The ability of recreational sport departments to offer quality programming and services often depends on whether they are able to employ and retain quality student employees. These student employees are critical in the performance of tasks associated with the daily operations connected with recreation programs. This study examined the role of perceived organizational support (POS) on student employee attitudes. It is beneficial for university recreational sport departments, specifically directors, to be cognizant of the role POS can play in the work experience of student employees. The relationships between POS and commitment (affective, AC and normative, NC) and satisfaction were investigated for 152 student employees of a campus recreation center. No significant differences in students' perceptions of POS were found based on gender, tenure, or type of supervision (student staff member, professional staff member, or graduate administrative assistant). However, the regression equations with POS and AC, POS and NC, and POS and satisfaction were all significant, explaining 46.2%, 39%, and 53.3% of the variance, respectively. The results of this study of the relationship between POS and commitment mirror several others from the field of industrial and organizational psychology, and it can be demonstrated that student employees reciprocate favorable treatment when they trust that their department will reward them in return. Future studies should focus on some of the particular antecedents of POS (e.g., supervisory support, participation in decision making, organizational justice, trust, and careerist orientation), as well as other possible outcomes of POS, and might provide more depth in understanding exchange relationships for student employees of recreational sports departments.

No abstract

Around the world, there is a growing movement to improve sport coaching education. In recent years, the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) has begun to address questions related to the education, training and development of sport coaches through the publication of the International Sport Coaching Framework (ISCF) and the Sport Coaching Bachelor Degree Standards (SCBDS). In the United States, because sport coaches can undertake a wide variety of coaching-related educational opportunities, the United States Olympic Committee has taken steps to address the disparity in training through the publishing of the Quality Coaching Framework (QCF). All of these documents provide valuable information about the best principles for educating and training sport coaches. While principles, standards and theories provide valuable overarching information about how to organize education, specific information about what topics should actually be taught in education programs is still lacking. In this manuscript, utilizing principles of participation versus performance sport and professional knowledge, intra- and interpersonal skills, information about what and when to teach important sport coaching topics is proposed.

No abstract