Professional learning of school team basketball coaches

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify and analyze the formal, non-formal and informal learning contexts associated with the professional training of school basketball coaches. Methods: Based on a qualitative approach, eight coaches from a municipality in the state of Sao Paulo were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. Its script consisted of questions related to academic education and the various sources where coaches seek professional knowledge. The interviews were analyzed according to the Collective Subject Discourse method. The interviewees reported the importance of the formal context (getting a degree) in their learning process. However they criticized the gap between their training and professional environments. Results/discussion: The non-formal context was considered not relevant, given the scarcity of possibilities and content away from the school context, unlike the informal context, pointed out as crucial for their training process, which ensured diversification and search for knowledge specific to the reality experienced by the coaches.