Perceived Hindrances Experienced by Sport Coaches in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine perceived hindrances encountered by sport coaches in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. A total of 224 sport coaches (122 males and 102 females) were purposively recruited to participate in this study. An exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the factor structure of the Perceived Hindrance Scale. The results of this study indicated the following as major hindrances encountered by sport coaches: “Lack of support systems for women players”, “Lack of support for women coaches from superiors”, “Low salary”, “Lack of opportunities for promotion”, “Difficulties with parents/spectators” and “Lack of job security”. Recommendations on strategies to overcome these perceived hindrances are discussed.

Sport Coaches Learn to Coach in Hong Kong

“…Specifically, in Hong Kong, limited activ- Lacking resources has been mentioned as a major challenge experienced by sport coaches (Baltzell et al, 2014;Chroni, Diakaki, Perkos, Hassandra, & Schoen, 2013;Fortuin & Coopoo, 2012;Kubayi, Coopoo, & Morris-Eyton, 2015). This finding was observed in the present study.…”

Development and initial validation of an instrument to assess stressors among South African sports coaches

“…Following this stage of the analyses, 26 items were retained. Although two items (interference from management regarding coaching decisions, job insecurity) fell below the benchmark of .50, they were retained because they were reported as important stressors that are experienced by sports coaches within the South African context (see Kubayi et al, 2015;Surujlal & Nguyen, 2009).…”

“…The stressors that are included in this subscale relate to poor results, financial incentives being dependent on results, pressure to win, and performance being judged on athletes' results. Among the performance stressors, pressure to win is an essential stressor among South African sports coaches (see Surujlal & Nguyen, 2009;Kubayi et al, 2015). Although pressure to win may be self-imposed, researchers have highlighted that such pressure usually stems from club owners and /or managers within the South African context (Kubayi et al, 2015).…”

“…Among the performance stressors, pressure to win is an essential stressor among South African sports coaches (see Surujlal & Nguyen, 2009;Kubayi et al, 2015). Although pressure to win may be self-imposed, researchers have highlighted that such pressure usually stems from club owners and /or managers within the South African context (Kubayi et al, 2015). These findings and those presented in a previous study highlight the need for coaches to work together with athletes (Staff, Didymus, & Backhouse, 2017) and those in management positions to minimise stressors and to cope with those that are unavoidable.…”

“…Sports coaches are also required to fulfil a variety of duties including that of a motivator, administrator, loco parentis, mental skills coach, disciplinarian, recruiter, technician, planner, leader, communicator, and organiser (Surujlal & Nguyen, 2009). Given these multiple roles and the knowledge that many coaches' employment contracts are short (Fletcher & Scott, 2010) and jobs are often insecure (Olusoga, Butt, Hays, & Maynard, 2009), coaches may encounter high levels of perceived stress (Kubayi, Coopoo, & Morris-Eyton, 2015). As a result, coaches are at risk of experiencing maladaptive outcomes, including decreased immune system function (cf.…”