Do Student-Athletes in College Look At Their Coaches As Parent Figure - Research Proposal Example

DO ATHLETES IN COLLEGE LOOK AT THEIR COACHES AS PARENT FIGURE? The relationship thatexists between a student athlete and a coach in all levels of the profession is most important as in among other ways; it influences the student’s stress and or motivation levels. With many of research studies in the theme of relationship between a coach and the athletic students in schools focusing on the leadership attributes and the moral and ethical relations, few studies have focused on the acceptable mode of handling the athletes by the coaches. This study is therefore aimed at establishing a qualitative justification through research study on whether the athletic students in colleges perceive their coaches as parents or not. Background information As revealed by a study by Alexander (2008), the levels and nature of relationship influence how the student and coach interact. The technical expertise by the coach influences the emotional stability of the student athlete, the interests and enjoyment, social motivation as well as the competence in the field. Besides, as Alexander argues, high rates of likeability by the student to the coach are associated with lower levels of stress. On the other hand, while one studies the relationship between student athletes and the coaches, one must understand that the coach plays a critical role in linking the student athlete with the school administration. This is because he/she has direct contact with the student team and as such, the coach is responsible for direct leadership of the student(s) and hence the necessity for a good relationship to be embraced (Newcombe, 2007). However, over years, the role of a coach towards student athletes especially at college levels has been questioned over ethical concerns and riles violations. For critics, some coaches are fairly described as greedy in matters of student sexual harassments, demand of higher pays, embracing the spirit of winning at all costs, spending little time with students as well as breaking of signed contracts among others (Miller, 2003). Nevertheless, there are altruistic coaches that strife for improvement of well being of the students as against on interests. They are therefore accorded a higher positive perception as against their peers who are described as self centered and greedy in their ways of interaction with student athletes. However, one question remains; how should student athletes in college perceive their coaches? Should the students perceive the coaches as parents or otherwise? Problem statement With many of research studies in the theme of relationship between a coach and the athletic students in schools focusing on the leadership attributes and the moral and ethical relations, few studies have focused on the acceptable mode of handling the athletes by the coaches. With such perceptions as have been shown to hold in people’s views concerning the way that coach-student relationship should be, there lacks a standard tool on which the interactions and attitudes towards each other should be understood. There exists a gap in literature on whether students perceive their coaches as parent figures or not and what would be the factors that influence such perceptions. The lack of such literature from past studies and related academic materials shows the necessity to have a structured study into the theme in order to shape future studies and understanding of the theme. This study is therefore aimed at establishing a qualitative justification through research study on whether the athletic students in colleges perceive their coaches as parents or not. Problem justification With the increase in abuse and harassment especially of women athletic student in college by mal coaches sexually, a common shift in perception and attitudes in the interactions points towards a deteriorating relationship (Swift, 2013). It is often assumed that a coach would offer tutorial services well and have the main goal in building in his/her professional career while at the same time shaping the athletic career of the student. However, this has not been always the case as selfish interest have been frequently seen to override the interest of the majority as seen with the push for unnecessary pay rises, focus on personal glory as against building on the talent as well as the most obvious sexual favors from such students. His therefore explains the basis of the question of whether the students still hold confidence with their coaches and whether they view them as parent or not. Besides, the lack or existence of very shallow literature concerning the theme supports the essence of such a study as this. Objectives This study is aimed at establishing whether student-athletes perceive their coaches as parents or otherwise through a qualitative analysis of the opinions by the athletes. The study is also focused on bridging the gap that currently exists between the literatures on student coach perceptions especially in the athletics and contribute towards shaping future research studies in the theme. Hypothesis Very few athletic students at college level perceive coaches as parents while the majority perceives them differently. Research questions Can athlete students at college level regard coaches as their parents and hence accord them the due respect in relationship? What are the main roles that coaches are responsible of in order to build on effective relationship with athletic students? How do the college athletic students generally perceive the coaches as they interact? Literature review Coaching as profession presents one of the most exiting lifetime careers as shown by having to witness a person (student) develop in talent and grow to realize a person’s desire in sporting. The pleasure of the coach is therefore great when he/she observes the nurturing of a talent from the early formative years to the time that the athlete contributes successfully towards the success of a team. However, it is worth noting that the profession in caching upcoming athletes is not free of challenges and obligations. Some of such obligations are what the institution and the professional calling of a coach already define. However, there are also legal and moral obligations that explain the way a coach approaches the assigned as obligated by the society and which are accepted of a ‘teacher’ as coaching would be viewed. Besides, as part of an athletic department in an institution, the coach has strategic mission to pursue as he/she offers the coaching services. The legal obligations that govern the working of a coach stem from the athletic associations and they dictate the focus of an educational program. In other focus, government places particular expectations on the coaches such as mandatory reporting of any kind of a student athlete and this is meant to ensure the safety as well as well-being of the athlete students under the care of the coach. Besides, the courts have the power to assign other responsibilities to a coach as deemed appropriate by law. In fact, failure to observe the stipulated responsibilities places the coach in a risk in professionalism and hence the absolute responsibility to pursue the profession in sobriety. However, as Engelhorn (nd) shows, the role of a coach goes further than just the stipulation of the law as there is a lot that the coach owes to the athlete-student. Ethical responsibility is an inherent and integral part of coach responsibilities, which is much driven towards the interactions between the coach and the student athlete at college or such schooling level. Teaching and modeling a student athlete in becoming a productive citizen and team player elevates the position of a coach towards the student. This therefore shows the critical role that a coach is assigned as regards to molding and facilitating the development of talents in student athletes at any level. The coaches have an equal and associated responsibility in ensuring that a team succeeds through increased cohesion and leadership. In such studies on the role of a coach towards increased cohesion by team members, the purpose of a coach is distinct. Although majority of studies have focused on the role of the student athletes themselves, the few studies that have done focusing on the coaches show that cohesion of a team is directly related to the leadership offered by the coach, positive feedback as well as adequate and comprehensive instructions or tutorials. Besides, the coach influencing the attitudes and perceptions of the students towards the athletics he/she influences the students’ attitudes towards each other hence having a direct relation towards an overall team performance (Zakrajsek, et al, 2007). This equally points towards the critical role that a coach plays towards development of student talents in athletic field. In another approach, most of coaches understand effectively their role in parental capacity while handling the athlete students they are responsible over. In fact, other studies would argue that the responsibility of a coach is a hybrid one augmenting both the tutorial as parental roles to the kids. This is because, in often times, students have been seen to view any senior to them as potential in coaching in other life issues as setting of goals, personal life management as well as in relation to interpersonal relations especially at team level. Just as a parent plays as active role in shaping the destiny of the child regarding career development and decision-making, so is athlete students would perceive the coach in a like manner. The coach would therefore be very instrumental in assisting the students set goals, handle failure or such adversity as well as adoption of god communication and interpersonal relations. In fact, as Stankovich (2011) asserts, in many instances, actual parents fail in such responsibilities and this has adverse effects on the well-being of such a student. Therefore, the role of the coach in this perspective is to compliment the parent and fill in such a gap as would be pointed in the development of a student. The absenteeism of the parents accords the coach an absolute responsibility in acting as a parent, which is seen to lead to a strengthened relation between student and the coach. It is therefore from this perception that coaches are seen as potential in ‘replacing’ the parent hence the explanation why athlete student should perceive the coaches as parents. Leadership is an inherent attribute that is associated with effective coach and this has a direct attribute to the interrelationship between a coach and an athlete-student. In sport management in general, coaches are particular working group that is focused while training and strategizing on a sporting activity. Athletics and coaching are such important factors that are observed while general leadership in a sport department is observed. The coach is therefore obligated to act as an administrator, public relations officer in the school on sports, a diplomat, a trainer, a judge as well as an effective and committed teacher (Smith, 2003). It is therefore inherently true that a coach plays an active role in leadership and would therefore be observed as effective in influencing the efforts of others (team) towards a certain goal. Besides, the degrees in which athlete students are receptive towards the training by the coach are directly influenced by the style of leadership he/she adopts. On a different account where the leadership would not be basically servant-leadership, the effectiveness of the process might not necessarily be as would be in this case. Transformational leadership has been cited as among most useful and beneficial leadership styles in athletic coaching and refers to leadership style that offers emotional attachment instead of the award entitlement to the team being led. Transformational leaders inspire their subordinates towards the course of achieving the set goals and objectives (Pastor and Mayo, 2006). Methodology In general context, research methods are part of the general methodologies that are adopted by a researcher within the framework of carrying out a research study. Under such, this section describes the procedure(s) that is to be used for testing the hypotheses drawn in the study, collection of data and management of the data upon which this study will be based. This study intends to use a qualitative study method where deductions are to be made from the data collected from surveys to be administered to athlete students from Carson-Newman University as well as from literatures that have been and will be reviewed. It will therefore adopt a qualitative structure where the main basis of data in use is from the survey questions and past studies that have been done under this theme of interrelationship and perceptions of athlete students and coaches. Although there is little literature-reviewed in line with such perceptions as students have towards their coaches, the primary data to be collected through the field surveys will be enough in testing of the hypothesis upon which this study is based. The analysis is therefore through qualitative analysis, deductions, getting supportive evidence from the literature as have been reviewed, and the primary data. From the field, evidence of individual experiences on ‘bad’ and or ‘good’ experiences under such coaches is collected together and the deductive judgments as per the study objectives and the questions are to be done. This will therefore aid in determining how students in the athletics department with a college view their coaches; either as parents or as otherwise. Population and sampling Carson-Newman University department of athletics will be the main segment of focus in population target while stratified sampling will be used in choosing the individual respondents, which are targeted to be 100 for ease of percentage conversion. Analysis As the methodology section shows, this study is to adopt a qualitative or deductive focus and this therefore implies that analysis of data to be collected will be through deductions from past literature as well as the primary data to be collected through surveys. Ranking in personal perceptions as well as percentages of the various opinions will inform the general findings and conclusions from the study. Expected results This study hypothesizes that only a few group of students within athletic department in colleges perceive coaches as parents for various reasons. The majority of the students are shown from the hypothesis as to delineate the association of any coach to the capacity of a parent and this is subject to support or failure by the study. However, as guidance to the expected results, this study expects to find higher support in the hypothesis. This is because of the increase in student abuse by the coaches as well as the ‘selfishness’ of the coaches. In answering the question as to whether students would perceive coaches as parents, this study expects to show that this has been the case until the students started to experience the harassment from the same coaches. Nevertheless, it is expected that many students will show critical role(s) played by coaches in molding the talents of athletic students and that positive and healthy interaction is prerequisite to improved relationship between students and the coaches. Ethics: As part of academic and professional practice, a number of ethical considerations are made in the commencement of every research. These ethical considerations are made with reference to both the qualitative and quantitative methods of the research. For instance, ethical approval from a governing body on involving human subjects within a study is necessary in upholding ethics (Spinuzzi, 2002). This study will seek for approval of the ethics committee from school. Besides, this study understands the necessity for the respondents to be on voluntary basis while giving the information being sought. Personal consent will therefore be sought through the consent form, which every respondent will be required to fill before commencing on giving the information being collected through the survey. Finally, it is an ethical requirement in research studies and in academics to appreciate authors of past literature to be used in collecting secondary information. Limitations This study envisions encountering some particular shortcomings especially as regards time and costs. Costs to be incurred are together with printing of the survey materials, conducting pretests of the survey tools as well as carrying out the actual data collection procedures. References Alexander A. (2008) Coaching Influences on Motivation, Stress, and Personality as Perceived by Student-Athletes. Retrieved from http://mocsnet.utc.edu/departmental-honors/pdfs/alexandera.pdf Engelhorn R. (nd) “Legal and Ethical Responsibilities of a Coach”. Retrieved from Pastor J. C. and Mayo M. (2006).Transformational And Transactional Leadership: An Examination Of Managerial Cognition Among Spanish Upper Echelons. IE Working Paper WP06-13 30-03-2006. Miller, L. M. (2003). Qualitative investigation of intercollegiate coaches perceptions of altruistic leadership. (Order No. 3124373, The Ohio State University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 216-216 p. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305307428?accountid=45049. (305307428). Newcombe, B. W. (2007). The capacity of coaches to effectively manage an athletic program. (Order No. 3384628, University of Phoenix). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 132-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304731162?accountid=45049. (304731162). Smith, R. Y. (2003). Perceived leadership styles of NCAA division III coaches and the levels of satisfaction of student-athletes. (Order No. 3091754, United States Sports Academy). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 93-93 p. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305242795?accountid=45049. (305242795). Spinuzzi, C. (2002). Toward integrating our research scope: A sociocultural field methodology. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 16(1), 3-32. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/196450175?accountid=45049 Stankovich C. (2011) “The impact of the coach on student-athlete development”, retrieved from http://www.nfhs.org/CoachingTodayFeature.aspx?id=5060 Swift, J. (2013). Former fairfield teacher, coach accused of having sexual relationship with student. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1447219453?accountid=45049 Zakrajsek R. A., et al, (2007). “The Relationships Among Coaches’ and Athletes’ Perceptions of Coaching Staff Cohesion, Team Cohesion, and Performance”. Athletic insight. Retrieved from http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol9Iss3/CoachingStaffCohesion.htm Read More