(Re)Designing a Sports School Scholarship Programme

Sports scholarship programmes are used internationally within academic and sporting organisations to attract and develop athletes. Resources such as a fee remission, no cost to training, facilities or accommodation are incentives offered to separate organisations from competitors and attract exceptional candidates. However, despite their global application, very little research explores the effectiveness of these programmes. This professional doctorate project (re)designs a U.K. sports school sports scholarship programme considering principles of ‘talent’, the talent development environment (TDE), dual career (DC) competency development, allocation of resources, holistic development and talent identification (TI) procedures. The project then evaluates this programme and provides reflections in my professional role.

The project is grounded in a constructivist approach utilising action research to generate knowledge from personal driven and theory driven data to prescribe pragmatic solutions. Iterative cycles allow for broad theories to be examined, designed, acted and evaluated. Key stakeholder perspectives from both student-athletes, sports coaches and teachers informed the (re)design process. Firstly, staff perspectives were collated to evaluate an established (>12 years) sports scholarship programme alongside student-athlete’s perceptions of the TDE and their possession of important DC competencies. Findings, led to investigating head of sports (HoS) perception of talent through a focus group with thematic analysis identifying staff could not agree on a definition of talent. Subsequently, the term, ‘talent’, was removed from the definition of selecting sports scholars with coaches identifying desirable behaviours and capabilities instead. Alongside, sports coaches completed a questionnaire on the strategy and vision of a sports scholarship programme. Three key purposes of a sports scholarship programme were identified through thematic analysis, including 1) to deliver a holistic development opportunity, 2) to be a marketing strategy and, 3) to recognise student achievements.

A financial redesign of the sports scholarship programme was undertaken with two primary aims, 1) to save the school money and 2) ensure student-athlete development was a key factor in strategic and policy decision-making. A remodel was successful in reducing the sports scholarship budget to the school whilst also creating three strands of funding support to student-athletes. Furthermore, it created a fourth strand that allocated a specific budget for the sports scholarship programme to invest in a holistic athlete development programme.

The findings from coaches' interpretation of talent initiated the development of a new TI and selection tool spanning multiple sports, and athlete skills and characteristics. The design incorporated both subjective and objective measures and was co-created with coaches to ensure staff confidence in its application. There was an improved robustness in the new application process which included observations and assessments on the athlete’s history, behavioural expectations with the tool providing a total athletic score comprised of technical, tactical, physical and psychosocial qualities. The tool was used successfully as a supportive instrument alongside coaches’ opinion to help minimise subjective biases and make the conversation around student-athlete and sport scholarship selection easier.

In summary, the outcomes of the sports scholarship (re)design process have been perceived favourably by colleagues within the school. The iterative cycles of action research have ensured each key domain are continually evaluated and improved. The TDE remains a perceived strength by student-athletes, on the other hand student-athletes perceive DC competency possession as an area of continued development. Coaches share positivity to the new sports scholarship programme (e.g., coherent structure and process) and highlight areas of further development (e.g., marketing for attraction and recruitment). Finally, the new sports scholarship programme received a significant strength from the independent school inspectors which is an extremely rare occurrence. The thesis concludes with five key guiding principles that had supported the research and acknowledges its limitations. In the final chapter I share my personal and professional development from this professional doctorate journey.