In a time of instability caused by adolescence, sport may represent a resource to prevent future individual and social problems. Within the complex relationships developed in social sports contexts, the figure of the coach can be fundamental for the development of a beneficial environment. The objective of the research was to investigate the relationship between the teaching methods and leadership profile of the coach and outcomes on the perception of positive development of young people participating in an after school sports program. In total participated, 910 adolescents (14.0 ± 1.8 years) and 57 coaches (45.57 ± 7.25 years) in 37 public schools in the city of Curitiba, in the state of Paraná-Brazil. Ordinal logistic regression was used to verify the independent associations between the variables sex, category, sport, trainer methodology, perception of the coaches, and perception of the athletes with the tertiles of the scores of each developmental characteristic of the young athletes (personal and social skills, cognitive skills, goal setting, and initiative). Odds ratios (OR) were obtained with a 95% confidence interval (95%CI), adopting p < 0.05. The small sized games method were positively associated with cognitive skills and goal setting. Positive associations were also found between athletes’ perceptions of the leadership profile of coaches with: personal and social skills (instructor, democratic behaviour, social support, and positive feedback), cognitive skills (instructor, democratic behaviour, and social support), goal setting (instructor, social support, and positive feedback), and initiative (instructor and positive feedback). In addition, the athletes’ perception of the coaches’ autocratic behaviour was inversely associated with personal and social skills and goal setting. For the evaluated program, the results suggest the choice, on the part of the coaches, of small sized games, combined with a democratic, affective, motivating leadership profile that provides instructions on technical skills and game strategies. The combination of the designated psych-pedagogical aspects is correlated to the positive development of young people through team sports.

The objective of the current study was to investigate the influence of the teaching methods and the leadership profile of the coach in relation to the positive development of young futsal practitioners. In total, 541 Brazilian adolescents (13.86 ± 1.61 years) and 34 Brazilian coaches (45.58 ± 5.81 years), from a public sports program in 29 public schools in the city of Curitiba, in the state of Paraná, participated in the study. Ordinal logistic regression was used to verify the independent associations between the variables sex, category, trainer methodology, and athletes' perception with the tertiles of the scores of each characteristic of positive development of young people. Odds ratios (CR) were obtained with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) adopting p < 0.05. Small sized games were positively associated with goal setting (OR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.05–1.74). Positive associations were also found between athletes' perceptions of the coaches' leadership profile with personal and social skills (instructor, democratic behavior), cognitive skills (instructor, democratic behavior and social support), goal setting (instructor, democratic behavior and social support), and initiative (instructor). A longer time spent in the program demonstrated significant correlations with personal and social skills, goal setting, and initiative. Girls presented significantly higher scores than boys regarding goal setting and initiative. For the program evaluated, the results suggest the coaches choose small sized games, combined with a democratic, affective, and accurate leadership profile in teaching instructions.

The objective of the research was to investigate the effects of the learning tasks and leadership profile of the coach on the subjective perception of decision‐making. In total, 910 Brazilian adolescents (14.00 ± 1.8 years) and 57 Brazilian coaches (45.57 ± 7.25 years) were included in the study, participants of a sports program in 37 public schools in the city of Curitiba in the state of Paraná. Ordinal logistic regression was used to verify the independent associations between the variables and the tertiles of the scores for each decision‐making characteristic. The small‐sized game learning tasks were positively associated with commitment to decision‐making learning (CR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.01–1.49). Positive associations were also found between the coaches' leadership profile and decision‐making competence.