Social Motivation in Youth Sport

Youth sport participants frequently report social reasons for their involvement in sport such as wanting to be part of a team or to be with friends, and social sources of positive and negative affect such as social recognition and parental pressure. Although a social view of sport has been recognized, youth sport motivation researchers have emphasized approaches centered on constructs related to physical ability and have not examined the social aspect of motivation in detail. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the contribution that social goal orientations and perceptions of belonging make toward understanding youth sport motivation. Specifically, female adolescents' (N = 100) social motivational orientations, achievement goal orientations, perceived belonging, perceived physical ability, and interest in sport were assessed. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that social motivational constructs added to the explanation of adolescents' interest in sport

Aberdeen Asset Management Women in Coaching Programme

Scottish Hockey's Business Plan 2008 - 2014 highlights the need to support individuals to improve and develop their coaching skills and knowledge through qualifications, mentoring and continued professional development. A workforce audit (Lyle, 2007) and the sportscotland Women in Coaching Programme (sportscotland, 2007) provided evidence that women are underrepresented in coaching roles in hockey in Scotland. This report examines the current status of the hockey coaching workforce in Scotland and development experiences and needs of women coaching hockey in Scotlan

Development and initial validation of the Life Skills Scale for Sport

Objectives  The aim of this research was to develop a measure of life skills development through sport.  Method  Four studies were conducted to develop the Life Skills Scale for Sport (LSSS). Study 1 developed items for the scale and included 39 reviewers’ assessment of content validity. Study 2 included 338 youth sport participants and used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and descriptive statistics to reduce the number of items in the scale and explore the factor structure of each subscale and the whole scale. Study 3 included 223 youth sport participants and assessed the factor structure of the scale using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and bifactor modeling. Study 4 investigated the test-retest reliability of the scale over a two-week period with 37 youth sport participants.  Results  Study 1 resulted in the development of the initial 144-item LSSS and provided content validity evidence for all items. Study 2 refined the scale to 47 items and provided preliminary evidence for the unidimensional factor structure of each subscale. Study 3 supported the factorial validity of the scale, with ESEM solutions providing the best fit and resulting in more differentiated factors. Study 4 provided evidence for the test-retest reliability of the scale.  Conclusions  Collectively, these studies provided initial evidence for the validity and reliability of the LSSS; a measure which can be used by researchers and practitioners to assess participants’ perceived life skills development through sport

'Let Them Get on With it': Coaches' Perceptions of their Roles and Coaching Practices During Olympic and Paralympic Games

How coaches prepare and perform is critical for athletes’ performances (Gould, Guinan, Greenleaf & Chung, 2002), however, little is known about coaches’ roles and coaching practices during major competitions such as the Olympic or Paralympic Games. To assist coaches in their efforts to improve athletes’ performances in competition environments, greater understanding is needed about the coaching process during major competitions and how coaches prepare and perform. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine track and field coaches’ perceptions of their roles and coaching practices during competition at major events. Eight coaches, seven male and one female, who had coached one or more athletes to an Olympic or Paralympic medal were interviewed. Inductive content analysis indicated that creating an athlete focused supportive environment, detailed preparation and planning, use of effective observation and limited intervention, coach and athlete psychological preparation and managing the process were salient during competition at major events. These findings suggest that during major competition the coach’s role is supportive and facilitative. Actions are largely unobtrusive and in response to athletes’ needs, but remain as detailed as other phases of the coaching process. The findings are discussed in relation to the coach as orchestrator

Women coaches' perceptions of their sport organizations' social environment: Supporting coaches' psychological needs?

Researchers have argued that coaches are performers in their own right and that their psychological needs should be considered (Giges, Petitpas, & Vernacchia, 2004; Gould, Greenleaf, Guinan, & Chung, 2002). The purpose of this research was to examine high performance women coaches’ perceptions of their sport organizations’ social context, with specific attention to psychological need support. Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2002) was employed to frame the examination of the coaches’ experiences. Eight high performance women coaches from two sport organizations participated in semistructured interviews. All reported autonomy and competence development opportunities. Organizational relatedness was critical to the experience of a supportive environment. The findings provide insight into the "world of coaching" from the coaches’ perspective

"I don't want to give them my brain for the day . . . and then take it back": An examination of the coach-created motivational climate in adult adventure sports

In contrast to cross-sectional age trends of declining adult participation in sport, engagement in adventure sports is increasing among adults. The coach may have an important role to play in shaping the motivational climate to encourage and retain participants in adventure sport. The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth examination of the coach-created motivational climate in non-competition focused adult adventure sport by adopting a multiple methods approach. The study was grounded in a multidimensional theoretical perspective that combines achievement goal theory (Nicholls, 1984; Ames, 1992) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Questionnaires, interviews, and observations of coaching sessions were employed to assess coaches’ (N=6), participants’ (N=25), and observers’ perspectives on the empowering and disempowering nature and features of coaching sessions. Analysis of the data demonstrated consistent views that the coaches’ created a strongly empowering and only weakly disempowering climate. Insight was gained about why and how coaches created this climate as well as the challenges they experienced in maintaining an empowering climate for adults in adventure sport contexts. The place of structure, control, relatedness support and coaches’ philosophies is discussed

Scaffolding women coaches' development: A program to build coaches' competence and confidence

Research continues to demonstrate the under representation of women coaches and that barriers outweigh support. The purpose of this practical article is to describe the process undertaken by a National Governing Body of Sport (NGB) to deliver a learning and development programme to support women hockey coaches in Scotland, the Women in Coaching (WiC) programme. Our aim is to share understanding about this example of good practice to provide insight and direction for change that can enhance the experiences and provisions of coach education and development for women coaches. First, we explain the use of scaffolding as a concept to capture the approach adopted in the programme to bring together a range of learning situations (e.g., coach education, workshops, systematic observation of coaching practice, mentoring). We then describe and discuss the evidence gathered to inform programme development (i.e., workforce analysis, interviews with coaches). Next the delivery of the programme and assessment of its impact are discussed (i.e., pre-post self-perceptions, players’ perceptions, coaching behaviours, reflective survey). Finally we present best practices based on the lessons learned from our involvement with the programme over the past six years

Coach-created talent development motivational climate in Canoe Slalom in the United Kingdom

This study examined the coach-created talent development motivational climate in Canoe Slalom in the United Kingdom using achievement goal theory, self-determination theory and transformational leadership. The participants were six (five male, one female) full-time Canoe Slalom talent development coaches and twenty-four athletes (13 male, 11 female). A multidimensional, mixed methods approach examined participants’ perceptions of the motivational climate, transformational leadership behaviours, coaching practices, and coaching philosophies. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, and systematic observation. A summary of the coaching climate, practices, and philosophy was developed for each coach based on the perspectives of the athletes, coach, and observer. These were then compared and commonalities and differences amongst the coach-created climates were identified. The coaches created a motivationally adaptive (structured, relatedness supportive, individually-focused, task-involved) talent development motivational climate. However, the coaches varied in the extent to which the climate was autonomy supportive and intellectually stimulating. Analysis of the coaching climates using Nelson and Colquhoun’s (2013) learning continuums revealed two distinct forms of climate: behaviourist/structure and humanistic/agency. The implications for talent development and key stakeholders are discussed

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Examining the Working Conditions of Women Coaches

An interdisciplinary framework allowed psychological and sociological approaches to be combined to examine coaches' working conditions, specifically to examine the structural aspects and social values within the sport organisations as well as the implications for individual aspects. Ten participants from two sport organisations took part in the study. They were eight women performance coaches and two coach managers. Participants were interviewed to explore their perceptions of the working environment in their sport organisation including involvement, support, opportunities, and relationships. Four themes were developed characterising coaches' perceptions of their working conditions. These were relationships with key organisational personnel, coach as a person, learning and development opportunities, and relationships among coaches. The themes were examined both within and between the two sport organisations. The structures and values of one organisation fostered working conditions conducive to the need satisfaction of the coaches. The working conditions within the second organisation were less effective, but reflected its organisational values. The findings are discussed in relation to coaching research and provide an alternative approach to examining the social context of coaching

The coaching process of the expert coach: a coach led approach

The purpose of this study was to engage expert coaches’ in an exploration, conceptualisation, and modelling of their coaching process. Six coaches, each developed a model, with accompanying explanation, of “their” coaching process. These models and explanations were content analysed to identify features of the coaching process and included examination of how to represent the process pictorially. The coaches were then interviewed where they discussed the identified features and how to represent their coaching process as a “realistic picture”. As a result of this process of data collection, analysis, and member checking, the coaches’ conceptualisation of the coaching process and how best to model it was agreed amongst participants. There were seven core principles that underpinned the model: learning partnership; individualised; clear structure with evolving process; orchestrating approach; influenced by coaching environment; holistic and flexible process; and adaptable and dynamic; and six component parts that described the operationalisation of the coaching process: values, knowledge, and skills; contextual constraint; learning environment; preparation phase; performance phase; review phase. The agreed upon pictorial representation of their coaching process brought the process “to life” and provides researchers, coaches, and coach developers with a conceptualisation of the process by coaches for coaches