How Youth-Sport Coaches Learn to Coach

Researchers have investigated how elite or expert coaches learn to coach, but very few have investigated this process with coaches at the recreational or developmental-performance levels. Thirty-six youth-sport coaches (ice hockey, soccer, and baseball) were each interviewed twice to document their learning situations. Results indicate that (a) formal programs are only one of the many opportunities to learn how to coach; (b) coaches’ prior experiences as players, assistant coaches, or instructors provide them with some sport-specific knowledge and allow them to initiate socialization within the subculture of their respective sports; (c) coaches rarely interact with rival coaches; and (d) there are differences in coaches’ learning situations between sports. Reflections on who could help coaches get the most out of their learning situations are provided.

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‘Just Let Them Play’: Complex Dynamics in Youth Sport, Why It Isn’t So Simple

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700750 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Christine Nash ◽

Jamie Taylor

Keyword(s):

Complex Dynamics ◽

Youth Sport ◽

Field Notes ◽

Biopsychosocial Perspective ◽

The Many ◽

Long Term Impact ◽

Sport Coaches ◽

Sport Coaching

This ethnographic case study examines the long-term impact of youth sport coaching within tennis, using observations, field notes, and interviews as data sources. We highlight the complexities that youth sport coaches face in their role in developing young players within, in this example, tennis, but suggest that these issues are transferable across the youth sport context. There are some key messages for youth sport coaches and sporting organisations arising from this study, particularly around the role of a youth sport coach. We advocate an expertise approach to developing youth sport coaches due to the many roles, within their sport and from a biopsychosocial perspective, that they have to navigate. Additionally, we suggest that simplistic narratives in youth sport coaching are misplaced.

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The effect of COVID-19 quarantine on physical and social parameters of physical education providers and youth sport coaches

Work ◽

10.3233/wor-203329 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 67 (4) ◽

pp. 767-769

Author(s):

Sanaz Faraji ◽

Mahboubeh Ghayour Najafabadi ◽

Mitch Rostad ◽

Albert Thomas Anastasio

Keyword(s):

Weight Gain ◽

Physical Education ◽

Sports Medicine ◽

Physical Inactivity ◽

Sedentary Lifestyle ◽

Youth Sport ◽

Physical Nature ◽

Depressive Mood ◽

Social Disconnection ◽

Sport Coaches

The potential ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic global shut down on physical education providers and youth sport coaches may be particularly severe due to substantial cutbacks on many of their normal activities. This population faces unique challenges in engaging in “virtual learning” given the physical nature of their job, potentially leading to sedentary lifestyle, weight gain, and the development of depressive mood disorders. This commentary aims to explore options to mitigate worsening of stress, depression, physical inactivity, and social disconnection in youth sport coaches following the guidelines of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and to call attention to this vulnerable demographic which has been substantially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Parent Coaches’ Experiences and Insights into a Youth Soccer Program

Journal of Amateur Sport ◽

10.17161/jas.v0i0.5870 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Kerins ◽

Mariela Fernandez ◽

Kimberly Shinew

Keyword(s):

Youth Sport ◽

Agency Staff ◽

Municipal Governments ◽

Youth Soccer ◽

The Public ◽

Sport Programs ◽

Volunteer Coaches ◽

Sport Coaches ◽

Purposive Sample

Municipal governments continue to struggle with decreased funding. In order to offset depleting funds, agencies rely on volunteers to provide resources to the public. In youth sport programs, parents provide much of the support, and it is estimated that 90% of youth sport coaches are parents. Given that parents have been instrumental in youth sport programs, the purpose of this study was to understand parents’ experiences and insights associated with volunteering by using a youth soccer program located in a mid-sized town in Illinois as a case-study. Specifically, the study examined (a) parents’ motivations in volunteering, (b) challenges parent coaches faced while volunteering, and (c) parent coaches’ recommendations to agency personnel. Using a purposive sample, 11 parents were interviewed. Findings indicated that parents were motivated to volunteer in order to help their child, and several expressed a more in-depth philosophy about giving back to the community. The primary motivation and benefit for volunteer coaches was their relationships with the children. Relationships with other adults in the program were also significant, but they tended to be secondary. Challenges in volunteering included working with the children, parents, and agency staff. Agency recommendations included providing incentives to coaches, conducting player assessments, ensuring that recruited volunteers share the agency’s philosophy, and addressing volunteer concerns.

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The role, benefits and selection of sport psychology consultants: Perceptions of youth-sport coaches and parents

Psychology of Sport and Exercise ◽

10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.12.001 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 35 ◽

pp. 131-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Richard C. Thelwell ◽

Jade Wood ◽

Chris Harwood ◽

Toby Woolway ◽

Judy L. van Raalte

Keyword(s):

Sport Psychology ◽

Youth Sport ◽

Sport Coaches ◽

Selection Of

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Female and male youth sport coaches’ perceptions of teaching sportspersonship to female and male athletes

International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching ◽

10.1177/1747954118786061 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 619-628 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nicole D Bolter ◽

Shelley M Lucas

Keyword(s):

Youth Development ◽

Sport Participation ◽

Youth Sport ◽

Young Athletes ◽

Male Athletes ◽

Male Youth ◽

Development Framework ◽

Expected Outcome ◽

Youth Sport Participation ◽

Sport Coaches

According to the positive youth development framework, sportspersonship and character development is an expected outcome from participation in youth sport. Previous studies have shown mixed results in terms of how gender affects young athletes’ sportspersonship, suggesting it is important to explore how boys and girls are taught about sportspersonship by their coaches. In this study, we interviewed six female and six male youth sport coaches who had coached both girls’ and boys’ teams at recreational and competitive levels to examine coaches’ expectations regarding sportspersonship, with a specific focus on those beliefs associated with gender. Our analysis indicated that gender does matter, as represented in the two emergent higher-order themes—(a) Observations of Athletes’ Sportspersonship Behaviors and (b) Teaching Sportspersonship to Girls and Boys—representative of two and four lower-order themes, respectively. Results showed that gender mattered in terms of coaches’ reported strategies for teaching about sportspersonship, suggesting that youth sport participation builds gendered character.

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Preventing sexual violence in sport. The determinants of positive coach-bystander behavior.

10.31234/osf.io/j8dw7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Helena Verhelle ◽

Tine Vertommen ◽

Gjalt - Jorn Ygram Peters

Keyword(s):

Confidence Interval ◽

Sexual Violence ◽

Youth Sport ◽

Injunctive Norms ◽

Bystander Behavior ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Effective Prevention ◽

The Past ◽

Sport Coaches ◽

Bystander Behaviors

Coaches are instrumental in creating safe sport environments, especially in preventing sexual violence, but little is known about helpful bystander behaviors, hampering effective prevention programs. To identify determining characteristics of positive bystander behavior, 1442 Belgian youth-sport coaches completed a dedicated online questionnaire on bystander-related attitudes, descriptive and injunctive norms, autonomy beliefs, and self-efficacy using two hypothetical sport-associated sexual-violence scenarios. Potential for change was analyzed using confidence interval-based estimation of relevance (CIBER). 127 coaches (9.6%) had witnessed sexual violence over the past year. Most had intervened (single incident: 3.7%; multiple incidents: 2.4%). Experiential attitude expectation, instrumental attitude evaluation, perceived referent behavior and approval, and subskill presence were positively associated with coaches’ intentions to intervene. Of the determinants of positive coach-bystander behavior, attitude and perceived norms proved key constituents for programs addressing sexual violence in youth sport. To promote (pro-)active coach-bystander behaviors, the results are discussed from a theoretical and practice-oriented perspective.

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