Exploring mountain bike coaches' perceptions towards learning to coach through story completion: Coaching happily ever after?

Mountain biking (MTB) has been conceptualised as an action and lifestyle sport, with athlete learning often typified by informal and self-regulated methods in the absence of a formal coach and structured training. The increasing popularity of the sport has corresponded with a growth in professionalisation, leading to scrutiny of the coaching role and the importance of accreditation and developmental pathways to support coach learning. However, while an increase in formal coach education provision has arisen within MTB, our understanding of coaches’ perceptions and attitudes towards their professional development remains poor. Consequently, the aim of this chapter is twofold: (1) to understand and explore MTB coaches’ perceptions towards learning to coach and (2) to utilise story completion as a novel qualitative method within sport coaching research. The findings highlight diverse perspectives towards the accessibility, value, and impact of formal and informal learning opportunities for MTB coaches in the United Kingdom.