This study compares the Malaysian coaching process’s key development themes with Cote and Gilbert’s (2009) Effective Coaching Model in Malaysian football development. The participant selection is based on purposive sampling involving fourteen head coaches from State Sports Schools throughout Malaysia. In addition, an in-depth semi-structured interview with open-ended questions was carried out and analysed following Glaser and Strauss’s constant comparative method (1967). Based on the analysis, the following seven new development themes have emerged in the context of the Malaysian coaching process as compared to Cote and Gilbert, Effective Coaching Model: i) signature coaching, ii) risk management, iii) fun elements, iv) empowerment, v) spirituality, vi) life skills and vii) coaching intervention. Subsequent exploration is recommended to identify how this knowledge is integrated into the coaching process and applied in the Malaysian football development program.

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