CRiC 2026 Conference Preview

Join Mike as he chats to Stephen Macdonald, Conference Chair for CRiC 2026 at Stirling University.During the episode, Stephen reflects on his experiences of bidding to host the Conference, the excitement and challenges of pulling it all together, and shares some highlights and reflections of the week.Find out more about Stephen and his work here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenmacdonaldcoaching/Check out more about CRiC here: https://cricsportcoaching.com/

In this episode, Dr Ian Stonebridge (Plymouth Marjon University) looks back at his journey from professional football into academia. He gave us an insight into his PhD, including how coaches negotiate their identities over time, shaped by personal experiences and professional challenges. Ian Stonebridge: https://www.marjon.ac.uk/about-marjon/staff-list-and-profiles/stonebridge-ian.htmlCRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/

In this episode, Dr Andy Newland (Liverpool John Moores University) shares insights from his research on the complexities of the coach–athlete relationship. He explains how his personal biography influenced his PhD and discusses key findings from his research and their practical implications. Enjoy!Andy Newland: https://profiles.ljmu.ac.uk/15340-dr-andrew-newlandCRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com

In the 4th episode of this CRiC bitesize series Mike welcomed Clare Freeman. She spoke about the use of creative non-fiction to bring coaches’ experiences to life. They wrapped the episode by looking at Clare's experiences within the CRiC community.Enjoy!

In this episode, Mike interviewed Jack Walton, PhD student at Loughborough University. They chat about his work as a coach educator and his fascinating insights into coach learning and development. Enjoy!CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/

In this CRiC 2026 Bitesize episode, we interview Dr Sanna Erdoğan (University of Lapland. Sanna talks about the work she presented at the conference, explores its implications for practice, and shares her experiences of the CRiC community, including the recent writing retreat.Thanks for listening!CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/

In the first CRiC 2026 Bitesize episode, we welcomed former Cardiff Met student Stan Safe. Presenting at his first academic conference, Stan shared the findings of his undergraduate dissertation, explored their implications for practice, and reflected on his experience within the CRiC community.Enjoy!CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/

We’re back for Season 9—and we’re hitting the road once again!In this first episode, we’re delighted to continue our partnership with the Cluster for Research into Coaching (CRiC). This season we’ll be releasing a series of special episodes straight from the event.Kicking things off, we sat down in the studio with Dr. Sofia Santos and Dr. Gethin Thomas (Cardiff Metropolitan University). They share a preview of the conference, highlight what they’re most excited about, and offer insights into what attendees can expect.Make sure to keep an eye on your feed for more episodes coming soon!CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/

In this final episode of Season 8, Jen Larrick and Kerry Harris joined Mike to discuss their recent paper, 'Developing a hooks-informed feminist coaching pedagogy'. During the episode, they discussed the challenges of patriarchal norms in sport coaching and how Jen took an action-research approach to her practice. The key findings were also shared, including overcoming tokenistic participation, collaborative approaches, finding joy in coaching, and 'pausing' as a pedagogical practice.The paper was recently accepted for publication - we'll come back to post the link to it once it's published! 

During this episode, Dean Holden shares his Doctoral research from Cardiff Metropolitan University's Doctorate in Sport Coaching (DSC) programme. 'Wandering Whistles', Dean's thesis, shares his lived experiences and learnings as a nomadic, travelling coach working across cultures in ice-hockey.During the episode, Dean, Mike, and Oli discuss the idea of the nomadic coach, Dean's rich life experiences that have led him towards his research, and the findings of his doctoral thesis. Together, they discuss his auto-ethnographic and composite vignette approaches to exploring notions of identity, power, and authenticity in coaching.