The coach is an important factor when parents are thinking about clubs for their children. But how much do they know about the coach, where do they get that information and what are the most important things they look for?
When we conducted interviews with parents we discovered that coaching plays an important factor in the decision to join a club. Of the 11 parents we spoke to seven agreed that this was important (or very important). In particular trust of and respect for individual coaches influenced their decision. One parent also mentioned they had been over-trained as a child and therefore wanted to make sure their children received better coaching (coincidently this is often a reason why many people start coaching – to make sure children receive better coaching than they did).
While parents might trust and respect a coach, how do they form this opinion? From the interviews it was clear that all the parents knew about the experience of the coaches but some (three) were unsure about exact qualifications. But where does this information come from? It appears that the effectiveness of a coach is being rated by previous personal experience and word of mouth rather than qualifications.
If people are relying on word of mouth or previous experience is their knowledge up-to-date? And how informed is it? And what is their opinion based on?
All this raises the suggestion that clubs and coaches should make it explicit what qualifications and experience they have to avoid any misunderstandings.
From: SportCoach UK