The efficacy of youth football coach - perception of players and coaches of different age groups of Portuguese football

• Published in: Journal of Physical Education and Sport Vol. 14; no. 1; p. 66
• Main Authors: Duarte, Daniel Fernando Teixeira Da Silva, Garganta, Júlio, Fonseca, António Manuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pitesti Universitatea din Pitesti 01.03.2014
• Subjects: Age; Age Groups; Athletes; Athletic Coaches; Behavior; Coaches & managers; Communication Skills; Data Analysis; Information Sources; Motivation; Perceptions; Personality; Studies; Success; Teaching Methods; Team Sports; Valuation
• ISSN: 2247-8051; 2247-806X
• DOI: 10.7752/jpes.2014.01011

This study aims to understand the perceptions of youth football players and coaches, about the importance of the efficacy factors on the success of the coach. The translated and adapted version of the Coaching Efficacy Scale (CES) of Feltz et al. (1999), the CESp (Duarte, Garganta and Fonseca, 2012), was applied to a sample of 266 Portuguese football players and 22 coaches, participants on district championships in the Porto Football Association, one of the most representatives of Portugal. Using the CESp, players and coaches assessed the importance assumed by four coach's efficacy factors (i.e., motivation, strategy, technique and character) in coach success. The data analysis showed that: 1) the motivation and character are the most valued factors by players and coaches, with the same rank order; 2) there're significant differences in the importance attributed by the coaches to the motivation and strategy factors and the behaviors they adopt in practice; 3) there're significant differences between the efficacy factors ranking made by different age group players (i.e., Under 15, Under 17 and Under 19); 4) there was a positive and consistent relationship between the players' evaluation of the efficacy factors' importance and their perceptions about the behaviors adopted by their best coaches. It seems that the conclusions of this study can help to improve the coaching process, especially in what concerns to differentiate the emphasis to the efficacy factors across different age groups, for instance, considering the athletes expectations, one of the key variables in the coaches' success. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]