Character and Coaching in Sport Conference
Building on the Centre’s recent work on character and sport, and held in partnership with Birmingham City Football Club Foundation, the Jubilee Centre hosted a conference on Character-based Coaching in Sport at St. Andrew’s @Knighthead Park on 12th March 2026.
Around 100 delegates from a range of settings and sports attended. The day included presentations from Jeremy Dale, Deborah Longworth, Hope Powell, Jen Barrett, David Colcough, Hannah England, Craig McCulloch, Hayley Hampson-Stemp, and Irena Dzisiewska, which all focused on how sport develops character and the central role of coaches in developing the whole-person.
The video below provides an overview of the event and why character-based coaching is important.
The event was particularly interested in “character-based coaching”, or the idea that qualities of character lie at the heart of sports coaching and, in particular, to a person-centred approach. Character-based coaching recognises the importance and value of focusing on the whole person in the coach-coached relationship, as well as the fact that sports coaches act as role models for those with whom they work. Core qualities of character involved include fair play, humility, determination, resilience, courage, integrity, and leadership to name a few.
The event discussed how a key challenge for sports coaching and coaches is how character-based coaching can operate alongside the technical development and performance outcomes that are also fundamental to coaching. This one-day conference aimed to help coaches and coaching organisations to think about, discuss, and reflect on the place of character-based coaching with their work.
The conference also saw the launch of the Centre’s Educating Character Through Sport: Principles and Purposes of a Virtues-Based Framework. Click below to view the framework and to find out more.
