Designing and evaluating a value-based professional development framework for young Iranian football coaches

The purpose of this study was to evaluate value-based educational initiatives and to design a professional development framework for young football coaches in Iran. The research employed a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design. In the first (qualitative) phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 experts in the field of football to identify the core values underlying coach education. In the second (quantitative) phase, a quasi-experimental five-group design was implemented to assess the effectiveness of four value-based programs—ethical leadership and integrity, psychological safety and supportiveness, autonomy support and mastery climate, and inclusion and cultural equality—compared with a control group. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA. The findings indicated significant differences among the groups and across time (p < 0.001). The greatest impact was observed in the interventions focused on ethical leadership and psychological safety, which led to sustained improvements in coaching efficacy, mastery climate, and coach–athlete relationships. Thematic qualitative analysis identified these four main themes as the foundational pillars of coaches’ professional growth. Interpreted through the lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the results demonstrated that value-based programs, by fulfilling the fundamental psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, enhance intrinsic motivation and sustainable performance among coaches. Overall, the study presents an integrated ethical-oriented education model that can serve as an indigenous framework for developing the professional competence of young football coaches in Iran and guide policymakers, federations, and sports academies toward sustainable coaching development.