coaching climate – The Sport Journal

Social Support and Democratic Behavior Styles of Leadership Preferred by Female Athletes in Middle School Athletic Programs

Authors: Raymond Tucker

Corresponding Author:
Raymond Tucker, D.S.M, CSCS, FMSL1, USATFL1, USAWLP-1
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
University of Houston at Victoria
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, Texas 77901
Phone: (361)-570-4381
rtbills2001@gmail.com

Raymond Tucker is an assistant professor of Kinesiology at the University of Houston at Victoria. He is a graduate of the United States Sports Academy with a Doctorate in Sports Management, and he is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also a certified coach by the United States Track and Field Association, United States Weightlifting Federation, and Functional Movement Systems. He is certified by the state board of educator certification in Texas in health grades (EC-12) and secondary physical education (6-12).

Co Authors: Willie J. Black, Jr.

Willie J. Black, Jr., Ed.D.
School Administrator
San Antonio
278 Iron Kettle
Universal City, Texas 78148
Phone: (512)-557-2905
drwillieblack@gmail.com

Willie J. Black, Jr. has a Masters of Education in Physical Education and a Bachelor’s in Exercise and Sports Science. He worked for ten years as a personal trainer, certified through the International Sports Science Association, and coached public school athletics at the secondary level for seven years. He also has a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, and serves as an adjunct professor for the department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Texas in San Antonio. He is currently an administrator for the Judson Independent School District, and previously served as Director of Human Resources.

Social Support and Democratic Behavior Styles of Leadership Preferred by Female Athletes in Middle School Athletic Programs

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine alleged behavior styles of leadership female student athletes in middle school athletic programs prefer coaches use in the treatment and interactions with their female athletes. This study compared female student athletes’ perception of their coach’s behavior style of leadership at three different middle schools to determine if the perceived behavior style of leadership is comparable amongst female coaches at the respective middle schools in this study.

Results of an earlier study entitled “Preferred Behaviors Used by Coaches in Female Middle School Athletic Programs”, detected a statistically significant difference in the behavior styles of leadership perceived by female student athletes at the respective middle schools in the following dimensions. 1) democratic and training instruction, (2) autocratic and training instruction, (3) social support and training instruction, (4) positive feedback and democratic, (5) positive feedback and autocratic, (6) positive feedback and social support. The results of this study did not detect a statistically significant difference between (1) positive feedback, training instruction, (2) autocratic and democratic, (3) social support and democratic, (4) social support and autocratic. Data composed from this study was based on female student athlete’s perception of the behavior style of leadership used by their coaches. The results revealed a high mean score for the social support behavior style of leadership compared to autocratic, democratic, positive feedback, training instruction. The results of the data in this study can conclude the social support behavior style of leadership is the behavior styles used by coaches at the respective middle schools in this study. However, the data also reveals a high mean score for the democratic behavior style of leadership used by coaches at the respective middle schools for this study. Based on the results of the data for this study, we can conclude the social support and democratic behavior style of leadership are the behavior styles of leadership used by coaches at the respective middle schools in this study. What follows is the basis for this study, procedures used to conduct the research, an analysis of the data, conclusions, application in sport, and finally, recommendations for further research on this topic.

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U.S. Sports Academy2017-06-26T07:40:16-05:00April 6th, 2017|Sports Coaching|Comments Off

Democratic Leadership Preferred by Male Student Athletes in Middle School Athletic Programs

Authors: Raymond Tucker

Corresponding Author:
Raymond Tucker, D.S.M, CSCS, FMSL1, USATFL1, USAWLP-1
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
University of Houston at Victoria
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, Texas 77901
Phone: (361)-570-4381
rtbills2001@gmail.com

Raymond Tucker is an assistant professor of Kinesiology at the University of Houston at Victoria. He is a graduate of the United States Sports Academy with a Doctorate in Sports Management, and he is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also a certified coach by the United States Track and Field Association, United States Weightlifting Federation, and Functional Movement Systems. He is certified by the state board of educator certification in Texas in health grades (EC-12) and secondary physical education (6-12).

Democratic Leadership Preferred by Male Student Athletes in Middle School Athletic Programs

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived behavior style of leadership male student athletes in middle school athletic programs prefer their coaches use in their daily relations with their athletes. This study compared male athletes’ perception of their coach’s behavior style of leadership at three different middle schools to determine if the perceived behavior style of leadership is comparable between male coaches at the respective middle schools in this study.

Results of a previous study entitled “Male Athletes Perception of Coaches Behavior in University Interscholastic Middle School Middle Athletic Programs”, detected a statistically significant difference in the behavior styles of leadership perceived by male athletes at the respective middle schools in this study in the following dimensions. 1) democratic training, instruction, (2) autocratic, training, and instruction, (3) social support and training instruction, (4) positive feedback and democratic behavior, (5) positive feedback and autocratic behavior, and (6) positive feedback and social support. This previous study did not disclose a statistically significant difference between middle schools in the dimensions of (1) positive feedback, training, and instruction, (2) autocratic and democratic behavior, (3) social support and democratic behavior, (4) social support and autocratic behavior. The data collected from this study was based on male athlete’s perception of the behavior style of leadership used by their coaches. The results of this study revealed a high mean score for the democratic behavior style of leadership compared to autocratic behavior, positive feedback, social support, training, and instruction. Based on the results of the data for this study, we can conclude the democratic behavior style of leadership is the behavior style of leadership used by coaches at the respective middle schools in this study. What follows is the basis for this study, procedures used to conduct the research, an analysis of the data, conclusions, application in sport, and finally, recommendations for further research on this topic.

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U.S. Sports Academy2017-01-18T10:18:40-06:00February 16th, 2017|Sports Coaching|Comments Off

Male Athletes Perception of Coaches Behavior in University Interscholastic Middle School Athletic Programs

Authors: Raymond Tucker

Corresponding Author:
Raymond Tucker, D.S.M, CSCS, FMSL1, USATFL1, USAWLP-1
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
University of Houston at Victoria
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, Texas 77901
Phone: (361)-570-4381

Raymond Tucker is an assistant professor of Kinesiology at the University of Houston at Victoria. He is a graduate of the United States Sports Academy with a Doctorate in Sports Management, and he is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also a certified coach by the United States Track and Field Association, United States Weightlifting Federation, and Functional Movement Systems. He is certified by the state board of educator certification in Texas in health grades (EC-12) and secondary physical education (6-12).

Male Athletes Perception of Coaches Behavior in University Interscholastic Middle School Athletic Programs

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine male athlete’s perception of the behavior style of leadership used by their coaches in the treatment and daily interactions with their male athletes. The study compares male athletes at three different middle schools to determine if the perceived behavior styles of leadership are similar amongst male coaches at the respective middle schools for this study.

Results of this study detected a statistically significant difference in the behavior styles of leadership perceived by male athletes at the respective middle schools in this study in the following dimensions. 1) democratic and training and instruction, (2) autocratic and training and instruction, (3) social support and training instruction, (4) positive feedback and democratic behavior, (5) positive feedback and autocratic behavior, and (6) positive feedback and social support. This study did not reveal a statistically significant difference between middle schools in the dimensions of (1) positive feedback and training and instruction, (2) autocratic and democratic behavior, (3) social support and democratic behavior, (4) social support and autocratic behavior. Results of this study clearly indicate male coaches at the three respective middle schools in this study place more emphasis on the democratic behavior style of leadership with a mean score of 3.93, and the autocratic behavior style of leadership with a mean score of 3.65, the data shows an emphasis is also placed on the social support behavior style of leadership with a mean score of 3.59 (see Table 1).

This study does not conclude which behavior styles of leadership perceived by male athletes is superior for the overall success of a middle school athletic program. What follows is the basis for this study, procedures used to conduct the research, an analysis of the data, conclusions, application in sport, and finally, recommendations for further research on this topic.

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-11-02T14:24:35-05:00November 24th, 2016|Sports Coaching|Comments Off

Preferred Behaviors Used by Coaches in Female Middle School Athletic Programs

Authors: Raymond Tucker

Corresponding Author:
Raymond Tucker, D.S.M, CSCS, FMSL1, USATFL1, USAWLP-1
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
University of Houston at Victoria
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, Texas 77901
Phone: (361)-570-4381
rtbills2001@gmail.com

Raymond Tucker is an assistant professor of Kinesiology at the University of Houston at Victoria. He is a graduate of the United States Sports Academy with a Doctorate in Sports Management, and he is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also a certified coach by the United States Track and Field Association, United States Weightlifting Federation, and Functional Movement Systems. He is certified by the state board of educator certification in Texas in health grades (EC-12) and secondary physical education (6-12).

Preferred Behaviors Used by Coaches in Female Middle School Athletic Programs

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine female athlete’s perception of the behavior styles of leadership used by their coaches in female middle school athletic programs. The average of these perceptions can be viewed as the actual behavior style of leadership coaches used in the treatment of their athletes. The study compared behavior styles of leadership used by coaches in female middle school athletic programs at three different middle schools. This study also compares coaches from the three different middle schools to determine if the behavior styles of leadership used are similar amongst coaches.

Data for this study was collected using the Leadership Scale of Sports (LSS) questionnaire with the permission of Dr. Packianthan Chelladurai Ph.D at Ohio State University. The questionnaire measures an athlete’s perception of their coach’s behavior style of leadership and consists of forty items that all begin with “My Coach.” These forty items represent five dimensions of leadership behavior in sports and operationally defined in the Leadership Scale of Sports.

The scoring of the Leadership Scale of Sports questionnaire was based on an ordinal scale, five-category scale that consists of a numerical number: 1. Always; 2. Often (about 75 % of the time); 3. Occasionally (50% of the time); 4. Seldom (about 25% of the time); 5 Never. Each of the forty items on the Leadership Scale of Sports questionnaire represents one of the five latent dimensions of leadership (2). These five dimensions were
1. Autocratic Behavior
2. Democratic Behavior
3. Positive Feedback
4. Social Support Behavior
5. Training and Instruction

The athletic coordinators of each school were each given instructions in person prior to the questionnaire being mailed. The questionnaires were sent back in a self- addressed stamped envelope. Athletic coordinators at the respective middle schools received communication in person, phone, and e-mail. The data was analyzed quantitatively by using the 15.0 version of the SPSS statistical software. Due to the ordinal and theoretically categorical nature of the LSS scale, nonparametric statistical methods (i.e., a test of medians rather than means) was used in all data analyses. Specially, the Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and multi-way contingency table (log-linear) nonparametric ANOVA tests was used. To what degree was there a difference among the distribution of LSS scores on the five dimensions for eighth grade females in middle school sports? To answer this question, the Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric alternative to the parametric analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed. If a statistically significant finding was observed, post-hoc analyses was conducted to determine what leadership behaviors were preferred based on median scores.

Results of this study did detect a statistically significant difference in the behavior styles of leadership used by coaches among the middle schools between the following dimensions: (1) democratic behavior and training and instruction, (2) autocratic behavior and training and instruction, (3) social support and training and instruction, (4) positive feedback and democratic behavior, (5) positive feedback and autocratic behavior, (6) positive feedback and social support. Results of this study indicate coaches at the three respective middle school in this study place more emphasis on the social support, democratic and autocratic behavior styles of leadership. This study does not determine which behavior style of leadership is superior for the overall success of a female’s middle school athletic program. What follows is the basis for this study, procedures used to conduct the research, an analysis of the data, conclusions, and finally, recommendations for further research on this topic.

Keywords: Coaches, Coaching Climate, Effective Leadership, Female Athletes, Sports

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-08-18T10:08:12-05:00October 13th, 2016|Sports Coaching|Comments Off

Coaching environments and student-athletes: Perceptions of support, climate and autonomy

Authors: Jeff Noble, Mark Vermillion*, and Kewa Foster

*Corresponding Author:
Mark Vermillion, PhD
Wichita State University
Department of Sport Management
Wichita, KS 67260-0127
Mark.vermillion@wichita.edu
316-978-5444

ABSTRACT
Understanding how athletes interact with coaches is an important topic for not only increasing performance, but also for managing developmental dynamics so often associated with coaching. As a result, the purpose of the research is to examine student-athletes’ perceptions of coaching environments as related to autonomy-supportive motivational climates. Division I (formerly known as Division I AAA) student-athletes were surveyed (n=143) as part of a larger data collection process by the athletic department. Self-determination theory is applied to examine motivation, autonomy, and support, while psychosocial student development theory is used to influence variable selection relating to the student-athlete population. Statistical results indicate an overall positive perception of coaching environments by student-athletes and no differences based upon gender. Regression analyses indicate only 28% of the variance is explained by current variables/questions on athletic department survey instrument with variables of gender, type of sport played, and student classification having little to no statistically significant impact. In accordance with previous research, coaches have the ability to create a positive atmosphere and in this study student-athletes had an overall positive view of their coaches’ ability to develop autonomy-supportive team climates. However, many personal-level factors could account for the large percent of variance not explained by statistical analyses in the current study.

Keywords: student-athletes, motivation, coaching climate, self-determination

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-07-06T14:03:29-05:00July 15th, 2016|Research, Sports Coaching|Comments Off