| Coaches play an important role as the leader of teams and athletes. This role can lead coaches to developing strong coach identities. The hypotheses for this study were: (1) male coaches would present stronger coach identities than female coaches, (2) coaches who competed at higher levels as athletes would display similar coach identities as coaches who competed at lower levels as athletes, (3) coaches who have coached or are coaching at higher competition levels would display stronger coach identities than those at lower competition levels and (4) coach identity scores would be related to Coaching Efficacy scores. Coaches of various sports at various levels, with diverse past athletic experience, were recruited to participate in the study (N= 157). The results indicated that gender had no effect on coach identity. The results also indicated that past athletic experience had an effect on coach identity. Specifically, it was found that coaches with past athletic experience at the professional and college level presented stronger coach identities than coaches with past recreational/club athletic experience. As far as coach level, the results indicated that stronger coach identity was presented for coaches at higher levels than lower levels. Lastly, the results indicated that coach identity and coaching efficacy shared a weak correlation. More research is necessary to study how coach identity may affect coaches in order to improve the sporting experience. |
