Caring in U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Sport: The perspectives of 18 female and male head coaches

Abstract

The current study was undertaken to explore how U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female and male head coaches defined and implemented care in their coaching practice. Eighteen coaches (M ¼ 39.2 years; nine females, nine males) from eight different sports (baseball, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, track and field/crosscountry, volleyball, and golf) consented to be interviewed via a semi-structured interview guide based on the care literature. Data analysis was conducted using Consensual Qualitative Research with a team of five researchers including an external auditor. Results revealed that care revolved around six domains: (a) definition of care; (b) manifestations of care; (c) limits to capacity to be caring; (d) development of care; (e) factors facilitating care, and (f) factors hindering care. Each domain contained several categories (N ¼ 22 total categories) composed of core ideas. Results are presented using participants' own words to illustrate domains and categories. Implications for research and practice are also put forth, which link the findings to the broader U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association coaching context.

The Talent Development Pathway for Elite Basketball Players in China

“…Another of the results highlighted within collective psychological factors, made reference to the importance of group cohesion and its relationship with collective success. This is aligned with studies that conclude that good group cohesion can help the development of the athlete's career in aspects such as obtaining better group results [135][136][137], emotional stability in the face of life changes [138][139][140][141], facilitate learning about values, common goals and roles in the team [142][143][144], and increase group motivation by reducing the burnout percentage [137,142,143].…”

Athletic Trainers' Influence on National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Athletes' Basic Psychological Needs During Sport Injury Rehabilitation

“…Investing in ''whole-person'' development has also been identified by coaches as instrumental to a caring relationship. 37 In turn, it has been theorized that when coaches demonstrate caring behaviors and athletes perceive that coaches care, athletes will increase their effort, which will lead to successful performance. This care-performance relationship is likely applicable to the AT-athlete relationship as well.…”

Caring practices among U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female and male assistant coaches

“…Fisher and colleagues [9][10][11] are the only researchers to date who have utilized feminist care theory to systematically explore the construct of caring in U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I (NCAA DI) sport. Prior to this, Newton et al 12 examined whether a caring climate existed in youth sport and physical activity contexts, defined as ''.…”

“…NCAA DI sport. Fisher and colleagues [9][10][11] are the first to systematically explore experiences of caring at the U.S. NCAA DI level. They believe that DI sport could be the place where ''performance excellence'' is rooted in care.…”

“…Clearly, coaches are more than just instructing athletes technically and tactically-they are constantly navigating relationships between themselves, their assistant coaches, student-athletes, administrators, and parents; care is either explicitly or implicitly an important part of such relationships. [9][10][11] Since coaches are the gatekeepers for helping athletes develop, Fisher and colleagues contended that sport psychology researchers should purposefully target them in both research projects and educational interventions, so that structured moral skill-building can eventually be put in place. [9][10][11] Further, they suggested that a necessary first intervention is to utilize feminist theory within a care moral orientation framework.…”