Developments in the field

One of the primary reasons for initiating a second edition of the book was the significant expansion of academic writing since the publication of the first edition in 2002. As we will demonstrate, the academic study of sport coaching has increased in depth, breadth and quality. This is evident in the number of academic departments and staff in universities, the range of disciplinary lenses being applied to the subject and the number of dissemination avenues open to the researcher. The number of postgraduate programmes, PhD completions and peer-reviewed publications is testament to a rapidly evolving field of study. It is important, therefore, to begin by charting some of the developments that have taken place. We do this, not only to provide context, but because we believe that an adequate interpretation of the field of coaching science requires a measure of conceptual appreciation. Our belief is that the diversity of academic enquiry is in danger of creating a rather fragmented and polemical field of study, without an understanding of the conceptual framework that could bind it together. The aim of the second edition is to provide just such a conceptual framework.