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Coaches contribute toward helping older adults achieve quality sport experiences, but there are few resources grounded in adult-oriented psychosocial approaches from which they can learn. The purpose of this Participatory Action Research study was to facilitate a personalized professional development program for a Colombian football (soccer) league of older adult men using an evidence-based self-assessment tool for Masters coaches. Data were collected from 23 coaches, who were also players in the league, via interviews, workshops, and observations. Data were analyzed via reflective thematic analysis that aimed to understand coaches’ perceptions of how they learned through the workshops and how they implemented what they learned into their coaching. Findings indicate that personalized professional development enabled better structured leadership in the league, creating Quality Masters Sport Experiences.

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The purpose of this article is to describe the evolution and influence of Masters Player-Coaches (MPCs) in the Asociación de Futbolistas Adultos Mayores del Tolima (in English: Masters Athletes’ Football Association of Tolima in Colombia, South America), a football league for men aged 60–70+ years. Historical forces shape a cultural backdrop that pervades football (soccer) and coaching and provides an understanding of how MPCs perceive themselves. After exploring the evolution and influence of the league, the authors uncover a peer-coaching approach in Asociación de Futbolistas Adultos Mayores del Tolima, described by the MPCs as Compañero Orientador. The authors link the importance of formally acknowledging the MPCs with their influence in fighting ageism, community building, and promoting lifelong sport. Further, MPCs provide high-quality Masters sport experiences, and their recognition supports a formal sporting structure in applying for local government grants to support the growing Masters context in Colombia.

The Adult-Oriented Sport Coaching Survey (AOSCS) assesses psychosocial coaching practices for coaches who work with adult athletes. The AOSCS can be used as a self-assessment tool for coaches’ professional development, but there is a need to better understand its relevance for coaches. The purpose of this study was to explore coaches’ perspectives of the AOSCS as a self-assessment tool for reflecting, intuitively appraising, and provoking elaborations on contextually embedded psychosocial practices when coaching adult athletes. Thirteen Canadian coaches (nine women/four men, aged 59–78 years) completed the AOSCS prior to watching a webinar regarding the research on coaching Masters athletes and the development of the AOSCS. Each was subsequently shared a copy of their AOSCS results and interviewed about their perceptions of the relevance and utility of the AOSCS. Interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, which resulted in three higher order themes (relevance of the AOSCS, using the AOSCS, and input from others) with six subthemes. The coaches see the AOSCS as provoking meaningful coach reflection, introspection, and learning intrapersonal coaching knowledge that serve ongoing coach development. As such, this paper outlines evidence with respect to the prospective relevance and practical utility of the AOSCS.