Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

In an effort to better understand the challenges youth sport coaches face when coaching female athletes, focus groups were conducted with male (n = 5) and female (n = 19) youth sport coaches (n = 24) of female sport teams to examine perceived differences in coaching female versus male athletes. Purposive snowball sampling was used to recruit coaches in three neighboring states in the southeastern United States. Of the sample, 14 coaches had coached both male and female athletes between the ages of 12 to 18 years old. Coaches had experience coaching a variety of sports and variety of levels ranging from recreational teams, school teams, and competitive travel teams. Although there were perceived similarities to coaching both genders, thematic content analysis exposed several themes indicating distinct differences in coaching between the genders. Within this sample, coaches believed coaching females presented unique challenges including issues associated with: inequality of funding and attention, drastic emotional responses from female athletes, the need for more emotional support, perceived less athleticism, less confidence and resiliency, and more non-sport distractions and parental protection. The findings provide valuable information for coaches and coach educators on how to help coaches better develop and assist female youth athletes. The results of this study will be used to help develop and on-going professional development experience for local coaches.