies (NGBs) of sport.

Dr Chris Mackintosh led this project as an independent expert in sport policy evaluation having previously acted as an expert advisor for the Sport and Recreation Alliance, Outdoor Industries Association, Tokyo 2020, Sport England and Sport Scotland.

Research impact

The final report was presented to the Department of Culture, Digital, Media and Sport (DCMS), each of the Home Nation Sport Councils, the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) and UK Coaching.  

The review has led to the re-appraisal of coaching professional standards and associated framework for all core funded NGBs in the UK.

This framework overarches the estimated 7.2 million trained sport participants in the UK and their coaches. Ultimately, the research undertaken with 46 NGBs, key individuals from national policy-making stakeholders and over 1,300 coaches is shaping the future of coaching provision and the system in all four home nation countries.

There are around three million sport coaches in the United Kingdom. The review is directly responsible for determining the future system that will oversee this infrastructure that supports the 150,000 voluntary clubs through to elite sport.

Research outputs

Academic papers

• Mackintosh, C, Griggs, G and Tate, R (2019) Understanding the growth in outdoor recreation: An opportunity for sport development in the United Kingdom, Managing Sport and Leisure: An International Journal, 23(4-6), pp1-19.

• Brunton, JA and Mackintosh, C, I (2017) Interpreting university sport policy in England: seeking a purpose in turbulent times?. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. 9(3), pp.377-395.       

• Mackintosh, C. Dempsey (2017) The British Asian Muslim Male Sport Participation Puzzle: An Exploration of Implications for Sport Development Policy and Practice. Journal of Youth Studies, pp. 974-976. 

• Mackintosh, C, Darko, N, Rutherford, Z and Wilkins, H (2015) Unintended outcomes of the London 2012 Olympic Games: local voices of resistance and the challenge for sport participation leverage in England.

• Ives, BA, Gale, LA, Potrac, PA and Nelson, LJ (2021) Uncertainty, shame and consumption: negotiating occupational and non-work identities in community sports coaching. Sport, Education and Society. 26(1), pp.87-103.
• Ives, BA, Clayton, B, Brittain, I, Mackintosh, C (2019) ‘I’ll always find a perfectly justified reason for not doing it’: challenges for disability sport and physical activity in the United Kingdom. Sport in Society. pp.1-19.
• Gale LA, Ives, BA, Potrac, PA, and Nelson, LJ (2019) Trust and Distrust in Community Sports Work: Tales From the “Shop Floor”. Sociology of Sport Journal. 36(3), pp.244-253.

• Daniels, JE, Bell, B and Horrocks, C (2018) Capturing the realities of sports programmes: systematic ‘messiness’? International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. 10(4), pp.779-794.