Thesis
What do they want?: Coaching preferences of parents in elite youth baseball using a relationship approach to leadership
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2018
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/102698
Abstract
Currently, most youth baseball programs have no leadership training for their coaches and the existing leadership training for coaches often is not mandatory. Additionally, most youth sport coaches are volunteers. The existing inconsistency between expected competency and the typical youth sport coach profile has long been a challenge for youth sport programs. Parents expect a competent coach, but often end up with a volunteer coach with minimal experience and training. This study examines the coaching leadership style preferences of parents in elite youth baseball using an adapted version of the Likert-style Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Specifically, this survey collects demographic information, an assessment of leadership characteristic preferences, as well as preferable leadership styles among transformational, transactional, and passive-avoidant. In addition to the Likert-style questions, open-ended questions investigated the influence of the parents' leadership preferences on their actions as stakeholders. This is significant because youth sport organizations may benefit from learning how parent-stakeholders in elite youth sport exercise their power, legitimacy, and urgency. Youth sport organizations need to be cognizant of their stakeholders' preferences with regards to their coaching staff; presumably the organization would want to satisfy the stakeholder-parent, which would foster continued financial support through their child's participation. The survey was administered to 96 parents whose child competed in an American Legion Baseball tournament (the Palouse Summer Series). Competitors included 16U and 14U participants. This research aims to inform the administrators of youth baseball organizations, so they may formulate leadership-centered coaches' trainings to better align the parent-stakeholders' expectations with the leadership style used/delivered by coaches representing the organization. Further, findings from this study contribute to an absence of literature specifically regarding parent-stakeholders' preferred coachleadership style.
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Details
- Title
- What do they want?
- Creators
- Ashley Olson
- Contributors
- Scott R. Jedlicka (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Educational Leadership, Sport Studies, and Educational/Counseling Psychology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525154501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis