Scheduled for Free Communication: Coaching Concerns, Challenges, and Responsibilities in Sport, Friday, April 11, 2008, 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM, Convention Center: 202C


Navigating the Challenges of Coaching Youth Sports: Coaches Speak Out

Craig A. Paiement and Ryan Hedstrom, Castleton State University, Castleton, VT

Coaches are the lifeblood of youth sport in America. Whether it is a parent-coach or a volunteer, involvement often begins in much the same way; motivation to share one's experience and knowledge with young athletes. Coaching athletes can be a highly rewarding experience but there are countless challenges to coaching youth sport, many are well documented, but little improvement has been made in recent years. The focus of this study is to identify specific positive experiences and challenges of current youth sport coaches and some possible solutions from coaches themselves. This study incorporated a qualitative focus group methodology. The participants were twelve youth sport coaches, who ranged in experience from 4-14 years, all coaches were currently coaching. None of the coaches were paid, seven were non-parents and five were parent-coaches. The coaches were placed into 3 groups of 4 coaches and were asked to address specific areas of enjoyment with coaching, challenges within coaching and possible solutions to the challenges. The coaches identified specific areas of personal enjoyment to include: witnessing skill improvement in athletes, character development opportunities, effect on passion for the sport and commitment, witnessing & affecting increased self-confidence in athletes, being a positive influence and developing relationships with the athletes and their families. Specific challenges that were identified by the coaches included: Over-involved parents, under-involved parents, lack of parental support for coaching decisions, unrealistic expectations of playing time, lack of athlete commitment, lack of organizational support, organizational politics, time commitment and administrative duties. Potential solutions the coaches discussed include: more education on communication strategies with parents, parent education programs, more contextual coaching education programs, organizational focus on fun and age appropriate skills. Stronger youth organizations with less focus on administration for coaches, and organizational support in disputes with parents. The challenges that youth sport coaches face daily from parental pressure to organizational issues are not new, but have become a growing problem for many coaches. The solutions provided by the coaches may seem to be simple, but the progress on this issue is very slow. This slow or non-existent progression coupled with the increasing pressure from parents leaves many youth organizations without coaches or with high turnover rates. The suggestions for solutions the coaches provided should be incorporated into coaching education programs and provide youth sport organizations the motivation to develop parent education programs.
Keyword(s): coaching, youth sports

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