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September 19, 2019OLI Theory of John Dunning
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Assignment Type – Research Proposal
Academic Level – Graduate
Abstract
A mentor or coach plays an integral role in molding trainee’s life. This relationship exists across all professions. When we talk about an athlete the first thing we want to know is about the coach more than his family background. For a college student-athlete, his coach is his friend, philosopher, and guide. A student-athlete looks up to his coach for motivation and any kind of anxiety. Many researchers have been put forward that focuses on behavioral aspects of the relation between coach and their student-athlete. Out of which few studies have satisfactorily presented the acceptable models. This research focuses on the perception of students towards their coach on whether they consider their coaches as parental figures.
Introduction
Numbers of studies have been done by various others to examine this vital association. We shall try to get in-depth insight with the help of a few relevant and successful studies.
Amanda Alexander in 2008 studied the relationship between the student-athlete and the coach’s influence. It also examines the nature, extent medium of their interaction. As per this study, the technical expertise provided by the coach directly influences the emotional stability, the interests, and enjoyment of athlete and social motivation of an athlete. The competency of the athlete is highly dependent on Coach’s training.
Alexander (2008) suggests high rates of likeability by the student-athlete to the coach show results that student-athletes encounter lower levels of stress. On the other hand, while studies typically scrutinize into the personal relationship between student-athletes and the coaches, one must understand that the coach also plays a critical role in introducing the student-athlete with the school management.Being in direct contact with the student’s team; a coach is a mediator between school administrators and athletes. Thus, the coach is the direct leader of the student because the coach has direct contact with the student team the coach is responsible for the direct leadership of the students and hence promotes the necessity for a good relationship to be embraced to school administrators who lobby continue funding of the program.
However, over the years, the relationship role between coaches towards their student-athletes especially at college levels has been questioned on various grounds whether over ethical concerns or be it rule violations. For critics, some coaches are fairly described as greedy in matters of demanding higher pay, embracing the spirit of winning at all costs, avoiding the consequences of athletes breaking laws, spending little time with student-athletes outside of what is required, as well as breaking of signed contracts among others. Nevertheless, some altruistic coaches stride for improvement of the wellbeing of the student-athlete helping to guide them against other interests that could be detrimental to the student athlete’s psyche. The image and persona of a coach are unclear and difficult to analyze because of this indifferent behavior. Few Coaches take it as pride while few coaches their students just for the sake of money.
Due to the above stated behavioral traits, student-athletes in colleges/universities seem answerless when they are asked to share their perceptions of their coaches? The most challenging question hitting the mind of most of us is how we should treat our coaches- as parents of just a Coach. Most of the time trainees are worried about answering this question.
Problem statement
Many studies have been made from time to time. All aim to focus on the main theme of coach-student athlete relationships. Primarily, each study aims to examine leadership attributes and moral and ethical relations. Few studies have focused on the acceptable methods used by coaches on handling the athletes. Vague statements on how a relationship should exist among all these theories. There lacks a standard tool on which the interactions and attitudes towards each other should be understood. There exists a gap in the literature on whether student-athletes perceive their coaches as parent figures or not and what would be the factors that influence such perceptions. The lack of such literature from past studies and related academic materials shows the necessity to have a structured study on certain themes to shape future studies and understanding of these un-understood themes. This study is therefore aimed at establishing a qualitative validation through research to study whether the student-athletes in universities perceive their coaches as parents or not.
Significance of the Study
A right coach can be a decisive factor in the success of any student-athlete. He is not only the source of inspiration, motivation but also is stress –healer and a role model for the student-athlete. As discussed there have been many kinds of research and theories proposed to study Image of Coach from the student’s point of view. This study aims in studying past trends, examine the current samples and relate qualitative and quantities aspect to arrive at the satisfactory answer to this question.
Objectives
This study is an attempt to determine the perception of student-athlete trainees towards their coach. Some argue that they are considered to be parental figures whereas others think that coaches are just an authority or instructor. Research is required as there exists a gap between literature and the data, facts, figures, and analysis available. Qualitative and quantities means are used to arrive at a consensus Random sampling is used for this method and the best attempt has been made to reduce the error as far as possible. The sample population of student-athlete trainees including males and female has been used. The basic objective of this study is to determine the coach’s influence in upbringing an athlete from a trainee to a hardcore professional player. Undoubtedly, this study can play a vital role in the development and motivation of athlete trainees.
Literature review
Coaching as a Profession
This profession comes with a lot of prestige and respect presents one of the most exciting lifetime careers shown by a coach witnessing a person (student-athlete) develop in talent and grow to realize that person’s desire to sporting. The pleasure of the coach is therefore great when the coach observes the nurturing of talent from the athlete’s early formative years to the time that the student-athlete contributes successfully towards the success of a team. It is worth noting that the profession of coaching upcoming athletes is not free of challenges and obligations. Some of these obligations are already defined by the coaching profession and institution. However, there are also legal and moral obligations that explain the way a coach approaches an assigned athlete as obligated by society and which are accepted as being the proper role of a ‘teacher’ as coaching would be viewed. Besides, being part of an athletic department in an institution, the coach has a strategic mission to pursue regarding the institution’s coaching services.
Leadership and Coaching
Leadership is an inherent attribute that is associated with effective coaching and has a direct attribute to the interrelationship between a coach and a student-athlete. In sports management in general, coaches are a particular working group that is focused on while training and strategizing an ongoing sporting activity. Athletics and coaching are important factors that are observed within a sports department to see if these factors result in general leadership skills that produce good or poor student-athletes. The coach is therefore obligated to act as an administrator, public relations officer in the school on sports, a diplomat, a trainer, a judge as well as an effective and committed teacher.
It is therefore inherently true that a coach plays an active role in leadership and would, therefore, be observed as effective in influencing the efforts of others (team) towards a certain goal. The degrees in which student-athletes are receptive to the training by the coach are directly influenced by the style of leadership the coach adopts. On a different account where the leadership would not be a servant-leadership relationship, the effectiveness of the process might not necessarily be as effective in this case. Transformational leadership has been cited as one of the most useful and beneficial leadership styles in athletic coaching and refers to a leadership style that offers emotional attachment instead of the award entitlement to the student-athletes and the team in question being led. Transformational leaders inspire their subordinates towards the course of achieving the set goals and objectives.
Legal and Ethical Issues in Coaching
The legal obligations that govern the working of a coach stem from the athletic associations which dictate the focus and rules of an educational program. The government also places particular expectations on the coaches such as mandatory reporting requirements for a student-athlete that is meant to ensure the safety as well as the well-being of the student-athlete under the care of the coach. The judicial courts also have the power to assign other responsibilities to a coach as deemed appropriate by law. Failure to observe the stipulated responsibilities places the coach in professional risk and could lead the profession outside the terms set by athletic associations and the law. However, as Engelhorn (n.d.) shows, the role of a coach goes further than just the stipulation of what the law set out as there is a lot that the coach owes and can do for the student-athlete.
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Ethical responsibility is an inherent and integral part of coaching responsibilities. The interactions between the coach and the student-athlete at college or such schooling level must be professional and ethical in every way with a clear boundary established early on. Teaching and modeling a student-athlete in becoming a productive citizen and team player is an ethical responsibility the coach takes but it also elevates the position of a coach towards the athlete. The student-athlete attitude towards the coach might change to become more familiar than other student-teacher relationships. An ethical boundary must be established even if a more familiar relationship between the student-athlete and coach is formed it must not cross the ethical boundaries already in place. This, therefore, shows the critical role that a coach is assigned as regards to molding and facilitating the development of talents in student-athletes at any level.
The coaches have an equal and associated responsibility in ensuring that a team succeeds through increased cohesion and leadership. Studies have shown the role of a coach towards increased cohesion by team members and the purpose of a coach is distinct. Although a majority of studies have focused on the role of the student-athletes themselves, the few studies that have been done focusing on the coaches show that cohesion of a team is directly related to the leadership offered by the coach, positive feedback as well as adequate and comprehensive instructions or tutorials which result in a more cohesive team. The coach influencing attitudes and perceptions of the students towards the athletics he or she participates in and influences the student-athletes’ attitudes towards each other hence creating a direct relation towards an overall team performance. This equally points towards the critical role that a coach plays towards the development of student’s talents in the athletic field, particularly to team sports.
The Coach as Surrogate Parent
In another approach, most coaches understand effectively their role in parental capacity while ethically handling the student-athletes they are responsible for. Other studies argue that the responsibility of a coach is a hybrid one augmenting the parental role and the tutorial role. This is because, usually, student-athletes have been seen to view any senior individual who coaches to have experience coaching in other life issues such as the setting of goals, personal life management as well as about interpersonal relations, especially on a team level.
Just as a parent plays an active role in shaping the destiny of the child regarding career development and decision-making so the student-athletes would perceive the coach to be the same. The coach would, therefore, be very instrumental in assisting the student-athletes set goals, handle failure or such adversity as well as the adoption of good communication and interpersonal relations. In fact, as Stankovich (2011) asserts, in many instances, actual parents fail in such responsibilities and thus have had adverse effects on the well-being of such a student. Therefore, the role of the coach in this perspective is to compliment the parent and fill in the gap as would be pointed out in the development of a student. If the absenteeism of the parents is prevalent it accords the coach an absolute responsibility in acting as a parent, which is seen to lead to a strengthened correlation between a student-athlete and the coach. It is therefore from this perception that coaches are seen as potential in ‘replacing’ the parent hence the explanation of why a student-athlete could perceive coaches as parents.
Attachment Theory on Coaches
In Drake (2009) attachment theory, he talks about the key role for coaches which he says is, to give a secured space wherein clients can be seen for more of who they are, experience themselves at their best, and learn new ways of seeing themselves and relating to others. He had found his study of attachment theory useful in strengthening his views on teaching and creating leaders. The goal for coaches to develop as a leader, coaches need to be more secure of having a sense of attachment. In other words, coaches need to be more coherent about their past, present, and future and enable leaders to be more resilient, flexible, and empathic. These are some very important qualities in leaders, especially in today’s time.
Methodology
In a general context, research methods are part of the general methodologies that are adopted by a researcher within the framework of carrying out a research study. This study is based on a collection of data and management of the data. This study intends to use a qualitative study method where deductions are to be made from the data collected from surveys to be administered to male and female former student-athletes from South Central Louisiana State University (SCLSU) as well as from literature that have been and will be reviewed. The survey is conducted in 10 questions. In questions 1 through 9, each participant will respond to “yes” or “no” answers. After each question, the participants are asked to elaborate on their answer from their experience of being a student-athlete and the relationship he/she had among their coach. Question 10 refers back to the literature review in the findings of the connection between student-athletes and coaches. This will, therefore, aid in determining how students in the athletics department with a college view their coaches; either as parents or as otherwise.
Participants
Former female and male student-athletes from the SCLSU department of athletics will be the main segment of focus in population target. There were a total of (n=16) participants in this study, aging from the age of 23-31 years of age. 75.0% (n=12) of the participants were male and 25.0% (n=4) were females. In table 1, it shows the results of the participants’ race, gender, and age. 62.5% (n=10) were African- American, 31.25% (n=5) were Caucasian, and 6.25% (n=1) were mixed between African-American and Caucasian participants. 6.25% (n=1) ages 26 and 31 years old. There were 12.5% (n=2) out the ages of 23, 28, 29, and 30 years old. And 18.75% (n=3) of ages 25 and 27 years old. The target for the participants in this study is to get at least 15 male or female student-athletes. The study is to gain the perception of how the former student-athletes view their coaches.
Research questions
RQ1: Did you grow up in a single parent or single guardian household? Can you elaborate on your home situation?
RQ2: Before you started college, did you have any parent, sibling, or role model close to you, who attended college? Can you elaborate on how that individual made an impact on your decision in going to college?
RQ3: Would you consider your position coach or head coach as a father or mother figure when you attended college? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
RQ4: While attending college, would you say your position or head coach helped you become a role model among your peers? If you answer yes, can you give one or more examples of how your coach helped you?
RQ5: Would you view your position or head coach as an educator? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
RQ6: Did any of your values or morals change while attending college? If you answer yes, can you give one or more examples?
RQ7: Did you gain any values that were worth keeping for the rest of your life from your coaches during the time at your college? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
RQ8: Did your coach influence have an impact on the way you live your life today? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
RQ9: If the same coaching staff is still at the college you attended; would you send your child to learn from the same coaching staff? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
RQ10: What would you say are the main roles that coaches are responsible to build on an effective relationship with student-athletes?
Results
Table 1, shows the results of the participant’s profile of their gender, race, and age during the survey.
Table 1
Participants’ Gender, race, and Age
| n=Participant | Gender | Race | Age |
| 1 | Male | African-American | 29 |
| 2 | Male | African-American | 29 |
| 3 | Male | Caucasian | 23 |
| 4 | Female | Mix | 28 |
| 5 | Female | African-American | 28 |
| 6 | Male | Caucasian | 26 |
| 7 | Male | Caucasian | 27 |
| 8 | Male | African-American | 30 |
| 9 | Male | African-American | 25 |
| 10 | Male | African-American | 25 |
| 11 | Female | African-American | 25 |
| 12 | Male | African-American | 31 |
| 13 | Female | Caucasian | 23 |
| 14 | Male | African-American | 30 |
| 15 | Male | African-American | 27 |
| 16 | Male | Caucasian | 27 |
Research Question (RQ) 1: Did you grow up in a single parent or single guardian household? Can you elaborate on your home situation?
In this sample, 18.75.0% (n=3) said “yes” while the other participants 81.25% (n=16) indicated “no” when they answered question 1.
RQ2: Before you started college, did you have any parent, sibling, or role model close to you, who attended college? Can you elaborate on how that individual made an impact on your decision in going to college?
In this sample, 81.25% (n=16) indicated “yes” and 18.75% (n=3) answered “no” when they responded to question 2.
RQ3: Would you consider your position coach or head coach as a father or mother figure when you attended college? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
In this sample, 56.25% (n=9) responded “yes” 43.75% (n=7) indicated “no” in responding to question 3.
RQ4: While attending college, would you say your position or head coach helped you become a role model among your peers? If you answer yes, can you give one or more examples of how your coach helped you?
In this sample, shows 62.5% (n=10) answered “yes” and the other participants of 37.5% (n=6) responded to “no” to question 4.
RQ5: Would you view your position or head coach as an educator? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
In this sample, shows 100.0% (n=16) was the only sample that all the participants responded “yes” to question 5.
RQ6: Did any of your values or morals change while attending college? If you answer yes, can you give one or more examples?
In this sample, 62.5% (n=10) indicated “yes” while the other 37.5% responded to “no” in question 6.
RQ7: Did you gain any values that were worth keeping for the rest of your life from your coaches during the time at your college? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
In this sample, 75.0% (n=12) indicated “yes” and 25.0% (n=4) responded to “no” to question 7.
RQ8: Did your coach influence have an impact on the way you live your life today? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
In this sample, the result shows 81.25% (n=13) responded to “yes” and 18.75% (n=3) indicated “no” to question 8.
RQ9: If the same coaching staff is still at the college you attended; would you send your child to learn from the same coaching staff? Can you please elaborate on your answer?
In this sample, 62.5% (n=10) indicated “yes” and 37.5% (n=6) responded “no” to question 9.
RQ10: What would you say are the main roles that coaches are responsible for to build an effective relationship with student-athletes?
Table 2
Perception of Image of Coach (Sample Size n=16)
| Roles for Coaches | Total number of significant word of each participant’s responses |
| Parent | n=4 |
| Leader | n=3 |
| Create a Safe Environment | n=3 |
| Educator | n=6 |
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Result and its analysis
The purpose of this whole study was to get an idea of how collegiate student-athletes view their coaches. The majority of the student-athletes are entering a new environment when they enter college. Many student-athletes tend to stop playing colligate sports because they feel they might not be important to the team, the coaches didn’t care for them at all or just focus on their education. In the research analysis, out of 16 respondents, 6 treat their coaches as educators while 4 treat them as a Parental figure. 3 respondents believe that they play a key role in acting as a catalyst for a Safe environment whereas 3 respondents believe that they are leaders. Thus, student-athletes mostly see their Coach as Educator.
Limitation
- The methodology had many limitations to the study being used during this research. The sample size could have been more expanded in the research. Instead of just focusing on one school, it could have expanded the surveys within the southeast region of the athletic department at universities across the United States.
- The participants of the survey could have also been represented differently in a narrower range to more accurate results. For example, what sport did they participant during their time, was their coach a male or female coach, or how long did you participant in collegiate athletics? This would have resulted in defining more on how to surrogate between the student-athletes and coaches in each sport. Also, if this was a larger sample size, the survey could have benefited the research more by diversity. This would have given more in-depth results from the groups focusing on the perception of coaches.
- The result may bring a different result in case sample size is increased as the perception of student-athletes differ by a slight margin in case of a huge sample these results may differ.
- This study is not exhaustive.
Future Research
Some research that can be conducted similar to this is how the coaches’ gender plays a role among student-athletes’ perception as a parent. Many male student-athletes tend not to listen to female coaches because female coaches or student-athletes have a different perception from male coaches or student-athletes in each sport. For example, in football, many male student-athletes are view as a tough and aggressive player. If a female were to participate in playing football at the colligate level, she would be a challenge in their sexual orientation, gender among her female peers, and how to define if she is masculine or feminine. Or can conduct how a coaches’ sexual orientation plays a role in the student-athletes’ surrogate their coach as a parent.
Conclusion
As per the above research, most of the student-athletes have high regard for their coach and see their coaches with the utmost respect but only 25 percent of the total athlete trainees found them close to their parental figure whereas most of the trainees remarked them as an Educator.
Thus, this study expresses the idea that a coach is one of the decisive factors in the life of a student and acts as a Mentor. The whole training mechanism is dynamic athlete trainees now believe that although motivator and stress-healer, a coach is close to parents our vision doesn’t treat the the same.
This research has been a turning point for me as during my colligate level I used to see my Coaches as my parents at college but this study brought a new relative trend.
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