Youth Sport Coaching Efficacy: Coach Education Level as a Predictor of Coaching Efficacy

Authors

Geoffrey V. Weller, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

Fall 12-16-2013

Citation

Weller, G. V. (2013). Youth sport coaching efficacy: coach education level as a predictor of coaching efficacy. (Masters thesis). University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE.

Comments

A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts, Major: Educational Administration, Under the Supervision of Professor Debra Mullen. Lincoln, Nebraska: December, 2013

Copyright (c) 2013 Geoffrey Vinson Weller

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to evaluate coaches’ level of education as a predictor of their coaching efficacy level. The study tested ten hypotheses. Two for each of the five types of coaching efficacy identified: (1) Coaches with a higher level of education will not exhibit a higher level of coaching efficacy and (2) male coaches will not exhibit a higher level of coaching efficacy than similarly educated female coaches. Individuals (N=1669) coaching teams within the YMCA of Lincoln, NE Youth Sports Branch were emailed a link to an online survey developed using Qualtrics software. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a linear regression analysis were run for each hypothesis on all five identified levels of coaching efficacy. Results showed that education level alone could not be used as a predictor of coaching efficacy. Only when the interaction of coach gender with coach education level is considered, a significant difference in game strategy efficacy and physical conditioning efficacy is observed between similarly educated male and female coaches. Results suggest that in order for female coaches to increase their coaching efficacy levels to that of their similarly educated male counter-parts, they must be sought out, encouraged, and given the opportunity to gain coaching experience. Coaching education programs to raise self-efficacy of coaches should also be created or modified with the goal of targeting female coaches and increasing their understanding of typical male approaches to coaching.

Adviser: Debra Mullen