The Roles Mentors Play in Basketball Coaching

Background/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the most and least dominant roles in basketball coaches’ mentoring relationships. Specifically, this study investigated 11 different roles played by mentors in two categories: a) “Career Development Functions” and b) “Psychosocial Support Functions” (Kram, 1985). Further, differences in the impact of these roles were analyzed to determine any variances due to years of experience, education, and current coaching level. 

Method: High school and college coaches (N=83) participated in the study. Using the Coaches Mentor Role Instrument (CMRI) (Schempp, et al., 2014), data were collected at the 2013 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) annual convention held in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four. Potential participants were approached at the NABC convention and asked to complete informed consent and then the CMRI. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlation, ANOVA, and regression analysis.

Analysis/Results:

Descriptive statistics found the mean for the roles classified as “Career Development Functions” was 4.12 (SD=0.67) and the mean for the roles categorized as “Psychosocial Support Functions” was 4.32 (SD=0.58), indicating mentees scored their mentors higher in the roles categorized as “Psychosocial Support Functions.” Notably, mentors were scored highest in the roles of Acceptor (M=4.57, SD=0.59), Friend (M=4.56, SD=0.65) and Challenger (M=4.35, D=0.76). Significant correlations were found between: (a) years of coaching experience and the Protector role, and (b) the duration of mentoring relationship and roles of Sponsor, Promoter, Role Model, and Counselor. Regression analysis revealed an inverse relationship between years of coaching experience and the Protector role, whereby less experienced coaches rated their mentors higher as Protectors than more experienced coaches. Finally, coaches, who maintained their mentoring relationships for longer durations, had higher regard for their mentors in both the Career Development and Psychosocial Support Functions and scored their mentors higher in the Sponsor, Promoter, Role Model, and Counselor roles than those with shorter mentoring relationships. 

Conclusions: Given the recent and numerous calls for more research on mentoring as a means for coach development (Bloom, 2013), this study has implications for practice and research. The results indicate that young coaches tend to view and value the mentor’s role as a Protector which is information that coaches serving in the mentoring role should heed. Researchers should note that while the coaches in this study rated their mentors highly in their fulfillment of the Challenger role, the literature does not indicate how that role is exercised in coach mentoring.