Scheduled for Sport Management, Psychology, and Leisure & Recreation Posters, Thursday, April 1, 2004, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Session


A Comparison of the National Standards for Athletic Coaches With Existing Coaching Education Programs in the United States

Carl P. Bahneman and John C. McGrath, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

The National Standards for Athletic Coaches and the Guidelines for Accreditation of Coaching Education are the result of a project facilitated by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education an Association of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. The National Standards for Athletic coaches are based on a consensus involving over 200 organizations and agencies engaged in providing sport programs and/or coaching education. The purpose of this study was to analyze the coaching education programs, which now exist in colleges and universities within the United States, to determine if, or to what extent, these programs meet the national standards which are grouped under one of the following 8 domains: Domain 1, Injuries: Prevention, Care and Management; Domain 2, Risk Management; Domain 3, Growth Development and Learning; Domain 4, Training, Conditioning and Nutrition; Domain 5, Social/Psychological Aspects of Sport; Domain 6, Skills, Tactics and Strategies; Domain 7, Teaching and Administration; and Domain 8, Professional Preparation and Development. The authors identified 144 coaching education programs from the Directory of College and University Coaching Education Programs, edited by mcMillin and Reffner and published by Fitness Information Technology, Inc. Each program was asked to return a complete set of curricular materials. One hundred seven (107) of the 144, existing programs responded. More specifically of the 144 programs 111 were identified as minor programs, 11 were major programs, and 22 were graduate programs. Eighty-nine (89) of the 111 minor programs, 7 of the 11 major programs and 11 of the 22 graduate programs participated in this study. The results show that only 24 (15 minor, 4 major, 5 graduate) meet all of the National Standards. The results also show which standards are most often and least often met, and to what extent the standards are met. For example, Domain 1 (above) was met by 86 of the 89 minor programs, whereas Domain 2, was met by only 50 of the 89 minor programs. The data show that the major and graduate programs satisfy the National Standards substantially beyond the minor programs.
Keyword(s): administration/mgmt, coaching, professional preparation

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