The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of expert coaches on the key elements for building their successful programs. Five female expert Canadian university coaches of team sports were individually interviewed with an open-ended approach. Data were analysed inductively, following the guidelines of Cote, Salmela, Baria, and Russell (1993) and of Cote, Salmela, and Russell (1995). The results of the analysis identified four key elements for the building of a successful program. First, coaches possessed a variety of personal attributes that enabled them to display appropriate leadership. Second, coaches possessed thorough organisational skills from which they set goals, planned the season, and prepared their team for games. Third, coaches had a personal desire to foster their players' individual growth, by empowering them and teaching them life skills. Finally, the aforementioned elements were interrelated and linked together by the coaches' vision, without which success was unlikely. Data also showed the correspondence of these four elements with a transformational leadership style that has been successfully used in business, military, industry, and educational settings.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-173).

The number of men in collegiate coaching, in comparison to women, is overwhelmingly unbalanced. The accessibility men have to the profession of collegiate coaching at a high level in comparison to women’s’ greatly affects women’s’ ability to achieve similar jobs. The ease at which men attain jobs coaching both genders is perpetuated through the desire to maintain collegiate athletics as a male dominated profession. The women’s perspective broadens the profession itself and helps to break down the societal roles that have been assigned to women. The lack of women in collegiate coaching discourages other women from entering the profession and the women did not feel supported, accepted, or welcomed as collegiate coaches. The results also show a combination of feeling scrutinized because of their gender, and pressure to prove themselves as valuable members of the profession, which led the women interviewed to question if they should continue to coach.

No description available.

The sport of women's basketball has evolved into a high profile event. The demands of the job during the competitive season can exceed coaches' ability to cope and endure the stressful profession. Research has shown that hardiness decreases the impact of stress on health by influencing one's coping strategies. Individuals who are low in hardiness have a higher chance of professional burnout, illness, and health problems due to the inability to handle stress The purpose of this study was to identify the hardiness levels and coping strategies of female head women coaches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The following questions were researched: 1) Are there differences in hardiness between female head women basketball coaches across the NCAA divisions? 2) Are there differences in coping strategies between female head women basketball coaches across the NCAA divisions? One hundred and five coaches participated in the study (n = 29 for division I, n = 38 for division II, n = 38 for division III) by completing the Personal Views Survey II for the hardiness levels and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire for the coping strategies. A one-way ANOVA was calculated to determine if differences existed in hardiness scores across the three divisions. A MANOVA was conducted to determine if differences existed in the three hardiness components as well as with the different coping styles across the three divisions. No significance differences were observed in the hardiness scores, the three hardiness components, or the coping strategies across the three NCAA divisions (p <.05). / School of Physical Education

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-173). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references ( p. 133-138). Also available online.