The Role of the Coach in Facilitating Positive Youth Development: Moving from

Theory to Practice.

Stewart A. Vella, Lindsay G. Oades, and Trevor P. Crowe

School of Psychology

University of Wollongong

Northfields Avenue

Wollongong, NSW, 2522

Contact: Stewart A. Vella

[email protected]

Statement from the researchers:

This manuscript is original research that has been prepared for submission to the

Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. It has not been published elsewhere, and has

not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere.

Suggested running head: Coaching and positive youth development.

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The Role of the Coach in Facilitating Positive Youth Development: Moving from

Theory to Practice.

Abstract

Sport is suggested as a necessary and sufficient path for positive youth development.

However, how this translates into the reality of coaching practice is not understood.

This research investigated whether coaching practitioners desire outcomes for their

adolescent athletes that reach beyond on-field success, and incorporate constructs that

are associated with positive youth development. Twenty-two participation coaches for

adolescent athletes participated in semi-structured interviews. Results show that

coaches see themselves as responsible for facilitating eight interrelated and

interdependent themes that are consistent with the positive youth development

literature; competence, confidence, connection, character, life skills, climate, positive

affect and positive psychological capacities.

Introduction

Psychological theories and treatment programs concerning adolescents have

been replete with deficit-based explanations for sub-optimal development (Damon,

2004). Positive youth development focuses on the positive aspects of human

development, holding that all youth have innate strengths and resources upon which

they can build. The underlying assumption of positive youth development is that

building upon naturally occurring resources is more effective than addressing the

deficits of human functioning. The hope is that the resultant youth will be safe,

healthy, happy, moral, fully engaged in life, and valuable contributors to society,

rather than simply deficit-free (Peterson, 2004). Evaluations of such programs have

concluded that they are successful in promoting interpersonal skills, quality of peer

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and adult relationships, self-control, problem-solving, cognitive competencies, self-

efficacy, commitment to schooling, and academic achievement (Catalano, Berglund,

Ryan, Lonczak & Hawkins, 2004). Accordingly, the ‘Five Cs’ of competence,

confidence, connection, character and caring have commonly been used in the

literature to conceptualise the developmental areas of focus for programs of positive

youth development (Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2003; Jelicic, Bobek, Phelps, Lerner &

Lerner, 2007).

Given that youths spend up to half of their waking hours engaging in leisure

activities (Larson & Verma, 1999), organised leisure activities have been promoted as

a necessary and sufficient path to positive youth development (Larson, 2000). In

particular, sport has been proposed as the most popular and time-consuming leisure

activity for youth (Hansen & Larson, 2007). It is also frequently suggested in the

popular media and in research that youth sport programs can be used to foster positive

development and to build character (Hansen, Larson & Dworkin, 2003). More

specifically, youth sport participation is associated with many general indicators of

development, including identity development, personal exploration, initiative,

improved cognitive and physical skills, cultivating social connections, teamwork, and

social skills (Hansen et al., 2003). Sport has already been the subject of asset-building

programs with the coaching of life-skills in sporting contexts already well established

(Gould & Carson, 2008; Gould, Collins, Lauer & Chung, 2007).

Research emphasises that coaches have a critical role in conducting

developmentally appropriate programs that focus on the enhancement of strengths and

personal resources (Cote & Gilbert, 2009; Fraser-Thomas, Cote & Deakin, 2009).

Developmental research also consistently highlights the impact of supportive

relationships with adults and role models as essential in bringing about positive

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developmental outcomes (e.g. Benson, Scales, Hamilton & Sesma, 2006). Further,

Peterson (2004) concluded that while developmental programs such as sports have the

potential to drive positive youth development, it is the personal characteristics of

group leaders that are the essential ingredient for the success of all youth development

programs.

While many conceptualisations of coaching have specified athlete

psychosocial growth and development as basic components of effective practice

(Horn, 2008), Cote and Gilbert (2009) have formalised the coaches’ responsibility for

positive youth development. They have defined coaching effectiveness as “the

consistent application of integrated professional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal

knowledge to improve athletes’ competence, confidence, connection and character”

(p.316). These athlete outcomes have been drawn directly from the conceptualisation

of positive youth development and altered to reflect the sporting context. Studies in

support of this conceptualisation of the coaches’ role have shown that providing

training and support to youth sport coaches results in positive youth development (e.g.

Smoll, Smith, Barnett & Everett, 2003).

While the theory is sound, how it translates into the messy reality of coaching

practice is far from understood. Lofty goals such as positive youth development may

be ‘fine in theory’, but are criticised by coaches as being divorced from reality

(Cushion, Armour & Jones, 2003). The attainment of goals such as increasing the self

esteem or life skills of youth sport participants are argued to be unmeasurable in

practice, leaving the realisation of such goals to be measured only through the relative

success of the athletes for whom the coaches are responsible (Jones & Wallace,

2005). The result is an inherent and unbridgeable gap that exists between the goals

that motivate coaches to act and their capacity to achieve all of these goals in practice.

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In fact, the coaching process is characterised by an irremovable element of ambiguity

over what everyone is trying to do, why they are trying to do it, and whether they can

achieve it (Jones & Wallace, 2005). The resultant picture of coaching practice is one

of an uncertain, improvised and messy reality where positive youth development may

be a utopian and unattainable goal (Cushion, Armour & Jones, 2006; Jones &

Wallace, 2005).

Given this purported theory-practice gap, a means exists for investigating the

practical role and goals of coaching practitioners. Accordingly, the purpose of the

present study was to build upon the theoretical understanding that coaches should be

responsible for positive youth development. In particular, this study aimed to

understand how this theoretical responsibility correlates with the goals of practitioners

working in the messy reality of coaching practice. The research question investigated

whether coaching practitioners desire outcomes for their adolescent athletes that reach

beyond on-field success, and incorporate constructs that are typically associated with

positive youth development. In order to do this, semi-structured interviews were used

to explore coaching practitioners’ understanding of their leadership role, and the

outcomes that they desire for their athletes.

Method

Participants

Twenty two coaches were interviewed for this study. All coaches were

categorised as participation coaches for adolescents participating in team sports.

Participation coaching is categorised by an emphasis that is not on competition or

performance, and where participants are less intensively engaged with the sport. The

objectives of participation coaches are characterised by short-term goals, enjoyment,

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and health-related outcomes (Cote & Gilbert, 2009). Each coach spent between two

and six hours of training with the athletes each week, and typically had no more than

one competitive setting per week. Of the participants, 16 were male (73%), and 6

were female (27%). Coaches had a mean age of 43.14 years (SD = 15.74), and had a

mean of 14.09 years of coaching experience (SD = 9.44). Coaches represented the

sports of soccer (N = 10), netball (N = 4), softball (N = 3), cricket (N = 4) and

basketball (N = 1). There were 11 coaches of male-only teams, and 11 coaches of

female-only teams. All coaches were responsible for athletes between the ages of 11

and 19 years. All but two coaches had obtained the minimal relevant accreditation

from a national sporting body. Seven coaches had achieved higher than the minimal

coaching accreditation, but all were short of the highest relevant accreditations in their

sport. Eight of the coaches were also employed as teachers.

Procedure

In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the practical role and goals of

coaching practitioners a qualitative methodology was used. Qualitative methodologies

have been promoted in coaching research in order to bring structure, understanding

and a unified picture of phenomena that result from a complex reality (Cote, Salmela,

Trudel, Baria & Russell, 1993; Poczwardowski, Barott & Jowett, 2006). Semi-

structured interviews were used that consisted of seven open-ended questions

designed to elicit open-ended responses. These seven questions aimed to focus the

interview on athlete outcomes and were refined following feedback from 3 pilot

interviews using high school sports coaches.

Participants were contacted through local sporting clubs, and in one case, a

coach was contacted through the local high school. Soccer, cricket, netball and

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softball clubs were all contacted to participate as these represented a cross-section of

male and female athletes, as well as male and female coaches. After first contact was

made with the coach an initial phone conversation was used to give an explanation of

the research process and receive verbal consent for participation in the study, and to

establish a time and place for the face-to-face interview.

Each participant gave written consent to participate in the recorded interview.

Following this process, each participant completed a ‘coach details sheet’ (Basic

descriptive information regarding the participants’ age, sex, occupation, current sport,

coaching experience and coaching qualifications). Each interview was conducted by

one of the researchers (SV) with training in qualitative research design and

methodology, as well as a strong knowledge of the positive youth development and

coaching areas. This researcher was also familiar with each sport, and is a current

coaching practitioner. Interviews lasted between 45 and 75 minutes. Interviews were

transcribed verbatim for data analysis.

Instruments

In-depth interviews

A semi-structured interviewed guide was developed according to the

procedure outlined above. This resulted in the articulation of seven open-ended

questions:

1. Can you define the term leadership for me?

2. (In your role as a coach) In what ways do you see yourself as a leader?

3. What outcomes do you desire for your athletes as a result of your coaching?

4. What outcomes do you desire for your team as a result of your coaching?

5. Which outcome do you see as the most important?

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 6. Do you have a coaching philosophy?

7. What knowledge do you need in order to bring about these outcomes

successfully?

The emphasis of the interview, including a large percentage of the total time,

was given to questions three, four and five. This was reflective of the aims and

purposes of this research. In order to gain rich and detailed answers, the interviewer

used probing questioning and clarification throughout the interview. Coaches were

often asked to expand upon, clarify, or define the outcomes that they were

articulating. Accordingly, positive youth development, life-skills, or similar phrases

were not used prior to, or during, the interview.

Data Analysis

Given that the positive youth development literature typically articulates

developmental themes (eg Benson, 1997; Jelicic et al., 2007), and that Cote & Gilbert

(2009) also engaged a thematic approach when applying the positive youth

development literature to sports coaching, thematic analysis was used to analyse the

verbatim transcripts. In this case, a ‘theoretical’ thematic analysis was used to fit with

the research question. Theoretical thematic analysis is driven by a theoretical interest

(in this case the purported theoretical responsibility of the coach to deliver positive

youth development), and allows a more detailed analysis of this one aspect of the data

(Braun & Clarke, 2006).

Analysis followed the five steps articulated by Braun and Clarke (2006). (1)

Familiarisation of data by reading transcripts and also looking for potential errors in

transcription. (2) Generating initial codes. Codes represent both semantic and latent

content of the data and are the most basic element of the raw data that can be assessed

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in a meaningful way. For example, the statement ‘Camaraderie is the most important

thing within the team. I have to try to make them enjoy each others company… and

hang out with each other afterwards’ generated two codes; camaraderie and social

cohesion. Codes are different from themes as themes are broader units of analysis that

unify multiple aspects of the raw data. A theme captures something important about

the data and represents some level of patterned response or meaning within the data

set (Braun & Clarke, 2006). In this case, both camaraderie and social cohesion belong

to a broader theme of ‘social connection’. (3) Codes were placed in a-priori themes of

positive youth development as articulated by Jelicic et al. (2007) and as applied to

coaching effectiveness by Cote and Gilbert (2009). These a-priori themes were

competence, confidence, connection and character. Codes that did not fit any of these

themes were searched, and organised into new themes. Each code was placed into a

theme, while some codes were placed into two separate themes. As no data set is

without irregularities, it is common for codes to be placed into multiple themes. A list

of codes and themes can be found in Table 1. (4) Extracts for each code were taken

from the data and collated into themes to ensure that the data within themes was

coherent and related, as well as identifiably distinct from other themes. This process

was performed individually by two researchers to ensure that each code was placed

into an appropriate theme. Differences were reconciled by mutual agreement. (5)

Following discussion between the researchers in stage 4 regarding the content of the

themes, the essence of each theme was articulated, and a description given. The

description and supporting quotes for each theme are given in the results section.

Results

When considering the coaches’ desired outcomes for athletes as a result of

their coaching, a total of 69 codes were gathered from the raw data. These can be seen

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in Table 1. Data saturation had occurred after 17 participants. In total, these codes

represented eight distinct themes. Each code was placed into a theme, and 8 codes

were placed into two separate themes as these codes were consistent with the

description and patterned response of more than one theme. For example, the code

‘interpersonal skills’ was placed into both the ‘social connection’ theme and the ‘life

skills’ theme. 41 codes (53%) were placed into the a-priori themes of competence (N

= 14), confidence (N = 5), connection (N = 5) and character (N = 17). 35 codes (47%)

were placed into an additional four themes; life skills (N = 13), climate (N = 8),

positive affect (N = 10), and positive psychological capacities (N = 4). Each of the

four additional themes is highly connected with the positive youth development and

positive psychology literature. Table 1 shows the 69 separate codes placed into the

eight distinct themes.

Competence

The theme of competence was the most readily identified by the coaches and

was seen as the most basic requirement. All coaches saw it as their role to transfer the

skills and knowledge of the game to the athletes. While the basic skill sets mentioned

differed by sport, each coach mentioned a range of technical, tactical and performance

related skills. There were also large within sport variations by age, sex and level of

athletes.

‘Depending on their skill level, you work on various technical skills. It also

depends on whether you are dealing with girls or boys, and what sport you are also

dealing with. For example, I coach the girls 16s, under 16s. They are all 15 and 16

year olds, but they are at a skill level equivalent to a lot of boys that are under 10. So

basically, if I have the under 10s this is how I would be coaching the girls under 16s’.

Coach 9

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 A progressive and systematic approach to skill development was the focus of

most coaches. Broadly, this progression moved from physiological outcomes such as

strength, fitness and agility, to sport specific technical skills such as throwing, kicking

and catching technique, to tactical skills such as basic team play, team formations and

set piece moves, through to performance skills such as decision-making, game

awareness, and communication.

‘In terms of the building blocks, you have to start with physiology. Strength,

fitness, before technical ability. Then, for soccer, it has to be game awareness. You

want to teach them to be able to execute with a good technique, but you also need to

teach them to think properly and to make good decisions while they are playing’.

Coach 1.

Very few of the coaches saw that winning and success were appropriate

outcomes for this coaching context. None of the coaches prioritised success, and no

coach mentioned success as part of their coaching philosophy. When success was

mentioned by coaches, it was in the context of an improvement in technical, tactical

and performance skills. Success was also mentioned in the context of positive affect,

and related to a feeling of achievement, fun and happiness.

‘You want to see them successful, or as successful as they can be. Performing

well is probably more a measure of whether you are getting all of those other things

right like the technical aspect of the game. And let’s face it, when they win they are all

having more fun, and that is what I want’. Coach 13

A knowledge and love of the game were also seen as primary responsibilities

of the coach. Knowledge of the game most often included the knowledge of rules and

the history of the game. The development of pre-game and game-related

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psychological techniques of visualisation and concentration were also desired. The

coaches’ also saw it as their role to promote physical activity to their athletes.

Confidence

Confidence was articulated in many and varied ways, including confidence,

self-esteem, self-worth, self-belief and self-respect. Despite the differing definitions

of these terms, the outcome of confidence was manifested in two main contexts.

Firstly, coaches articulated a sport-specific self-efficacy. This type of confidence had

as it’s emphasis a belief that they were competent athletes and that they had the ability

to perform the skills needed to be competitive.

‘You have really got to give them self-confidence. When they go out onto the

field they don’t have mum or dad, or coach, there to tell them that they can do it. They

have to have the confidence to be able to do it out on the field by themselves, that is so

important’. Coach 7

Secondly, confidence was more often talked about as an overall sense of

positive self-worth. Such an understanding was articulated by all coaches in some

form. Some coaches talked about self-respect and self-belief, while others talked

about self-esteem and self-worth. However, they all shared the core assumption that

the coach is responsible for an athlete’s overall sense of positive self worth.

‘Self esteem is important. Having a confidence in yourself and that you

deserve to be part of the group, and that the group accepts you as part of that group.

Coach 16

‘They have to think that they are important and that someone cares. In a lot of

cases sometimes you have kids that are only sent to you because you are a cheap way

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to baby sit. But then they get someone that actually cares about them, and really does

care about what they do, how they are playing and what they are doing’. Coach 17

The majority of coaches saw that this responsibility extends to confidence in

other areas of life, such as their interpersonal and social skills.

‘In that time I can see the level of belief in themselves; you can see the ones

that aren’t really confident. That they don’t feel they are the strongest in the team. So

then I start to target those players and really give them extra confidence and be

probably more complementary to them about the great things they are doing. It’s

usually specific to netball but you can see it in the different things you ask them to do.

Often girls like that can be not as confident out in their social life or be a little bit shy.

That can actually change when they see that we are all in this together’. Coach 19

Connection

The core of this theme is the development and maintenance of quality positive

friendships. The focus of most coaches was on the friendships between athletes within

the same team.

‘Camaraderie is the most important thing within the team. I have to try to

make them enjoy each others company so that they want to play for each other as well

and hang out with each other afterwards. Because, in the end, it’s not about soccer,

it’s about making friends’. Coach 3

‘That they all get on well together is important. I like to see the team socialise

outside of netball. It’s not something I can set up as a coach, but you know you are

really getting there once the girls start organising things’. Coach 19

Further, there was also an emphasis placed on the skills needed to develop

those friendships, and the ability to maintain friendships over time. Coaches saw it as

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their role to equip the players with the skills needed to engage with peers, and to

encourage that engagement.

‘I think down the track you stop playing a sport but the people you meet along

the way are important. They last a life time in a lot of cases. It is my role to help that

along’. Coach 17

‘It is about knowing themselves and knowing what they want to achieve and

giving them the tools to achieve it. Often it only requires some interpersonal skills

that they might need just to be more part of the team and develop those friendships’.

Coach 16

Character

Outcomes of character were the most easily recognised and most often

articulated outcomes. These outcomes centred around the development of moral,

respectful and pro-social behaviours, as well as desirable character traits such as

honesty, loyalty, responsibility and self-control. There was a strong emphasis placed

on sporting behaviours, as well as an authentic respect for team mates, opposition and

officials. Coaches saw this as within their range of influence and as a construct that

lends itself to purposeful development.

‘It is often less confrontational to do that in a soccer context then it is in a

rest-of-life context, but the benefits of doing it in a soccer context can flow off the

field, and can be used to help shape the players in their general lives. You can be

intentional about that on different levels. In some cases with teams, you might have a

time incorporated into the training sessions to deal with frustration on the field, or

how to lose well. And also dealing with interpersonal issues on the team, you can be

intentional about that. And/or you can deal with the issues as they arise, recognising

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that they are as important, if not more important in some cases, then dealing with the

technical aspects of what is happening in the team. Also as a coach you have the

opportunity to make a lasting difference in the players, one that is carried out off the

field, and often one that lasts for the rest of their lives. Taking those opportunities is

an important part of being a coach’. Coach 1

The strong emphasis placed on the development of sporting behaviours was

articulated by all coaches.

‘When you are dealing with kids you just want them to know to play in the

right spirit. And always play fairly and not to play dirty so to speak’. Coach 9

‘Respect’ provided the basis for a majority of the content of the character

theme. The outcome of respect was articulated as pertaining to team-mates, to

officials, and to the opposition. In most cases, this also transcended sport and the

desired outcome was that youth should learn the value in treating all people with

respect.

‘It’s obviously about making them better people, teaching them how to treat

other people. We try to teach them the concept that if they give respect they will more

than likely get it back. If they want someone to like them, they have to like them and

treat them the same as they want to be treated’. Coach 15

The outcome of character also incorporates the character traits of honesty,

responsibility, maturity, self-control, commitment, loyalty, morality, and

temperament.

Climate

Climate is the accumulated atmosphere that results from interpersonal

interactions and relationships between team members. The focus of this theme was on

15
team morale, team harmony and team cohesion, both social and task, that is created

through positive interpersonal behaviours and a sense of togetherness.

‘I see it as my role to influence their development, but also to influence the

environment, the general team environment. That is the surrounds of the team, it’s

members, and how they interrelate’. Coach 17

Coaches primarily referred to three areas of climate-related outcomes. The

first is team morale. When articulating this construct the coaches were speaking of a

positive expectancy for the future, high levels of motivation in all athletes, and a

desire to be part of the team unit. The second is team harmony. Team harmony is the

interpersonal interactions and feelings between team members. This outcome is

constituted by respect for team members, trust between team members and

encouragement between team members.

‘Ultimately in the most successful team there is going to be trust between all

the participants, they are going to trust one another. Encouragement is really vital

there too. Making sure that they all encourage each other. So I think it really comes

down to if you create that trust between all the people that are part of it then you can

work within it because people don’t feel criticised. They feel empowered actually

because the confidence comes out of that’. Coach 16

Third is team cohesion. Coaches referred to both task cohesion; that all team

members are united in striving for a common goal, and social cohesion; that all team

members are attracted to other group members and to the group as a whole outside of

a sporting context.

‘Team cohesion, definitely. Just within the team, over the years I have been

coaching, I am starting to understand it more. That has helped, but you do notice that

everyone in the team enjoys each others company and there is never an issue with one

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player, and everyone comes up, works, and puts in a good effort. They are all

enjoying themselves and everyone wants everyone else to do well. So everyone

contributes and you can notice the vibe straight away and I think that is really

important’. Coach 5

Lastly, coaches were united in emphasising a climate that reached beyond the

confines of the team. This most often took the form of ‘club spirit’ or a ‘pride in their

association’.

‘I really bang on about the club. I really try to instil in the team how much

playing for your club means to the players. Every one likes to feel like they are part of

a group, I think that you will perform better for each other if you are doing it for the

group, even though the team will be more of a priority then the club. You can use the

club to build that camaraderie’. Coach 13.

Life skills

Life skills were, along with outcomes of character, the most easily articulated

and desired outcomes. This theme included many and varied outcomes that were seen

by the coaches to be useful tools that can be applied to benefit sports performance in

addition to contributing to positive human functioning. Life skills were given a high

priority by every coach.

‘I believe, in the modern day, that life skills can be left behind. Young kids,

today, in a lot of ways, kids sit in a computer room. I am talking about having that

outside of the family, male influence somewhere in their lives. That is all I think I

provide. Someone outside of the family group that mentors them and is able to teach

them the skills that they need to be successful in life’. Coach 15

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 The four core life skills that were mentioned by the coaches were goal setting,

communication skills, leadership skills and interpersonal skills.

‘You don’t just stop there. You teach them to be leaders. You teach them to

think, you teach them to think and to communicate. You teach them to analyse the

situation effectively. And to understand others abilities, and understand others mental

capacities, and strengths and weaknesses, and emotions’. Coach 2

Despite coaches’ view that life skills were of great importance as outcomes,

the constraints of time were readily articulated. Coaches saw that their coaching

context was detrimental to the development of life skills due to an inadequate amount

of time spent in direct contact with the athletes.

‘It’s difficult in two and a half hours a week to do the life skills, or the broader

relational or character type coaching because we don’t see them any more than that,

and we get a very small snapshot of who they are’. Coach 1

Positive affect

Outcomes of positive affect were seen as the single most important outcomes

for athletes. Enjoyment provided the core of this theme, with all coaches emphasising

that the enjoyment of sports participation was their priority outcome. Other

derivatives of this were fun and happiness.

‘Doing non-elite coaching, really, in a lot of ways the enjoyment of the game

and the experience is the ultimate outcome’. Coach 1

‘Happiness is extremely important. If you play sport it is basically something

you want to do, something you like doing, not something you have to do. It’s not like

school work. You’ve got to enjoy it otherwise you won’t do it’. Coach 17

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 Enjoyment was often seen as a result of the other outcomes within the theme.

Positive affect and psychological impetus outcomes were seen as the drivers of

enjoyment. These drivers were a deep sense of satisfaction, motivation, achievement,

security and purpose.

‘It was probably one of my goals as well, to get them to step outside of their

comfort zone and not sail along in life. And to inspire them to achieve something. I

believe that they are all happy because they are achieving something. Enjoyment

comes through a bit of hard work’. Coach 15

‘That they enjoy it. That is really important. And it is important, I think, that

they have personally felt like they have succeeded. So they have some kind of sense of

self accomplishment. They feel like they have done their best and that they have

achieved something’. Coach 11

A majority of coaches also highlighted that retention rate was a measure that

they used to gauge the enjoyment of their athletes over the course of a sporting

season. Specifically, if all athletes signed up again next year, the coach felt entitled to

consider that each athlete had enjoyed themselves.

‘Well it is to enjoy the season. Enjoying the season means enjoying the

elements I have talked about – skills, team morale, all those things. It meant that it

came together. So that’s kind of the end product. If all these bits fall into place and

they are saying ‘I am coming back next year’, that meant I did a good job’. Coach 19

Psychological Capacities

The outcomes of psychological capacities were the least formally articulated

by the coaches. The outcomes of optimism, resilience, perseverance and forgiveness

19
were mostly implicit. Further, optimism and resilience were almost always grouped

together.

‘You have got to get them to go out there with a positive attitude, and feel like

they are going to achieve something. You want the players to believe that they are

going to achieve something. And no matter what happens, you want them to keep on

believing that’. Coach 7

Forgiveness and perseverance were more readily articulated in the data than

optimism and resilience. However, both of these outcomes were expressed, implicitly

or explicitly, by a minority of the coaches.

‘I suppose, perseverance is also really important for kids, so that they don’t

get angry and walk off. That is for training as well. A lot of kids don’t possess that

quality of perseverance. You get the kids who want to quit as soon as something goes

wrong’. Coach 11

‘I know that there are different personalities in our squad and try to make

everybody aware that when you get a group of 15 people together you are not always

going to be best mates. I teach them that they have to be forgiving with the differences

in opinion, or personalities. That forgiveness goes a long way to team harmony’.

Coach 13

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to explore whether or not participation youth

sport coaches view themselves as responsible for positive youth development. Results

show that coaches do view themselves as responsible for positive youth development.

Coaches see themselves as responsible for the development of competence,

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confidence, connection and character as they have been applied to sports coaching by

Cote & Gilbert (2009). An important addition to this conceptualisation was that of life

skill development. Further, coaches extended this responsibility to include the

facilitation of positive affect, positive psychological capacities and a positive team

climate. Consequently, the conclusion is that coaches see themselves as responsible

for the development of a holistic and diverse range of sport-specific and non-sport

specific competencies that are included in the broad notion of positive youth

development.

These results confirm the suggestion that the coaching process is an endeavour

that is moulded by social pressures and constraints, and is not independent of the

social world (Potrac, Brewer, Jones, Armour & Hoff, 2000; Schempp, 1998). Social

and cultural contexts have a large influence on the role, interactions, and power of

sport coaches (Jones, Armour & Potrac, 2002). The fact that it is frequently suggested

in the popular media and in research that youth sport programs can be used to foster

positive development and to build character (Hansen et al., 2003) may have

influenced youth sport coaches to view themselves as holding this responsibility. Such

views are consistent with a pool of theoretical literature that promotes positive youth

development through sport (Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005; Weiss, 2008). More

specifically, it confirms that this important responsibility falls upon the coach (Cote,

Bruner, Erickson, Strachan & Fraser-Thomas, in press; Cote & Gilbert, 2009).

The outcomes of competence, confidence, connection and character are

consistent with the theoretical literature (Cote & Gilbert, 2009; Cote et al., in press),

and need little further explanation here. One minor difference was found in the

addition of a sport-specific self-efficacy component to the confidence theme. Given

that adolescents have the ability to evaluate themselves differently over different

21
contexts, particularly in sports (Cote et al., in press), it is unsurprising that coaches see

themselves as responsible for sport-specific self-efficacy, and in some cases, for self-

efficacy in alternate domains.

The addition of a life skills component represents a shift in focus from purely

sporting outcomes towards a holistic approach to coaching athletes. Similar research

concerning coach leadership also emphasises the development of life skills within a

holistic coaching philosophy (Vallee & Bloom, 2005). The coaching of life skills

through sport has been identified as a major avenue of positive youth development

(Gould et al., 2007; Gould & Carson, 2008). The emphasis of the coaches in this

study was on the development of behavioural and interpersonal skills such as

communication, leadership and social skills. Consistent with the assertion of Danish

et al. (2004), coaches also articulated that life skills pertain to cognitive, behavioural

and intrapersonal skills such as goal-setting, self-control, and self-understanding.

The climate theme is also an addition to the existing literature. In this case,

climate is defined by the psychological atmosphere that is created by the relationships

between group members and their interactions. This is emphasised in the positive

psychology literature through the assertion that leaders are ‘climate engineers’ who

are responsible for establishing a ‘condition where positive emotions predominate

over negative emotions’ (Cameron, 2008; Linley, Woolston & Biswas-Diener, 2009).

Goleman (2000) proposes that coaching is a style of leadership that is focused on the

development of people to improve performance and develop strengths, and thus

culminates in a positive impact on group climate. Upon this assumption it is the

holistic development of athletes that provides the foundation of the positive climate.

Coaches saw that the positive interpersonal connections, driven by interpersonal

22
skills, and a united sense of purpose and achievement, are the core building blocks of

group climate.

The emphasis that was placed on the outcomes of positive affect as the most

important outcomes was expected. Outcomes of positive affect, namely enjoyment,

fun, happiness and achievement, characterise the setting in which these coaches

practice. The participation context for adolescents is defined by the promotion of

positive affect including fun, challenge and enjoyment (Cote, Baker & Abernethy,

2007), which was recognised by all coaches. Positive affect leads people to engage

with their environment, participate in social activities, and makes them more likely to

continue in these activities (Cacioppo, Gardner & Berntson, 1999; Carver & Sheier,

1990). Engineering a sense of purpose, achievement and security for athletes is

common to expert coaches (Vallee & Bloom, 2005), and this research shows that it is

also a goal of participation coaches. Further, intrinsic motivation is highly correlated

with positive developmental outcomes within sport (Weiss, Ebbeck & Horn, 1997).

There is a strong link between positive affect and the personal, social and

psychological resources mentioned by the coaches. Fredrickson’s (2001) ‘Broaden

and Build’ theory of positive emotions states that experience of positive emotions

such as joy, happiness, and satisfaction broaden people’s momentary thought-action

repertoires and broaden their enduring resources, including their psychological

capacities. It is the experience of these positive emotions that is the key in building

the psychological capacities of resilience, optimism and perseverance that are the

desired outcomes of coaches. Such capacities have already been shown to be desirable

outcomes in elite sport (Schinke & Jerome, 2002; Seligman, 1992), but not in

participation sports.

23
 There is a high degree of interdependence between each of the eight themes.

Each theme is not developed in isolation, but is dependent upon the facilitation of

each of the other themes. This interdependence is heavily reflected in the

psychological literature. For example, the development of sporting competence is

associated with increased levels of intrinsic motivation, self esteem, and positive

affect (Weiss et al., 1997), as well as adolescent growth and wellbeing (Deci & Ryan,

2000). In turn, self esteem, intrinsic motivation and positive affect lead to higher

levels of positive psychological capacities such as resilience and optimism

(Fredrickson, 2001). These psychological capacities, along with competencies such as

interpersonal skills, are the foundation and core assets for psychologically healthy,

happy, and engaged youth (Peterson, 2004).

The conclusion to be reached is that coaching practitioners, along with

coaching scholars, see themselves as responsible for positive youth development.

However, coaching practitioners go further than the proposed 4 C’s of effective

coaching (Cote & Gilbert, 2009), 5 C’s of positive youth development (Jelicic et al.,

2007) and life skill development (Gould & Carson, 2008) and include the facilitation

of a positive climate, positive affect and positive psychological capacities. Thus, the

existing literature is not comprehensive enough to capture the entirety of outcomes

desired by youth sport coaches, with coaching practitioners seeing themselves as

responsible for more areas of positive youth development than have been

systematically argued through the literature.

Alarmingly, the evidence-based practice gap is not as large between theory

and coaching practice as it is between theory and coach education. Despite coaches

seeing themselves as primarily responsible for positive youth development, the

content of relevant coaching accreditation courses is lacking in substance (Vargas-

24
Tonsing, 2007). Coaching education typically focuses on performance enhancement,

with an over-emphasis on technical and tactical knowledge, and little attention given

to other important aspects such as youth development (Cushion et al., 2003). This is

most likely to be the reason that coaching practitioners see coach education courses as

irrelevant and unnecessary (Vargas-Tonsing, 2007). Further, the poor quality,

relevancy and applicability of coach education is likely a deterrent for many coaches

as the material remains unchanged from year to year despite the societal shaping of

coaching roles (Wiersma & Sherman, 2005). Not surprisingly then, research suggests

that coaches’ needs are not being met by the current system. Prominent coaching

scholars Lyle (2002) and Cushion and colleagues (2003) both contend that the current

form of coaching education is neither informative nor influential. Youth sport coaches

need to be educated about the important responsibility of positive youth development,

and need training in how to facilitate such outcomes.

Despite the coherent set of outcomes articulated by the coaches in this study, it

remains to be seen how these views translate to actual coaching behaviours. Coaches

in this study did not articulate a focus on winning, success or performance, however,

evidence suggests that these are the only outcomes used by coaching practitioners to

measure the effectiveness of their coaching (Jones & Wallace, 2005). Further, this

research only reflects a participation sports context for adolescents. It remains to be

seen whether the same responsibilities are articulated by performance coaches for

adolescents, for participation coaches for children, for participation coaches for

adults, or even performance coaches for adults. The generalisability of these results is

therefore limited, and exploring these topics in alternate contexts is a necessary

endeavour. However, it is most important to implement education and training to

25
youth sport coaches in order to promote the facilitation of positive youth development

through sport.

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 Table 1
Codes Generated by Coaches and Organised by Theme

Theme Codes

Competence • Strength • Performance skills • Agility • Visualisation

• Fitness • Game awareness • Knowledge of game • Success/winning
• Technical skills • Decision-making • Concentration • Love of the game
• Tactical skills • Communication
Confidence • Sport self-efficacy • Self-esteem/worth • Self-belief • Self-respect
• Self-confidence
Connection • Camaraderie • Respect team mates • Trust team mates • Interpersonal skills
• Friendships • Social Cohesion
Character • Respect team mates • Loyalty • Sportsmanship • Respect officials
• Self-control • Temperament • Pro-social behaviour • Discipline
• Coping with success • Moral values • Spirit of the game • Honesty,
• Coping with failure • Maturity • Respect opposition Responsibility
• Commitment
Life Skills • Communication skills • Self-discipline • Leadership skills • Teamwork,
• Self-control • Time management • Interpersonal • Visualisation
• Coping with success • Goal setting awareness • Self-understanding
• Coping with failure • Interpersonal skills
Climate • Team harmony • Team morale/spirit • Task cohesion • Club spirit
• Encourage teammates • Social cohesion • Team unity • Happy environment
Positive • Enjoyment • Intrinsic motivation • Achievement • Purpose
Affect • Fun • Enriching experience • Security • Joy
• Satisfaction • Happiness
Psychological • Resilience • Perseverance • Forgiveness • Optimism
Capacities

31