Youth coaching preferences of adolescent athletes and their parents.

Martin, Scott B. ; Dale, Gregory A. ; Jackson, Allen W. 等

Participation in organized youth sport programs is an accepted part of childhood development in the United States (Coakley, 1998) and has the potential to have an enormous influence on the self-concept of children (Smith & Smoll, 1990). Coaches arid parents often in fluence whether the youth sport experience is positive ("11th Annual Special Teen Report: Teens and Self-Image: Survey Results," 1998). Over the past thirty years numerous findings have been reported regarding adolescent athletes motives to participate or discontinue involvement in youth sports. For example, Ewing and Seefeldt (1996) indicated that the top five reasons adolescents choose to participate or continue in organized sport programs were: (a) to have fun, (b) to improve skills, (c) to stay in shape, (d) to do something they are good at, and (e) for the excitement of competition. Although parental influences and socialization are often noted (e.g., Brustad, 1996b, Duda & Hom, 1993; Jambor, 1999; Scanlan & Lewthwaite. 1988), very little res earch has been conducted to determine parents' views, motives, and preferences related to their children's participation in such programs.

McCullagh, Matzkanin, Shaw, and Maldonado (1993) assessed participation motives of 81 children ranging from 7 to 14 years of age who were participating in a recreational soccer league. Likewise, they assessed the parents' perceptions of their children's motives to participate. The motives of children to participate in youth sport programs and parents' perceptions of their children's motives for involvement were found to be quite similar (McCullagh et aL, 1993). Specifically, results indicated that children and parents ranked intrinsic motives such as feeling good and having fun as primary reasons for participation and rated external motives as the lowest reasons for participation. Even though similarity existed, some differences were found which are worth noting. In particular, multivariate analysis of variance revealed that children rated the motives more positively than did their parents (McCullagh et al., 1993).

A more recent study conducted by Martin, Jackson, Richardson, arid Weiller (1999) investigated the preferred youth coaching behaviors of children and their parents using a revised version of the Leadership for Sport Scale (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1980). The revised preferred form of the LSS requests adolescent athletes and parents to provide their preference for coaching behaviors. Thus, the adolescent athletes' and their parents' preferred coaching style could be evaluated. The early and late adolescent athletes responded in a similar manner. Likewise, the results revealed that positive feedback and training arid instruction were important coaching behaviors for adolescent athletes and their parents. On the other hand, there were aspects of preferred coaching behaviors in which parents and children differed. For example, adolescents preferred a coach who provided social support and allowed them to have input into decision-making more than did the parents. Also, adolescent athletes preferred a coach who was empa thetic and supportive more than did the parents. Moreover, both boys and girls preferred a democratic coaching style more than did the parents. In addition, the results revealed that the girls wanted more input into team "happenings" than did the boys, while the mothers showed a slightly greater preference for democratic behavior than did the fathers. Based on their research and others, the authors speculated that female adolescent athletes and mothers generally prefer a more democratic style of coaching than do male adolescent athletes and fathers (Martinet al., 1999).

Besides coaching behaviors, other coaching characteristics and qualities (e.g., gender, age, experience, and win-loss record) may influence preference for a coach. Past research indicates that males and females are evaluated differently in achievement situations. Specifically, male athletes have been found to show a more negative attitude toward female coaches than do female athletes. In some instances, female athletes have been found to show a greater preference for male coaches. For example, George (1989) surveyed 516 female college athletes from various sports and found that 38% preferred a female coach, 40% preferred a male coach, and 22% did not indicate a preference. Similarly, Le Drew and Zimmerman (1994) surveyed 227 female and 183 male high school volleyball players. They found that 48% of the females and 66% of the males had a strong preference for a male coach. Likewise, Medwechuk and Crossman (1994) investigated the effects of gender bias on the evaluation of male and female swim coaches of varyin g status. Both groups preferred and rated same-sex coaches higher in ability to motivate and anticipated future success. The gender of the coach had a significant effect on whether the athletes chose a male or female coach. Nevertheless, both male and female swimmers did not differ in their evaluation of male coaches' ability to motivate and potential for success. Moreover, male coaches were rated as equal regardless of their low or high coaching status.

Historically, researchers have found that male athletes are viewed as the more serious gender when it comes to the "pursuit of excellence" in a sport setting (Weinberg, Reveles, & Jackson, 1984). Likewise, sport (Sabo, 1988) and coaching (Harris, 1979) have been viewed as a "man's" domain. These attitudes toward sports and coaching may have influenced athletes' preferences for a coach and the attitudes of coaches. However, other factors such as age, experience, and success of the coach may also influence the preferences of athletes. As a case in point, Lovett and Lowry (1991) found that male coaches were selected as role models more oflen when female athletes were in high school, while female coaches were selected more often as role models when female athletes were in college.

Many questions related to youth coaching preferences still remain unanswered. For example, does parental toning or parents' roles in socializing young children into sport influence children's preference for particular coaching motivational strategies? Should parents and adolescent athletes have some direct avenue for input related to coaching with those individuals who direct youth sport programs, since generally neither the athletes nor the parents select their coaches? Do athletes participating in organized youth sport programs have a preference for the gender or age of their coach? Do the parents of these young athletes have a preference for the gender and age of their child's coach? Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine youth coaching preferences of adolescent athletes and their parents. In accordance with previous research (e.g., Martin et al., 1999), it was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference between boys' and girls' youth coaching preferences. Based on parenta l socialization research (e.g., Brustad, 1996a), it was expected that there would be a significant difference for youth coaching preferences between children and their parents.

Method

Participants

The participants in this study were Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex summer youth sport athletes ranging from 10 to 18 years of age and one parent from each family unit. All the athletes and their parents volunteered to participate in the study. Of the 270 family unit questionnaires (i.e., child and one of his/her parents) distributed at youth sport summer programs, 239 complete and usable family Unit questionnaires

were returned. representing an 88.5% response rate. Therefore, a total of 478 (children = 239, parents = 239) completed questionnaires were received. Of the 239 youth sport participants that responded, 113 (74 males and 39 females) were early adolescent athletes ranging from 10 to 13 years of age and 126 (72 males and 54 females) were late adolescent athletes ranging from 14 to 18 years of age. Overall, the youth sport participants had a mean age of 14.0 years (SD = 2.2) and had 6.4 years (SD = 2.8) of sport participation. Represented in the sample were adolescents who participated in the sports of bas eball (n = 49), basketball (n = 44), cross-country (n = 4), football (n = 27), golf (n = 9), gymnastics (n = 8), karate (n = 9), soccer (n = 38), softball (n = 13), swimming (n = 13), tennis (n = 12), track and field (n = 3), and volleyball (n = 10). The parents (118 females and 121 males) of the youth sport participants ranged from 30 to 56 years of age with a mean age of 41.3 years (SD = 5.1) and had 7.2 years (SD = 3.5) of sport participation. None of the parents were currently coaching their child in the organized youth sport program. Of the 239 child-parent pairs, 78 father-son, 43 father-daughter, 68 mother-son, and 50 mother-daughter combinations existed. Of the 239 youth sport participants, 215 (90%) were Caucasian, 13 (5%) were African-American, 9 (4%) were Latino, and 2(1%) were Asian.

Instrument

The Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ) designed by Gill, Gross, and Huddleston (1983) consists of 30-items which originally included eight possible factors pertaining to why children participate in sport (i.e., Achievement Status, Team, Fitness, Energy Release, Skill, Friends, Fun, and Other). Later work using versions of the PMQ identified six factors (Dwyer, 1992; Barber, Sukhi, & White, 1999) whereas others identified seven factors (Brodkin & Weiss, 1990; Gould, Feltz, & Weiss, 1985; White & Duda, 1994). Initial studies reported Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from .30 to .78 (Gill et al., 1983) and test-retest reliability was .68 (Gould et al., 1985) whereas subsequent studies have reported substantially higher coefficients and test-retest reliabilities (see Barber et al., 1999).

In the current study, the PMQ was modified to determine adolescents' and their parents' preferences for coaching qualities. The child's version requests the young athletes to provide their preference for coaching characteristics (i.e., "I prefer my coach to ...") and the parent's version solicits the preferred coaching characteristics of the athletes' parent (i.e., "I prefer my child's coach to ...") on the subscales. The subscales were related to: (a) learning and improving new skills (LNS), (b) affiliation and team orientation (ATO), (c) being active during practice (BA), (d) excitement (EXC), (e) fitness (FIT), and (f) achievement and competitive challenge (ACC). Also, items were included that related to the coach's athletic ability and participation (CAP). Specifically, these items related to whether the athlete and parent preferred the coach to practice with the athletes, be able to perform the skills of the sport, and have played the sport at a similar or higher level. Participants responded to each of these items by selecting one of the response categories of "always," "often," "occasionally," "seldom," or "never." These response categories were anchored at 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 0% of the time, respectively. In addition, items were included related to preference of the coach's gender and age. Therefore, the final questionnaire (i.e., version for child and parent) included demographic questions (i.e., age, gender, race, education level, favorite sport, number of years participating in favorite sport, and sport organization type) and items related to preferences for structure of sport situations and coach characteristics.

Procedures

Administration of the questionnaire to youth sport athletes and their parents was conducted during summer youth sport programs. The directors and coaches agreed to participate in the study and to recruit athletes and parents involved in their programs. The investigators read instructions for completion of the inventory and informed athletes and their parents that participation was voluntary. Informed consent was received prior to completion of the questionnaire. Anonymity was guaranteed and assurance that all data would be kept strictly confidential was given. Thus, aggregate group data were reported. Each participant was given an answer sheet and a question sheet. The instructions directed respondents to report their preferred coach motives (e.g., "I prefer my coach to emphasize staying in shape." or "I prefer my child's coach to emphasize staying in shape.") and coach characteristics (e.g., "I prefer my coach to be a female." or "I prefer my child's coach to be a female."). The test administrator answered a ny questions and instructed the participants to answer each item as honestly as possible. The questionnaire took approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Data Analysis

In order to examine differences among adolescent athletes' and their parents' youth coaching preferences, mean responses were calculated for each athlete and their parent on the subscales and used as dependent variables. A 2 x 2 x 2 (Child's Gender Parent's Gender x Child/Parent Pair) doubly multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance (DM MANOVA; Schutz & Gessaroli, 1987) was then used to analyze child/parent mean responses to the questionnaires jointly (i.e., parent-child combination is the repeated measure) because this "family unit" relationship is not independent of one another and is considered to be a correlated factor. Thus, the child/parent pair was the within-subject factor and the child's gender and parent's gender were the between-subject factors. Follow-up discriminant function analysis and univariate ANOVAs were then conducted to identify which factors maximized differences among the groups. Preference for gender and age of the coach was analyzed using Chi-square analyses.

Results

Descriptive Statistics

The means and standard deviations for the adolescent athletes and their parents for each subscale are shown in Table 1. An examination of these means reveals that coaching ability and teaching skills of the coach were very important to the adolescent athletes and their parents. In addition, the descriptive statistics indicate that parents and their children want a coach who provides athletes with challenges and an opportunity to win. Likewise, children and their parents want a coach who provides athletes with opportunities to learn and improve new skills.

Coaching Preferences

Coaching preferences among youth sport participants and their parents were examined by calculating a mean score for each child and their parent on the subscales. A DM MANOVA using the child/parent pair as the within-subject factor and child's gender arid parent's gender as the between-subject factors was conducted. The DM MANOVA revealed a significant multivariate difference for the child's gender, Wilks' lambda = .910, F(7,225) 3.16, p = .003, [[eta].sup.2] = .09. The discriminant function and univariate analyses (see Table 2) indicated a significant effect for BA, F(1,23l) = 9.17, p < .003, [[eta].sup.2] = 04; FIT, F(1,231) = 13.67, p < .0001, [[eta].sup.2] = .06; and ACC, F(1,231) = 6.22, p < .013, [[eta].sup.2] = .03. The magnitude of the difference was low for each of the effects. Girls preferred a coach who avoids having athletes stand around more than did boys. Conversely, boys preferred a coach who emphasizes exercise and fitness and achievement status and competitive challenge more than did girls.

In addition, results revealed a significant multivariate difference for parent's gender, Wilks' lambda = .915, F(7,225)=3.00, p=.005, [[eta].sup.2].09. Follow-up discriminant function and univariate analyses were then conducted to identify subscales that maximized differences among fathers and mothers (see Table 2). The post hoc analyses indicated significant effects for CAP, F(l,231) = l3.38, p<.0001; and LNS, F(l,231)=4.17, p<.042. The magnitude of the difference for CAP and LNS was low, [[eta].sup.2].06 and .02, respectively. Mothers preferred a coach who practiced with the athletes and could perform the skills of the sport more than did fathers. In addition, mothers preferred a coach who provided ample opportunities for athletes to learn and improve new skills more than did fathers.

Finally, results revealed a significant multivariate difference, Wilks' lambda =.869, F(5,225)=4.83, p=.0001, [[eta].sup.2]=.13; for the child/parent pair on the subscales. The discriminant function and univariate analyses (see Table 2) indicated a significant effect for CAP. F(1,231)=5.40, p<.021, [[eta].sup.2]=.02; ATO, F(1,231)=16.16, p<.0001, [[eta].sup.2]=.07; BA, F(1,231)=1 1.37, p<.001, [[eta].sup.2]= 05; and EXC, F(1,231)=3.90, p<.049, [[eta].sup.2]=.02. This indicates that children preferred a coach to be able to perform the skills and practice with the athletes more than did the parents. In addition, children wanted a coach who provides time for the athletes to develop team spirit and friendships more than did the parents. Likewise, the children preferred a coach who keeps athletes active more than did the parents. Finally, children wanted a coach who incorporates variety into practices more than did parents.

Gender Preference of the Coach

The distribution of the participants' preferences for a coach's gender is provided in Tables 3 and 4. Chi-square analyses were performed to examine the differences between male and female athletes and children and their parents. Male adolescent athletes (50.0%) preferred male coaches more than did female adolescent athletes (1.1%). The gender of the coach did not matter to 84% of the female athletes whereas only 48.6% of the male athletes indicated that gender of the coach did not matter. There was a significant association for the family unit ([X.sup.2] (4)=30.65, p<.0001.). The majority of the children (63.1%) and parents (75.1%) indicated that "it does not matter" whether the coach is male or female. Of the 147 children who responded, "it does not matter", 125 (71.4%) of their parents also indicated that gender of the coach did not matter. Out of the 71 athletes preferring a male coach, 32(59.3%) of their parents also preferred them to have a male coach. Gender preferences may vary not only as a result of child-parent gender, but also because of the sport in which the person participates.

Age Preference of the Coach

The distribution of children and their parents' preferences for a coach's age are provided in Tables 5 and 6. Chi-square analyses were performed to explore the associations between male and female athletes and their parents. For a majority of the male (43.1%) and female (44.6%) adolescent athletes, their coach's age "did not matter." Of the ages listed, a coach ranging from 20 to 30 years of age was the choice most preferred by both male and female athletes (33.3% and 39.1% respectively). For most of the fathers (58.7%) and mothers (71.8%) the age of the coach also did not matter. Of the possible age choices, fathers (23.1%) and mother (15.4%) most preferred a coach ranging from 31 to 40 years of age. A significant association was found between adolescent athletes' and their parents' (i.e., the family unit) responses for age preference, X2(12) = 40.13, p<.0001. The children and parents preferred the two younger age groups to the others.

Discussion

The overall purpose of this study was to examine youth coaching preferences of children and their parents. By investigating coaching preferences of adolescent athletes and their parents, it was anticipated that a greater understanding would be gained on parental socialization into and through sports during adolescence.

Coaching Preferences

Knowing what athletes and parents want from coaches may be important for a successful youth sport experience. In the present study, the findings indicate that adolescent boys and girls participating in youth sport programs tend to prefer similar types of coaching motivation. This suggests that adolescent athletes want a coach who (a) implements effective instructional practices, (b) can perform the skills required of the sport, and (c) provide opportunities for the athletes to compete and achieve their goals. In the present study some differences did occur. Specifically, adolescent female athletes in the present study preferred a coach who emphasizes fun and excitement during practice and competition slightly more than did boys. Conversely, boys preferred a coach who stresses fitness, achievement, and competitive challenge more than did girls. The findings of the current study support previously reported reasons why boys and girls participate in youth sport programs (Ewing & Seefeldt, 1989; Gould et al., 1985 ).

In the current study, mothers and fathers were also found to have similar coaching preferences. This finding indicates that parents also want a coach who (a) implements effective instructional practices, (b) can perform the skills required of the sport, and (c) provide opportunities for the athletes to compete and achieve their goals. As was the case with the adolescent athletes, some differences were found between mothers and fathers. Specifically, mothers preferred a coach who practices with the athletes and can perform the skills of the sport to a greater extent than did fathers. This finding supports previous social psychological research indicating that females have been found to be more socially oriented than males (Smoll & Smith, 1996). Moreover, mothers preferred a coach who fosters an opportunity to learn and improve new skills slightly more than did fathers.

Taken together, these findings indicate that learning and improving new skills and coaches' abilities to demonstrate the sport skill were most important to the children and their parents. Children want to learn new skills that help them be just as good, if not better than their peers (Ewing & Seefeldt, 1996) and most parents want their children to be skilled or at least as good as other young athletes who match their child's age (Brustad, 1996b). Thus, it appears adolescent athletes and their parents have similar aspirations for participating in organized youth sport programs. This finding supports research by Duda and Hom (1993) indicating that children's goal orientations were related to those adopted by their parents.

Moreover, the current study does support previous literature (e.g., Ewing & Seefeldt, 1996) indicating that there are some differences between children and their parents related to coaching preferences in youth sports. Specifically, the results based on the child/parent pair indicate that adolescent athletes prefer to have a coach who can perform the skills that are being taught more than did the parents. In addition, children wanted a coach who provides time for the athletes to develop teamwork and friendships more than did the parents. Similarly, the children preferred a coach who allows athletes to joke around and have fun more than did the parents. Finally, children seem to want a coach who incorporates variety into practices more than did the parents.

Gender Preference of the Coach

In the present study, gender preference of a coach by adolescent athletes and their parents was examined. The current study found that a large percentage of male adolescent athletes preferred to be coached by a male whereas a majority of the female adolescent athletes, fathers, and mothers did not have a gender preference. Female adolescent athletes, who did show a preference, preferred a female coach to a male coach. Conversely, fathers and mothers, who did indicate a preference, preferred a male coach to a female coach. A preference for a female coach by female athletes in the present study is different than previous reported findings that indicated more female athletes prefer a male coach. Perhaps a greater number of female coaches and female athletes have become role models over the past decade and have influenced the attitudes of the general population, especially young female athletes.

Age Preference of the Coach

In the current study, age preference of a coach by adolescent athletes and their parents was investigated. Overall, age of the coach did not matter to most of the adolescent athletes and parents. When an age preference was indicated, adolescent athletes preferred a younger coach (20 to 30 years of age) as compared to parents who preferred a coach ranging from 31 to 40 years of age. The adolescent athletes who preferred coaches ranging from 20 to 30 years of age may have thought that a younger coach could not only provide instruction regarding the necessary skills but could also perform the desired skills. In addition, adolescent athletes may have thought that they would be able to identify more with someone closer to their age. On the contrary, it is speculated that most parents who preferred coaches ranging from 3 1 to 40 years of age may have thought that a coach this age could be able to demonstrate and perform the necessary skills and be capable of providing effective guidance for their children. Addition al research is needed to verify these speculations.

Conclusions

The present study found that parents of adolescent athletes and the athletes themselves want very similar things from a coach. Results from this study also indicated that there are some differences between male and female adolescent athletes, between fathers and mothers, and between athletes and their parents. In the future, researchers should attempt to sample large groups of same sport participants to investigate how parents' and athletes' gender influences children's socialization into and through sports and how this socialization process affects sport selection and coaching preferences. For example, do fathers have a different viewpoint concerning the coaching style in football as compared to mothers? Likewise, do fathers influence children's preferences in sports that require physical contact more than do mothers? Researchers might also utilize various forms of qualitative research methods to gain further insight into the preferences of adolescent athletes and their parents for particular coach qualities and characteristics.

Findings from this study reveal several practical implications for youth sport coaches. In particular, coaches may want to determine the coaching characteristics young athletes and their parents prefer. Coaches are likely to have maximum credibility with these two groups of people if they can excel in three main areas. Coaches should be able to effectively demonstrate the skills needed for their specific sport. They should be able to run well-organized practices that involve specific instructional periods. Finally, whether coaching young female or male athletes, coaches should provide ample opportunity for the athletes to participate in competitive situations during practice.

Table 1

Descriptive Statistics for Adolescent Athletes and their Parents

 Adolescent Atheletes

 Males Females
 (n = 146) (n = 93)

Subscales M SD M SD

Learn and Improve 4.42 .59 4.35 .63
New Skills (LNS)
Affiliation & Team 3.33 .82 3.41 .84
Orientation (ATO)
Being Active (BA) 3.57 .66 3.74 .75
Excitement (EXC) 3.81 .73 3.88 .80
Fitness (FIT) 4.01 .71 3.61 .80
Achievement & 4.17 .65 3.91 .62
Competitive
Challenge (ACC)
Coach's Abilities &
Participation (CAP) 4.20 .65 4.13 .63

 Adolescent Atheletes Parents

 Total Males
 (n = 239) (n = 121)

Subscales M SD M SD

Learn and Improve 4.39 .61 4.41 .54
New Skills (LNS)
Affiliation & Team 3.36 .83 3.10 .63
Orientation (ATO)
Being Active (BA) 3.64 .70 3.49 .60
Excitement (EXC) 3.84 .76 3.78 .60
Fitness (FIT) 3.85 .75 3.86 .62
Achievement & 4.07 .64 3.99 .55
Competitive
Challenge (ACC)
Coach's Abilities &
Participation (CAP) 4.17 .64 3.97 .52

 Parents

 Females Total
 (n = 118) (n = 239)

Subscales M SD M SD

Learn and Improve 4.57 .42 4.49 .48
New Skills (LNS)
Affiliation & Team 3.13 .68 3.12 .65
Orientation (ATO)
Being Active (BA) 3.54 .60 3.51 .60
Excitement (EXC) 3.72 .59 3.75 .60
Fitness (FIT) 3.78 .67 3.82 .64
Achievement & 3.94 .54 3.97 .55
Competitive
Challenge (ACC)
Coach's Abilities &
Participation (CAP) 4.21 .56 4.09 .55

Table 2

Discriminant Function Correlations and Univariate Fs

 Child's F Parent's F Child-
 Gender Gender Parent
Dependent Variables Pair

Learn and Improve New
Skills (LNS) .02 .01 -.44 4.17 *** .32

Affiliation and Team
Orientation (ATO) .05 .05 -.25 1.38 -.68

Being Active (BA) .64 9.17 ** .14 .40 -.57

Excitement Z (EXC) .31 2.23 .11 .28 -.34

Fitness (FIT) -.78 13.67 * .29 1.78 -.02

Achievement &
Competitive Challenge -.52 6.22 *** .12 .30 -.31
(ACC)

Coach's Abilities and
Participation (CAP) -.31 2.17 -.79 13.38 * -.40

 F

Dependent Variables

Learn and Improve New
Skills (LNS) 3.53

Affiliation and Team
Orientation (ATO) 16.16 *

Being Active (BA) 11.37 *

Excitement Z(EXC) 3.90 ***

Fitness (FIT) .01

Achievement &
Competitive Challenge 3.40
(ACC)

Coach's Abilities and
Participation (CAP) 5.40 ***

* P <.001

** p <.01

*** p <.05

Table 3

Gender of Coach Preference of Adolescent Athletes and their Parents

 Adolescent Athletes Parents

Response Selections Males Females Males Females
 (n = 146) (n = 93) (n = 121) (n = 118)

Prefers Female Coach 1.4% 14.1% 0.8% 2.6%

Prefers Male Coach 50.0% 1.1% 30.6% 16.2%

Does Not Matter 48.6% 84.8% 68.6% 81.6%

Note. Chi-square analyses of male and female adolescent athletes
(X2(2)=69.15, p<.0001) and male and female parents (X2(2) = 7.53,
p<.023).

Table 4

Gender of Coach Preference of the Family Unit

 Parents

Children Prefers Female Prefers Male Does Not Total
 Coach Coach Matter

Prefers Female Coach 1 3 11 15

Prefers Male Coach 0 32 39 71

Does Not Matter 3 19 125 147

Total 4 54 175 233

Table 5

Age of Coach Preferences of Adolescent Athletes and their Parents

 Adolescent Athletes Parents

 Males Females Males Females
Response Selections (n = 146) (n = 93) (n = 121) (n = 118)

20 to 30 years of age 33.3% 39.1% 9.9% 11.1%
31 to 40 years of age 20.1% 12.0% 23.1% 15.4%
41 to 50 years of age 3.5% 1.1% 8.3% 1.7%
> 51 years of age 0.0% 3.3% 0.0% 5.6%
Does Not Matter 43.1% 44.6% 58.7% 71.8%

Note: Chi-square analyses of male and female adolescent athletes (X2(4)
= 8.73, p<0.68) and male and female parents (X2(3) = 8.57, p<0.36).

Table 6

Age of Coach Preferences of the Family Unit

 Parents

Children 20 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 Does Not
 yrs yrs yrs >51 yrs Matter

20 to 30 yrs 16 25 2 0 41
31 to 40 yrs 1 8 3 0 28
41 to 50 yrs 1 0 0 0 4
>51 yrs 2 1 0 0 0
Does Not Matter 5 12 7 0 79

Total 25 46 12 0 152

 Parents

Children Total


20 to 30 yrs 84
31 to 40 yrs 40
41 to 50 yrs 5
>51 yrs 3
Does Not Matter 103

Total 235

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Address Correspondences To: Scott B. Martin, Department of KHPR, P.O. Box 311337, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203-1337 Phone: (940) 565-3418, E-mail: smartin@coefs.coe.unt.edu