How do coaches create positive developmental experiences for scholastic athletes?

Developing strong relationships and intentionally teaching life skills make the difference

Researchers from Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports (ISYS) have discovered that scholastic athletes report more beneficial youth development experiences when their coaches place greater emphasis on the intentional development of life skills and are skilled at developing strong coach-athlete relationships.

"A common fallacy about youth sport is that many coaches and parents believe that by simply playing a sport, student-athletes will experience positive developmental gains. Our data suggests that if coaches seek to develop life skills such as initiative, self-identity, and teamwork, then coaches must be intentional in their efforts to facilitate the learning of these life skills. It also shows that coaches must know how to foster strong coach-athlete relationships," reports ISYS Director and first author of the study Dr. Dan Gould.

The study, conducted by Gould and co-author Dr. Sarah Carson (coordinator of the coaching education program at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA), surveyed 297 scholastic athletes and appeared in the International Journal of Coaching Science. The student-athletes completed the Youth Experiences Scale-2, which measures both positive youth developmental experiences (e.g., learning teamwork and developing social skills) as well as negative developmental experiences (e.g., feeling pressure to do something felt to be morally wrong). The student-athletes also completed a measure of their coaches' behaviors and actions. The results showed that coaching behaviors such as establishing rapport with athletes, helping athletes develop competitive strategies, and an intentional emphasis on life skill development were positively associated with greater levels of youth identity development, initiative, teamwork, and social skills.

In contrast, reports of more negative coach-athlete rapport were associated with sport experiences that were more variable, with some positive and negative youth development experiences resulting. "It is possible that negative coach-athlete rapport interferes with the development of some life skills more than others" Gould reports.

"Our recommendation, therefore, is that scholastic coaches should receive training in how to be more intentional in coaching life skills, particularly, being taught to focus on those behaviors associated with positive life skills development. Additionally, it should be understood that positive coach-athlete relationships may act as a buffer to perceptions of negative sport experiences such as stress, negative peer influence, and negative adult behaviors" remarked Gould.

Posted Oct 6, 2011

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