Ian Reade - SRG 2006
University of Alberta
Français
Coaches are arguably the most influential factor in the provision of quality sport experiences (Holt, 2008) at all levels of sport, and contribute substantially to the adherence of sport participants to sport. The research is quite conclusive that coaching experience is a major contributor to the process of developing excellent coaches such that the more experience a coach has, the more likely they are to be competent (Gilbert & Trudel, 2005; Irwin, Hanton, & Kerwin, D., 2004).
The program of research aims for a better understanding of why experienced coaches quit and what if anything sport organizations can do to retain these coaches. The research is based on previous research conducted in various types of work organizations (Kelloway & Day, 2005; Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993) that supports our hypothesis that factors in the work environment (including workload, job content, job control, support, pressure to win) are associated with the coaches’ intent to stay or leave their job.
- What factors are involved in the coaches’ decisions to stay or quit?
- Are some factors more influential in predicting that a coach is about to quit?
- Which factors, if any, can be controlled by the employer sport organization?
- When coaches quit, do they continue to contribute to sport?
- Does the retention problem vary by sport, gender, age of athlete, or other factor?
Three studies will be conducted. The first study (personal interviews with experienced coaches) will result in the development of an instrument to assess the factors that influence coaches to stay or leave their coaching positions. The second study will assess a large sample of experienced coaches to measure their intentions to stay or quit, and the third study will follow-up with the same group of coaches to determine whether their intentions have changed over time.
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