Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Background: Sports club managers play an important role in integrating health promotion into sports club policies, environments, and everyday practices. However, they often lack practical guidance on how to operationalise health promotion within their managerial roles. Using the Health-Promoting Sports Club model, this study aimed to develop a theoretical framework and intervention strategies to support sports club managers in implementing health promotion in sports club settings. Methods: A qualitative, iterative study was conducted with 22 international experts in health promotion and sport. The study involved five two-hour expert meetings and an iterative process of reviewing, discussing, and refining draft definitions, conceptual framework components, progression stages, and implementation strategies. The process aimed to define the health-promoting sports club manager, adapt the Health-Promoting Sports Club framework to the managerial level, and develop practical strategies to support health-promoting management. Results: Experts proposed a definition of the health-promoting sports club manager, key principles for action, and stages of progression describing how managers can advance health promotion within sports clubs. In addition, 42 intervention strategies were developed and operationalised to guide sports club managers in implementing multi-level health promotion actions. These strategies address the role of managers in supporting organisational change, strengthening health-promoting practices, and embedding health promotion into the daily functioning of sports clubs. Conclusions: Study provided a framework explicitly guiding sports club managers in operationalizing health promotion. The findings contribute to the theoretical and practical understanding of health-promoting management and offer researchers, policymakers, and sports club managers a clearer basis for integrating health promotion into sports club settings.</p>