Table 1 Examples of verbatim & facilitating context factors inspiring the CMO configurations

A safe haven to start from (CMO1)

You notice that, once people feel at home and safe, there are some things that come up on which we, hopefully, can build further. (R16)

Young people radicalize because they have nothing to do, because they’re receptive for those… Give them a structure, give them a goal, give them something to be proud of (…) Make sure it stays accessible and that the offer is broad, including other leisure and cultural activities. It does not have to be about sport. (R3)

Instead of being in class and not understanding half of things, feeling depressed (…). Some have not seen their dad or mom in 3 years. Well, they’re preoccupied with all that. And sporting is then … to not have to be preoccupied with that for a while, and simultaneously, because of the accessibility of our activities, still feeling that there is space to talk about that. (FG1f)

▪ Community sport coaches naming and personally greeting all participants

▪ Coaches inviting, though not obliging, participants to discuss problems and/or feelings

▪ Coaches practicing a signal and referral function and intervening when they sense a participant does not feel well or behaves inappropriately

▪ Coaches creating partnerships with other community (social or educational) workers so that learning is expanded outside the sports activities themselves.

Improved self-efficacy through motivational coaching (CMO2)

Now, there is no more ranking (…). And we often win the ‘fair play cup’, so it shows that this motivates the players and that they join this idea. Yeah, it makes sure that everyone feels good within the team. When there is no focus on winning or if this is not the main goal, a player that is a little less skilled will also get the confidence.(R16)

What we find really important is positive coaching, starting from people’s strength. Those are people that fail very often, and if you as a coach, during a football training also start to talk about the things they don’t do well, then it goes wrong. We name what they do well, even if that is a very little thing. (R3)

▪ Explicitly appreciating the fact that participants who experience the most thresholds for physical activity, made it to training (as such motivating them to come again)

▪ Regularly pointing to positive behavior or reactions of participants that they themselves may be unaware of, and stimulating participants to compliment others, and themselves

▪ Appreciating effort over result and avoiding to compare participants with one another.

Sense of belonging and self-esteem through constructive group dynamics (CMO3)

I feel useful and valued, yes. I feel useful because I can play in the [soccer team for socially vulnerable participants linked to a well-known First Division soccer team] and I feel valued, yes, the other players value me because I play there and because I sometimes help people (R28)

(Asked about what it is about the homeless soccer team that ‘works’)

I think… to belong. That there are no prerequisites, that you are always welcome. If you have never known that, it is a very strong thing to experience… that this is allowed and that you can be yourself. (R22)

Now we use elements that focus on connecting: using games, running in group, starting and closing the training in group. (…). And in the beginning they asked for matches, but after some time that changed and then you really feel that it has a big impact on the group, by working differently with them. (R13)

Because you have social contact again, you have more social contact actually. In the past I did not leave the house, and just sat in my room every day. And then I just started to take some steps. First […], then […], the football, then the youth movement. (R29)

▪ Greeting (and naming) every participant before the start of an activity

▪ Actively introducing new participants and using the opportunity to enlarge all participants’ acquaintance, e.g. through games that allow to get to know one another during the sport activity

▪ Integrating a group enhancing activity in every sports activity (in case of individual sport, this could be a warm-up in group)

▪ Ensuring an optimal role distribution in the group in the sense that all participants have a specific role to play in the activity and that roles are shifted (by the coach or an appointed team leader) from time to time

▪ Guarding constructive interaction (communication, feedback) with and between participants at all times

▪ Stimulating participants to establish a common goal and motivating them to pursue it

▪ Making use of role models to reinforce positive group feelings, e.g. by linking the team to a Premier League team

▪ Organizing activities outside of the sports trainings, e.g. tournaments (eating, travelling, warming up... together) or participation in social events

Mentoring participants in personal health goal-setting (CMO4)

Our training is a location where people can meet, and where we can build a positive relation with people, to then work on several life domains on other moments. (…) We work very broadly: housing, administration, psyche, relations, addiction… But we work around these themes at the moment that people come up with something. They determine the agenda; we try not to push too much in one or another direction. (R14)

We come off from the traditional welfare context and actually… create an environment in which we can work with the people without them… having the feeling that is forced upon them. They want it themselves. It happens upon their request. (R3)

▪ Presence of a (realistic, achievable) technical challenge in the training

▪ Existence of a clear group goal to which participants can link their personal goals (e.g. participating in a tournament)

▪ Adapted exercises for participants with less developed sportive skills (i.e. tailoring) without neglecting the more advanced players or the group dynamics

▪ Opportunities to take initiative and to grow in responsibility or engagement (e.g. making players who grew in confidence and in sport-technical skills responsible for the sport gear or an informal deputy trainer (positively coaching) his/her peers)

▪ Coaches providing participants with an individual training schedule that is feasible and matched to the condition level and preferences of the participants (individualization, tailoring)

▪ An adapted environment to make healthy choices more easy (e.g. replacing the candy machine by a healthier offer; foreseeing a source of drinking water and setting clear rules (e.g.: no smoking on the sports field)

▪ Coaches with knowledge of substance use and how to deal with them (who, e.g., support users without judging them, persuade participants to at least not be secretive about their use and maybe talk to them about it)

▪ Partnerships for improved exchange of information and more fluent transfer to social partners who can assistant participants in realizing their personal health goals