Abstract

The objective of this work is to investigate what strategies are used by soccer coaches to teach life skills to young people living in areas at risk of social exclusion. Five football coaches were interviewed (four men and one woman), aged between 19 and 40 years. Questions were asked about how they managed their teams’ training sessions, what their training philosophy was and what methods of work they had. The content analysis of the interviews was based on the dimensions called effective training strategies and youth development strategies created in the study of Gould, Collins, Lauer and Chung (2007). We have identified two new categories in the first dimension: communication and action. The youth development strategies were grouped into these categories: strategies to improve participation and life skills education, as in the original work of Gould, Collins et al. (2007). It also found and grouped the life competencies provided or developed by sport, which can be transferred to other areas such as family, education or professional activity.