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PARENT-COACH AND CHILD-ATHLETE RETROSPECTIVE
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PEGGY S. MCCANN

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PARENT-COACH AND CHILD-ATHLETE RETROSPECTIVE PERCEPTIONS OF
THE DUAL ROLE IN YOUTH SPORT

By

Peggy S. McCann

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulﬁllment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Kinesiology

2005

ABSTRACT

PARENT-COACH AND CHILD ATHLETE RETROSPECTIVE PERCEPTIONS OF
THE DUAL ROLE IN YOUTH SPORT

By
Peggy S. McCann

The purposes of this study were: (a) to explore how the parent-coach dual role
inﬂuences the relationship between the parent-coach and child, both positive and
negative; and (b) to explore the inﬂuence of the parent-coach’s feedback in forming the
athlete’s self-perceptions, affective responses, and motivational outcomes. Using
Harter’s (1978, 1981) Competence Motivation Theory as a framework, four research
questions were addressed: (a) What is the role of feedback on self-perceptions, level of
enjoyment, and motivational outcomes over time?, (b) How does the dual role of the
parent as coach inﬂuence the relationship between the child-athlete and parent-coach?,
(c) What are the positive outcomes for children who have parents as coaches and for
parents who coach their own children?, and (d)' What are the negative outcomes for
children who have parents as coaches and for parents who coach their own children?

Five father-daughter, ﬁve father-son, and one mother-daughter dyads were interviewed
retrospectively. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed by three researchers using
content analysis procedures.

The results revealed nine general dimensions for child-athletes including dual-role
inﬂuence on relationship, positive outcomes for child-athlete, negative outcomes for child
athlete, perception of feedback type, general interpretation of feedback, impact on child-
athletc’s conﬁdence in ability, motivational orientation for child-athlete, instilled values

and beliefs about sport, and impact on enjoyment. Seven general dimensions emerged

for parent-coaches: dual-role inﬂuence on relationship, positive outcomes/personal
rewards for parent-coach, ﬁ'ustrations of parent-coach, parent-coaches’ perception of
their feedback, interpretation of child’s response to feedback, perception of child’s
motivation to continue in sport, perception of child’s enjoyment. These results indicated
that child-athletes and parent-coaches perceived their experiences in a congruent manner
and, overall, these experiences were positive and ultimately strengthened the relationship.
Parent-coaches who were moderately involved in their child’s experiences created the
most harmony in the relationship. Additionally, support for Haiter’s (1978, 1981) model
emerged. Athletes, who perceived positive and instructional feedback from their parent,
indicated that they had heightened levels of self-perceptions as well as enjoyment and a
desire to continue sport participation. P or these athletes, a positive relationship
developed with their parent that is maintained today. One athlete indicated that the
experience was negative and feedback was perceived as pressuring and controlling,
which resulted in lowered self-perceptions as well as enjoyment and a desire to continue
in the sport. The child currently views the relationship as unidimensional, existing
through common sport interests only.

Perceptions of feedback appeared to be mediated by age and gender. Athletes
were open to parent-coach feedback during younger years, but were resistant to feedback
during adolescence, especially if provided outside the sport arena. However, these
adolescents were open to additional feedback and instruction when they requested it.
Additionally, daughters viewed expectations from their father-coach as pressuring,

whereas sons viewed expectations as an indication of their competence.

Cepyright by
Peggy S. McCann
2005

For my parents:

To my mom who has always provided encouragement, love, and support in whatever I
have chosen to do. In loving memory of my father, who faced so many obstacles with
courage. To both, for instilling the value of hard work and never giving up on my
dreams.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would ﬁrst and foremost like to thank my advisor and mentor Dr. Marty Ewing
for her never-ending guidance and support on this project as well as during my doctoral
work. Your patience and words of wisdom will never be forgotten. Additionally, I
would like to thank my committee members: Dr. Crystal Branta, Dr. Deborah Feltz, and
Dr. Holly Brophy-Herb. Your insight and support were amazing. To Dr. Larry Lauer, I
say thank you for your keen insight and thoughts as we were analyzing the data. Finally,
thank you to the participants in this study for taking the time to share your experiences.

I would also like to thank my many supporters and friends at Michigan State,
including those who have come and gone. A special thanks to fellow graduate students
Mary Barron and Ryan Hedstrom for your encouragement and little ways of making me
laugh. I will cherish the memories. It’s been a great ride!

Finally, to Flo, my biggest supporter and bearer of the stressful times. Thank you
for your love, support, encouragement, and space during the entire process. I know that

you made some sacriﬁces in my interests.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................... xi
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................. xii
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction ..................................................................... 1
Signiﬁcance of the Problem ................................................................... 12
Need for the Study .............................................................................. 13
Delimitations, Limitations, and Assumption ................................................ 13 4
CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review ............................................................ 15
Competence Motivation Theory .............................................................. 15
Related research in sport and physical activity .................................... 19
Information sources of physical competence ...................................... 22
Inﬂuence of Signiﬁcant Others on Competence Motivation Constructs... . . . . . . . . . . ...25
Parental inﬂuences .................................................................... 25
Parental behaviors ..................................................................... 26
Parental beliefs ........................................................................ 31
Parental attitudes ...................................................................... 33
Inﬂuence of the coach ................................................................. 36
Parent-coach inﬂuence ................................................................ 41
The Parent and Child/Adolescent Relationship ............................................. 45
Continuity and transformations in relationships ................................... 46
Impact of parenting style and practices on child/adolescent development. . ..52
Issues Surrounding Retrospective Reports .................................................. 54
Summary ......................................................................................... 57
CHAPTER THREE: Method ...................................................................... 61
Participants ........................................................................................ 61
Instrumentation .................................................................................. 62
Child-athlete demographic survey ................................................... 62
Parent-coach demographic survey ................................................... 63
Child-athlete interview guide ......................................................... 63
Parent-coach interview guide ......................................................... 64
Procedures ........................................................................................ 65
Data Analysis ..................................... _ ............................................... 67
CHAPTER FOUR: Results of Child-Athlete Responses ...................................... 70
Dual Role Inﬂuence on Relationship .......................................................... 70
Positive/ strengthen relationship ........................................................ 71
Negative/strain on relationship ......................................................... 77
No perceived impact ..................................................................... 78
Positive Outcomes for Child-Athlete ......................................................... 79
Perks ....................................................................................... 80
Learning from parent ..................................................................... 82

vii

Sharing with parent ...................................................................... 84

Miscellaneous positive outcomes ...................................................... 85
Negative Outcomes for Child Athlete ......................................................... 87
Inappropriate expectations as perceived by child .................................... 88
Teammates expressed displeasure to coach’s child ................................. 90
Conﬂict with parent-coach .............................................................. 91
Perception of Feedback Type .................................................................. 93
Verbal ...................................................................................... 94
Visual ...................................................................................... 96
Actions of parent-coach ................................................................. 97
General Interpretation of Feedback ............................................................ 99
Impact on Conﬁdence in Ability ............................................................. 103
Instilled conﬁdence .................................................................... 104
Reinforced self-perception ............................................................ 107
Delayed understanding of how to develop .......................................... 107

latent realization of ability ........................................................... 108

No impact on conﬁdence in ability .................................................. 109
Motivational Orientation of Child-Athlete .................................................. l 11
Externally referenced .................................................................. l 1 1
Internally referenced ................................................................... l 12
Instilled Values and Beliefs About Sport ................................................... 114
Value in trying new activities ......................................................... 114
Enjoyment of the game ................................................................ 115
Instilled a sense of advocacy ......................................................... 115
Instilled a love for the game .......................................................... 115
Instilled the value of effort ............................................................ 116
Conﬂicted motivation .................................................................. 1 16

Other coaches impacted motivation .................................................. 116
Impact on Enjoyment .......................................................................... 117
Fun because of winning ................................................................ 117

Fun being with friends/being on a team. ............................................. 118

Fun to create a bond with parent ..................................................... 118

Fun because good at sport ............................................................. 118

Fun to be a part of competition ........................................................ 119
Positive memories about the sport experience ....................................... 119
Created stress due to lack of fun ....................................................... 119
Summary ......................................................................................... 119
CHAPTER FIVE: Results of Parent-Coach Responses ....................................... 123
Dual Role Inﬂuence ............................................................................. 123
Sport experience strengthened bonds .................................................. 124
Negative/strained relationship .......................................................... 127

No perceived impact ..................................................................... 128
Positive Outcomes/Personal Rewards ........................................................ 130
Enhanced self-perceptions through success with children ........................... 131
Enhanced coaching knowledge .......................................................... 133

viii

Winning ....................................................................................... 134

Miscellaneous personal rewards ......................................................... 134
Frustrations of Parent-Coach ................................................................... 135
Dealing with parent complaints .......................................................... 136
Teenage child not listening to parent while coaching ................................. 137
Helping child through difﬁcult time ..................................................... 137
Participation/playing time rules .......................................................... 138
Parent-Coaches Perception of Their Feedback ............................................... 139
Positive instructional ....................................................................... 140
Encouraging/reinforcing/praise ........................................................... 141
Goal-oriented discussions .................................................................. 141
Mistake-contingent negative reinforcement ............................................. 142
Interpretation of Child’s Response to Feedback. ........................................... 142
Child put forth more effort ................................................................. 143
Child’s personality facilitated response ................................................... 144
Child interpreted as pressuring ............................................................ 144
Child interpretation was inconsistent ...................................................... 144
Child did not use feedback .................................................................. 145
Perception of Child’s Motivation to Continue in Sport ...................................... 145
Impacted career choice ..................................................................... 146
Built a foundation for later sport participation .......................................... 147
Perception of child’s enjoyment ................................................................ 147
Child looked forward to playing ........................................................... 148
Child’s accomplishments contributed to enjoyment .................................... 149
Child liked sport and competition ......................................................... 149
Child had ability .............................................................................. 149
Child liked being on a team/ﬁiends ........................................................ 150
Child enjoyed sports but had other interests .............................................. 150
Summary ........................................................................................... 150
CHAPTER SIX: Discussion ..................................................................... 153
Introduction ........................................................................................ 153
Impact of Dual Role on Relationship ........................................................... 155
Personal Outcomes Examined Through Competence Motivation Theory ................ 160
Implications ........................................................................................ 168
Recommendations for Future Research ........................................................ 171
Conclusion .......................................................................................... 174

ix

APPENDD( A: Child-Athlete Demographic Survey ........................................ 175

APPENDD( B: Parent-Coach Demographic Survey ......................................... 178
APPENDD( C: Child-Athlete Interview Guide ............................................... 181
APPENDD( D: Parent-Coach Interview Guide ............................................... 185
APPENDD( E: Child—Athlete Informed Consent Form ...................................... 188
APPENDD( F: Parent-Coach Informed Consent Form ...................................... 190
APPENDIX G: Themes and Quotes of All Participants ..................................... 192
APPENDIX H: UCRIHS Approval Letter .................................................... 238
REFERENCES ..................................................................................... 241

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Demographics of Each Dyad ........................................................... 62

xi

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Competence motivation theory ....................................................... 16
Figure 2: Child-athletes’ perceptions of the dual role on the relationship .................. 71
Figure 3: Positive outcomes for child-athletes .................................................. 80
Figure 4: Negative outcomes for child-athletes ................................................ 88
Figure 5: Child-athletes’ perception of feedback type ......................................... 94
Figure 6: Child-athletes’ general interpretation of feedback ................................ 100
Figure 7: Impact on child-athletes’ conﬁdence in ability .................................... 104
Figure 8: Motivational orientation of child-athletes .......................................... 111
Figure 9: Instilled values and beliefs about sport ............................................. 114
Figure 10: Impact of child-athletes’ enjoyment ............................................... 117
Figure 11: Parent-coaches’ perceptions of the dual role on the relationship .............. 124
Figure 12: Positive outcomes/personal rewards for parent-coaches ........................ 131
Figure 13: Frustrations of parent-coach ........................................................ 136
Figure 14: Parent-coaches’ perception of their feedback .................................... 140
Figure 15: Interpretation of child’s response to feedback ................................... 143

Figure 16: Parent-coaches’ perception of their child’s motivation to continue in sport.146

Figure 17: Parent-coaches’ perception of their child’s enjoyment ......................... 148

xii

CHAPTER ONE
Introduction

In the United States the number of children involved in organized sports has
grown exponentially over the past several decades. An estimated 45 million children
under the age of 18 participate in either school sponsored or agency sponsored programs
(Ewing & Seefeldt, 2002). The rise of organized youth sports for children is an outgrowth
of the changing family structure (e.g., one parent households and two-parent working
families) and how both families and children are viewed (e.g., need for structure in
children’s lives) in society (Coakley, 2004). With this outgrowth of organized programs,
a growing number of adults have and continue to become involved in children’s lives.
Signiﬁcant adults, such as coaches and parents have the capacity to inﬂuence children’s
self-perceptions, affective responses, and motivational processes in the sport and physical
activity domain. Therefore, it is important that both coaches and parents understand their
roles in making the sport experience positive for children.

Moreover, with the addition of organized youth sport programs a growing number
of parents are coaching their own children. In a survey of 423 volunteer youth sport
coaches, Gould and Martens (1979) found that 52% of the volunteers coached their own
children. This trend appears to have increased overt the past 25 years. Recently, it has
been estimated that approximately 90% of the youth sport coaches in this country are a
parent to at least one member on the team (Brown, 1998). Because so many parents are
involved in coaching their own children, research is warranted to provide insight into
how these parents keep the relationship positive both on and off the playing ﬁeld or court.

The purposes of this study were: (a) to explore how the parent-coach dual role inﬂuences

the relationship between the parent-coach and child, both positive and negative; and (b)
to explore the inﬂuence of the parent-coach’s feedback in forming the athlete’s self-
perceptions, affective responses, and motivational outcomes.

The behaviors of parents and coaches are crucial to the development of
competence and self-esteem in young children (Baxter, 1978, 1981, 1990). Particularly,
Harter’s Model of Competence Motivation (1978, 1981) highlights how feedback,
manifested through modeling and reinforcement from signiﬁcant adults, can enhance or
impede positive developmental outcomes for children in many domains, including sports,
academics, and social situations. Essentially, when children experience success and
receive approval and reinforcement from adults and peers, they experience increased
perceptions of competence and control, positive affect, and an increased desire to
demonstrate competence in that achievement domain. On the other hand, if children
experience unsuccessful mastery attempts and receive inappropriate or no reinforcement
from signiﬁcant others, anxiety in mastery situations increases, external perceptions of
control develop along with a dependence on others as a reward system, and perceptions
of competence and enjoyment diminish.

Developmentally, as children cognitively mature and receive the needed
reinforcement and feedback from adults and peers when performing mastery attempts,
their reliance on external information (e. g., socializing agents) will shift toward an
internal standard for judging their performance (i.e., improvement and effort) (Harter,
1978, 1981). In sport, parents are essential to the developing processes in early
childhood. If young children receive encouraging and informative feedback from parents

during the years they are developing their skills, and subsequently their perceptions of

competence, it is highly likely that they will develop an internal reward system. If,
however, children receive evaluative feedback and/or continuously fail to meet parents’
expectations, then it is highly likely that they will come to depend on the parent for
information about their successes and failures, which becomes controlling and reduces
enjoyment and the desire to continue participating. Once children reach middle childhood
to early adolescence they should develop this internal system for judging their success in
achievement domains. Ifby the time they reach adolescence, these young individuals
have not received appropriate feedback from signiﬁcant others, they will continue to rely
on external sources of information (e.g., signiﬁcant others) for judging their competence.
Research supports this tenet of Harter’s (1978, 1981) model. Young children
(prior to the age of 7 years) garner information about their competence from adult
feedback, especially parents, while older children (8-14 years) rely on peer comparison
and the coach’s feedback (Horn, Glenn, & Wentzell, 1993; Horn & Hasbrook, 1986;
Horn & Weiss, 1991; Weiss, Ebbeck, & Horn, 1997). In addition, children 10 to 14 years
of age with high perceived physical competence and an internal perception of control rely
on peer comparison, feedback from coaches, internal standards, and affective reactions to
their sport as information sources. Those athletes having an external sense of control
exhibit a greater orientation toward the use of the outcome of the game, and parent and
spectator feedback as sources of competence information (Horn & Hasbrook, 1987;
Weiss, Bredemeier, & Shewchuk, 1986). Thus, those athletes who have reached middle
childhood or early adolescence and exhibit an external motivational orientation will

continue to rely on others for judgments about their successes and failures.

In the physical activity domain, parents, peers, and coaches are the key sources of
information regarding competence, however it is not known how the parent as coach may
inﬂuence his/her child’s self-perceptions. Likewise, it is not known how youth select or
determine if information from someone who serves a dual role is controlling or not.
Perhaps the parent’s perceived value of the activity will affect the type of feedback given
to the child, and ultimately, the relationship between the parent and child.

Previous research provides a glimpse into parents’ and children’s perceptions of
the dual role relationship. Evans (1985) found that most parent-coaches and their
children perceived positive experiences as a result of their relationship in sport. What is
most interesting, however, is the impact the dual role had on the parent-coaches’
perceptions of what was expected of them and the coaches’ subsequent behavior toward
their child. Some reported giving less frequent positive feedback and reduced playing
time for their child. In addition, others reported an inability to “let go” of their coaching
role when they should be in their parental role.

Weiss and Fretwell (in press) provided a more detailed account of how having a
parent in a dual-role impacts both the parent and child. They argued that simultaneously
the relationship can be cordial, contentious, and create a conundrum. A cordial
relationship occurred between the parent-coach and his son when the parent had positive
responses to his child’s performance, the parent provided skill instruction, the parent
provided social support, the parent held positive competency beliefs, and when the parent
and son spent time together in sport-related activities. In addition, other positive
dimensions mentioned by the players highlighted parental inﬂuence in the form of

providing experiences and interpreting experiences. A contentious relationship occurred

when sons interpreted their father’s behavior as pressuring, having high expectations,
creating conﬂict, being critical, having lack of empathy, and receiving preferential
treatment. Fathers reported a contentious relationship when their sons displayed
negative feelings and rebellious behavior. A conundrum occurred when the dual role of
parent-coach or child-athlete was not separated when the child perceived that it was
appropriate to do so.

This research had limitations, however, as Weiss and Fretwell (in press) examined
father-son dyads only. Anecdotally, it is evident that an abundance of fathers and
mothers coach their sons and daughters. Additionally, the coaching style, feedback, and
instructional methods employed by mothers and fathers may differ whether coaching a
son or daughter, which in turn may impact children differently. Therefore, research must
address the impact of fathers coaching daughters and mothers coaching their daughters as
well as their sons. The current study attempted to do so. Additionally, Weiss and
Fretwell reported positive and negative outcomes only. From their research, it is not
known the long-term impact of having a parent as a coach nor is it known what
mechanisms facilitate or restrain the relationship, such as feedback. The current study
addressed these limitations as well.

To provide insight into how feedback ﬁ'om parent-coaches might facilitate the
parent-coach and child-athlete relationship, an examination of the literature on parent and
coach inﬂuences is necessary. Parents are especially important to children in the early
sport socialization years and have been described as the most important inﬂuence on their
child’s involvement and continued involvement in sport (Greendorfer & Lewko, 197 8;

Woogler & Power, 1993). When children perceive that parents are exhibiting low

pressure, are encouraging, and are supportive, more positive developmental outcomes
occur. For example, Brustad (1988, 1993) found that low perceived parental pressure
was associated with higher-season long enjoyment for both boys and girls and parental
encouragement and parental enjoyment of physical activity were signiﬁcantly related to
children’s perceived physical competence and attraction to physical activity. Similarly,
Leff and Hoyle (1995) found that tennis players between the ages of 6 and 18 who
perceived high parental support, reported higher levels of enjoyment and self-esteem.
Finally, Babkes and Weiss (1999) found that children who perceived that their mothers
and fathers had more positive beliefs about their soccer competence, who gave higher
amounts of positive contingent responses for success, and who served as positive role
models through their own exercise behavior, reported greater preference for optimal
challenges and use of internal criteria to determine competence, as well as higher
perceived soccer competence and enjoyment of soccer participation. Taken together,
these results might indicate that parent-coaches can positively impact their child’s self-
perceptions by reducing the pressure placed on the child and increasing support.
Additionally, the level of parental encouragement that children receive may
depend on the expectations parents have for their children, which, in turn, affect the
children’s sense of their own abilities. Green and Chalip (1997) found that higher
paternal expectations inspired more encouragement and bolstered children’s level of
involvement as well as their child’s level of perceived skill competence in soccer.
Expectations of parents may also be dependent on both the gender of the child and the
parent. For example, boys have been found to perceive greater support from parents than

girls; and boys reported being more physically active than girls (Anderson & Wold,

1992) implying that parents may have higher expectations for boys in the physical
activity domain.

Furthermore, fathers and mothers have been found to hold differential
expectations for their sons’ and daughters’ future success in sport. In a very recent study,
boys were more likely to believe that they could compete at all levels especially the
professional level, fathers were more likely than mothers to believe that their children
could become Olympians, and fathers believed that their daughters had a greater chance
of becoming Olympians than did their sons (Martin, Richardson, Weiller, & Jackson,
2004). These results indicate that fathers tend to have higher expectations for their
children in sport and they have more positive beliefs about their daughter’s future success
than their son’s future success. Generally, fathers have held higher beliefs about their
sons’ future success in sport than for their daughters (Averill & Power, 1995; [eff &
Hoyle, 1995); which indicates that fathers’ beliefs about their daughters’ participation in
sport are changing with the current times in society. Girls are offered more opportunities
to participate, are receiving more media exposure, and have opportunities to compete at
more elite and professional levels. These results indicate that differences in coaching
style may occur between fathers who coach a son as compared to a daughter. Mothers
may demonstrate a consistent style of coaching both sons and daughters, although very
little is known about mothers coaching their sons.

Finally, parents who have strong beliefs about their child’s physical competence,
inﬂuence their child’s self-perceptions, value toward sport, and decision to engage in
sport and physical activity. Eccles and Harold (1991) found that children’s perceptions

of the value of their sport involvement to their parents was signiﬁcantly related to

children’s self-perceptions of physical ability. In turn, children’s perceptions of their
ability were linked to their levels of participatory involvement in sport. Girls reported
that their parents placed lower value on their sport participation than the parents of the
boys. Similar ﬁndings have been reported by other studies examining children’s and
parents’ beliefs about moderate-to-vigorous activity (Dempsey, Kimiecik, & Horn, 1993;
Kimiecik, Horn, & Shurin, 1996). Therefore, parent-coaches who believe that their child
has competence in sport may positively inﬂuence their child’s perception of competence.

The perceptions that children have of their coaches’ behaviors and feedback are
also linked to their motivational processes. Coaches who provide instructional and
supportive feedback are more likely to coach children who report higher levels of
enjoyment and lower attrition rates than those coaches who engage in less of this type of
feedback. Those athletes who perceive more instructional and supportive feedback have
greater positive changes in self-esteem, particularly those athletes who had reported low
self-esteem prior to the start of the season (Barnett, Smoll, & Smith, 1992; Smith &
Smoll, 1990).

Moreover, children may interpret feedback differently based on self-perceptions,
coaches’ perceptions, and the context in which the feedback is delivered. For example,
Horn (1984, 1985) found that athletes’ interpretation was dependent on the performance
expectations of both the coach and player. Results suggested that greater frequency of no
reinforcement was associated with lower perceptions of competence. Surprisingly,
greater instances of positive reinforcement for mastery attempts and performance were
associated with lower perceived softball competence as well. And, criticism for

performance errors were linked to increases in perceived competence. Athletes who were

low in expectancies for success as compared to athletes expecting higher levels of
success, likely received more frequent positive reinforcement for easy tasks, therefore,
perceiving this information as an indication that they possessed low competence in
softball. On the other hand, those athletes expecting success, who frequently received
criticism from coaches, may have perceived this information as coaches having higher
expectations, thereby resulting in more positive competence beliefs. These results
highlight the complex nature of feedback from signiﬁcant adults and how interpretations
of feedback often are not what are intuitively expected.

Finally, there have been conﬂicting reports on how boys and girls may interpret
feedback from coaches. Female and male swimmers aged 10-18 who perceived that their
coaches provided more praise and information following desirable performances and who
perceived more frequent encouragement and encouragement plus information following
undesirable performances demonstrated increases in positive self-perceptions (Black &
Weiss, 1992). Conversely, Allen and Howe (1998) found female ﬁeld hockey athletes
aged 14 to 18 years interpreted encouragement and instruction differently following a
mistake. Adolescent females experienced lower perceptions of competence when they
received ﬁequent encouragement and corrective information for skill errors. It may be
that females are more sensitive to corrective information from coaches. Speciﬁcally,
adolescent females who receive a high frequency of corrective information from the
coach following mistakes, although encouraging, may still perceive this information as an
indication of failure, which in turn results in lower perceptions of competence. In
addition, encouragement and corrective information in response to errors is a form of

helping behavior indicating a need for improvement and, hence, lower perceptions of

competence. These contradictory ﬁndings require additional investigation. Moreover,
having a parent as a coach may further complicate the child’s interpretation of the
feedback.

Common throughout the research on the parent, coach, and parent as coach is how
feedback can directly impact the child’s motivational processes, whether it is the
development of an intemal/external sense of control, high/low perceptions of
competence, levels of enjoyment, or motivation to continue. Not known, however, is how
children who are coached by their parents interpret and use feedback from their parent-
coach. Additionally, a void exists in parent-coaches’ interpretation of the feedback they
provide their own children and how their feedback impacts their children. Therefore,
questions to consider in this study were: (a) What is the role of feedback on self-
perceptions, level of enjoyment, and motivational outcomes over time?, (b) What is the
parent-coach’s perception of his/her feedback?, and (c) What is the child-athlete’s
perception of the feedback?

Also not known is how positive and negative experiences on the ﬁeld or court
inﬂuence the parent-child relationship over time. How does the dual role of the parent as
coach inﬂuence the relationship between the child-athlete and parent-coach? What are
the positive outcomes for children who have parents as coaches and for parents who
coach their own children? What are the negative outcomes for children who have parents
as coaches and for parents who coach their own children?

The research on parent and child/adolescent relationships provides a vision of
what one might expect to happen with the relationship in a sporting context. Wylleman

(1995) found that talented athletes had positive perceptions of their relationships with

10

parents and coaches that were context speciﬁc, such as on the court/ﬁeld or at home. If a
parent were to assume a dual role of coach, however, the perceptions of the child may
differ. For example, conﬂict may occur between the parent and child because of this dual
role. It seems that most adolescents report having a happy and content relationship with
their parents, but it is unknown how the dual-role may impact this relationship.
Relationships with parents have been found to have both continuity and transformation
and most conﬂict (e.g., disagreements and behavioral opposition of the child) between
parents and adolescents is reported to occur because of conﬂict that occurred prior to
adolescence (Larson, Richards, Moneta, Holrnbeck, & Duckett, 1996; Savin-Williams, &
Small, 1986). There is an immense opportunity for parents to coach their children at
earlier ages due to a need in this country for coaches at the youth sport level. Coaching
an early or late maturing child may complicate the parent’s ability to have a symbiotic
relationship with his or her child in and outside of sport. It appears that adopting an
authoritative parenting style might buffer against some of the conﬂict that may occur in
these relationships (e.g., Steinberg, Larnborn, Darling, Mounts, & Dombusch, 1994).
Differences between relationships with mothers and fathers may further
complicate the issue of coaching one’s child. Sons and daughters have reported feeling
closer to their mothers than their fathers. Most children have also reported that they view
their father as the authority ﬁgure and feel uncomfortable talking with their father about
personal issues (e.g., Youniss & Smollar, 1985). Ifchildren are to he coached by their
father, it is likely they will feel uncomfortable talking with their father about conﬂictual
issues. Conversely, sport may offer the opportunity to draw children closer to their

parents, especially their fathers.

ll

In sum, the purpose of this study was (a) to explore how the parent-coach dual
role inﬂuences the relationship between the parent-coach and child, both positive and
negative; and (b) to explore the inﬂuence of the parent-coach’s feedback in forming the
athlete’s self-perceptions, affective responses, and motivational outcomes. Additionally,
the following research questions were addressed via retrospective interviews with parents
who had coached their children and their now adult-child: (a) What is the role of
feedback on self-perceptions, level of enjoyment, and motivational outcomes over time?,
What is the parent-coach’s perception of his/her feedback?, and What is the child-
athlete’s perception of the feedback?, (b) How does the dual role of the parent as coach
inﬂuence the relationship between the child-athlete and parent-coach?, (c) What are the
positive outcomes for children who have parents as coaches and for parents who coach
their own children?, and (d) What are the negative outcomes for children who have
parents as coaches and for parents who coach their own children?

Significance of the Problem

Results of this study will be valuable to parents who wish to coach their children.
More speciﬁcally, parents will be provided with insight into coaching one’s child ﬁ'om
those who have experienced it. It is hoped that parents will be provided with information
on effective and ineffective methods for helping their child, as well as maintaining
harmony in the relationship. Research results may provide insight into possible
differences in coaching a son as opposed to a daughter. Parents will also gain an
understanding of how conﬂict created by the dual roles may not necessarily lead to long-

terrn conﬂict in the relationship

12

Additionally, coaching education programs will beneﬁt ﬁom information found in
this study in training their coaches, many of whom are parents with a child on the team.
It is reasonable to assume that results will indicate that coaching onc’s child will have
similarities to coaching children in general, but it is reasonable to assume that differences
will exist as well. Results may lead coaching educators to consider speciﬁc training for
parents who coach their own children.

Need for Study

The current study is important in order to provide empirical information about
positive and negative outcomes for parent-coaches and child-athletes, as well as
mechanisms for keeping the relationship positive. Currently, there is little or no
information on this topic. With the enormous numbers of parents coaching their own
children, it is important to provide guidance to these individuals. It is safe to assume that
most parents are “learning as they go” when coaching their child. Parent-coaches must
understand that it is important to enhance their child’s self-perceptions (as well as other
children on the team), but they must understand how the dual role can or may create
conﬂict in the relationship. Consequently, parent-coaches must be provided scientiﬁc
information about how to keep the relationship harmonious and understand how the
relationship can be impacted over the long-term.

Delimitations, Limitations, and Assumptions

Delirnitations for this study included a small sample of participants and the use of
retrospective interviews. The sample was delimited to adult-children and their parent
coach. Children must have been coached between the ages of 10 and 18 years.

Therefore, the speciﬁcity of the population limits the generalizability of the results. The

13

small sample size limits the generalizability as well. The study was delimited by the use
of retrospective interviews as well. Obviously, the use of retrospective interviews
presents limitations, such as the possibility that respondents will experience some degree
of forgetfulness (Hardt & Rutter, 2004; Loftus, 1994; Rutter, Maughan, Pickles, &
Simonoﬂ‘, 1998). However, people tend to remember whether an event occurred more so
than the sequence of events (Hardt & Rutter, 2004). An additional limitation to the study
was that the interviewer was able to conduct face-to-face interviews with ﬁve participants
only. Therefore, due to ﬁnancial constraints, 17 interviews were conducted via telephone
as travel was not feasible. Having a face-to-face interview as opposed to a telephone
interview may have inﬂuenced participants’ responses, although this did not seem
apparent to the interviewer. Assumptions of the study included that participants would be
honest in responding to questions. In addition, it was assumed that respondents would
provide accurate information that they were able to remember as well as providing their
own perspective of the events that occurred rather than what would be considered as
socially acceptable. Providing respondents with a copy of the questions prior to the

interview was done to facilitate recall and assure the veracity of responses.

14

CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review

The literature review will begin with an overview of the theoretical framework
that provided the conceptual basis for this study. Major tenets within the theory will be
discussed as well as studies conducted in sport that have addressed these tenets.
Additional research examining parents’ and coaches’ inﬂuence on child and adolescent
developmental outcomes will be covered as well. Pertinent information within the
parent-child/adolescent relationship literature will be addressed as well as issues
surrounding the use of retrospective recall methodologies. The review of literature will
conclude with a synthesis of the literature and concluding remarks.
Competence Motivation Theory

A useful paradigm for studying young athletes' development in sport and the
inﬂuence of signiﬁcant adults on that development is Competence Motivation Theory
(Harter, 1978, 1981). Harter asserts that judgments children form about their capabilities
(perceived competence) in speciﬁc achievement domains (e.g., athletic, academic, and
social), will affect their motivation, self-worth, and subsequent performance in those
domains. However, the level of motivation to be competent in each domain will differ
within and between children. Also, contributing to the differences in motivation is the
inﬂuence of parents and teachers/coaches.

According to Harter (1978, 1981, Figure 1), children have an intrinsic desire to
develop competence in achievement arenas, such as academics, sports, or peer

relationships. It is theorized that young children become involved in mastery attempts in

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16

a particular domain to satisfy their need to be competent. Children high in intrinsic desire
to be competent in a domain will seek optimally challenging tasks compared to children
low in intrinsic desire. If children experience success at optimally challenging tasks, they
will experience heightened levels of self-perceptions (perceived competence and internal
control) and positive affective responses in the form of enjoyment, pride, and pleasure.

In addition, if children receive appropriate reinforcement and approval from signiﬁcant
adults and peers that is contingent to their mastery attempts, perceptions of competence
and control should be positively inﬂuenced. Levels of enjoyment and other positive
emotions should increase as well as a desire to continue demonstrating competence in
that achievement domain. Conversely, if children experience unsuccessful mastery
attempts and receive inappropriate or no reinforcement from signiﬁcant others, anxiety in
mastery situations increases, external perceptions of control develop along with a
dependence on others as a reward system, and perceptions of competence and enjoyment
diminish.

Developmentally, socializing agents are key to the child’s subsequent ability to
develop either an external motivational orientation or an internal motivational orientation.
An internal motivational orientation is the tendency for an individual to use self-
rewarding behavior, internal criteria for judging competence, and independent judgments
to deﬁne success. Individuals who are extrinsically motivated, however, will continue to
rely on others as a reward system and use external means (i.e., the outcome of the
competition) to deﬁne success and competence. Speciﬁcally, as children cognitively
mature and receive the needed reinforcement and feedback from adults and peers when

performing mastery attempts, their reliance on external information (e.g., socializing

17

agents) will shift toward an internal standard (i.e., improvement and effort) for judging
their performance (I-Iarter, 1978, 1981). In sport, parents are essential to the developing
processes in early childhood. If young children receive the needed feedback ﬁom parents
during this time period and this feedback is perceived as enhancing rather than
controlling, it is highly likely that children will develop an internal reward system. If,
however, these children do not, then it is highly likely that they will come to depend on
the parent for information about their successes and failures, which becomes controlling
and reduces enjoyment and the desire to continue participating. Once children reach
middle childhood to early adolescence they should develop this internal system for
judging their success in achievement domains. If by the time they reach adolescence,
these young individuals have not received appropriate feedback from signiﬁcant others,
they will continue to rely on external sources of information (e.g., signiﬁcant others) for
judging their competence.

Perceptions of control are critical to the socialization processes of children into
sport. Perceived control is the degree of responsibility children feel for their successes
and failures (Harter, 1978, 1981). Children who develop an internal sense of control
believe that they are responsible for their successes and failures; whereas, children who
develop an external sense of control believe that others are responsible for their successes
and failures. Children with an unknown sense of control do not know who is responsible
for their successes and failures (Harter & Connell, 1984). Harter and Connell have
indicated the type and frequency of feedback that children receive is crucial to the
development of perceptions of control. During the middle childhood years (6 to 12

years) the development of the internalization process occurs (Harter, 197 8, 1981) and,

18

hence, the feedback from signiﬁcant others becomes ever important. The cognitive
limitations that these children experience allow for some judgments of the self, but are
predominantly based on the judgments of signiﬁcant others (Harter, 1999). Therefore,
the type of feedback ﬁom teachers, coaches, parents, and peers becomes extremely
important during this time. It is not known how the parent as coach may inﬂuence
his/her child’s self-perceptions. Likewise, it is not known how youth select or determine
if information from someone who serves a dual role is controlling or not. Perhaps the
parent’s perceived value of the activity will affect the type of feedback given to the child,
and ultimately, the relationship between the parent and child.

Related research in sport and physical activity. Competence Motivation Theory
(Harter, 1978, 1981) as applied to the youth sport setting would argue that young athletes
must develop an adequate perception of competence to experience positive affective
reactions to their sport, and to develop a sense of control about the outcomes in their
sport. Research has demonstrated that children who have high perceptions of physical
competence are more likely to experience greater beneﬁts ﬁ'om their sport participation
than those children with low perceptions of competence. For example, children higher in
perceptions of physical competence have been found to demonstrate more adaptive
causal attributions for success than children lower in perceptions of competence (Weiss,
McAuley, Ebbeck, & Wiese, 1990). These researchers examined the relationship
between perceived physical competence and causal attributions for athletic performance
in children 8 to 13 years of age who were attending a sports camp. Children with high
perceptions of physical competence and performance success made attributions that were

personally controllable, internal, and stable while children low in perceptions of physical

l9

competence and success perceptions made attributions that were less personably
controllable, less internal, and less stable. In addition, those high in perceived
competence perceived greater success in the sports camp, expected to be more successful
in sport, and rated their success due to more stable factors than those children low in
perceived competence.

Enjoyment has been linked to perceptions of competence as well. Boyd and Yin
(1996) found that for boys (Mag, = 15.04 years) who had participated in sport for at least
one year perceived competence accounted for the greatest amount of variance in
explaining enjoyment. In addition, it was discovered that adopting a task orientation
resulted in the greatest level of perceived competence. Hence, these results suggest that
adopting a task orientation leads to higher levels of perceived competence and ultimately
higher levels of enjoyment in sport. 0

Additionally, higher perceptions of competence have been linked to participation
motivation and attrition from sport. Klint and Weiss (1987) found that motives differed
for gymnasts aged 8-16 years based on their perceptions of competence. These
researchers found that those gymnasts high in perceived physical competence rated skill
development as a more important reason for participation than did those low in
perceptions of competence. In addition, those perceiving themselves as physically
competent in their sport cited afﬁliation/team atmosphere as a more important motive
than those low in physical competence. It was surmised that participants viewed team
atmosphere as a vehicle for improving skills and reaching higher levels of competition.
Overall ﬁndings indicated that those high in perceptions of competence cited reasons for

participation that were more intrinsic in nature. These results further support the need for

20

coaches to develop competence by focusing their practices and feedback on self-
referenced means, such as improving individual skills.

Self-referenced criteria for the development of competence are essential to
encourage and keep children involved in sport participation. For example, there is some
indication that those low in perceived competence tend to either not participate in sport or
drop-out of sport. Roberts, Kleiber, and Duda (1981) found that athletes aged 9 to 11
reported higher levels of perceived physical competence, cognitive competence, and
general self-worth compared to non-participants. In addition, F eltz and Petlichkoff
(1983) found that interscholastic athletes reported higher perceptions of competence than
drop-outs of interscholastic athletics.

Finally, it seems that there are developmental differences in the level and
accuracy of perceived physical competence as well as perceptions of control,
motivational orientation, and affect. In two studies conducted by Weiss and Horn (1990,
1991) it was found that children became more accurate in their perceived competence as
they aged. Children 8-9 years of age were signiﬁcantly less accurate than children 10-13
years of age based on teachers’ ratings. In addition, gender differences have been found
in relation to those children who are underestimators, accurate estimators, and
overestimators of their competence. Girls who were underestimators of their ability rated
external sources of control higher than accurate raters, but were not different on unknown
sources of control. These results suggest that girls who underestimate their ability may
be more likely to make attributions to lack of ability for one’s failures and attributions to
others for one’s successes. Boys who underestimated their ability rated unknown control

higher than boys who were accurate or overestimators of their abilities, but similar on

21

external control sources. These results suggest that boys who underestimate their ability
may be less willing to disclose what they thought were the reasons for winning and losing
games or simply did not know what the sources for these outcomes were. Boys who
were accurate in their estimates of ability were signiﬁcantly higher on perceived external
control than boys who overestimated and girls who were accurate in their estimates. In
addition, girls who were underestimators were less intrinsically motivated to pursue
optimally challenging activities than were accurate estimators or overestimators. Boys’
scores on challenging motivation for under-and accurate estimators were similar in
intrinsic motivation and these scores were lower than those of overestimators. And
ﬁnally, girls reported higher levels of anxiety than boys. The authors suggested that
gender differences could be explained by the saliency of what is a good and bad
performance to boys and girls and the differing expectations placed on them by coaches,
parents, and peers. These gender and developmental differences in perceptions of
competence, control, and other constructs might best be explained by examining how
children come to form their competence in sport and ﬂour what sources children draw
information about their competence.

Information sources of physical competence. Inherent in competence motivation
theory (Harter, 1978) is the need to discover how positive self-perceptions are formed. In
other words, what criteria are used to help form perceptions of physical competence?
Several studies have, in fact, investigated this very question.

One of the ﬁrst studies in sport to investigate this question occurred with youth
soccer players ages 8 to 14 years (Horn & Hasbrook, 1986). The children were assigned

to age groups (i.e., 8-9 years; 10-11 years; and 12-14 years). Each completed an

22

adaptation of the Competence Information Scale. This instrument contains 12
information sources (e.g., coaches’ feedback, tearnmates’ feedback, and teammates’
performance). Results revealed that the dependence on adult feedback, particularly
parents, declined with age, whereas, peer comparison increased with age. In other words,
younger children tended to rely on feedback from adults to form perceptions of their
competence and the older children were dependent on peer comparison, such as
outperforming their peers in a sport.

In a follow-up study, Horn and Hasbrook (1987) were interested in determining if
children’s level of perceived competence and perceived control constituted additional
factors affecting the self-evaluation process. Results for this study indicated that for
younger children (i.e., 8 and 9 years) perceived competence and control were not related
to sources of information. This ﬁnding supported the postulate that younger children
would not understand the relationship between variables due to insufﬁcient cognitive
maturity and ability to internalize standards. For the older age groups higher perceived
competence and control revealed a greater dependence on peer comparison, internal
standards, affective reactions to the sport, game outcome, and parental feedback.

Horn and colleagues (Horn, Glenn, & Wentzell, 1993) then extended their interest
regarding information sources into the adolescent years. These researchers were
interested in adolescents in two age groups (l4-15-year-olds and 16-18-year-olds) and
competitive levels (freshman or junior varsity and varsity). Younger adolescents aged 14
to 15 relied more heavily on peer comparison, whereas older adolescents aged 16 to 18
relied on more internal standards, goal achievement, sport attraction, and enjoyment. In

addition, gender differences emerged. Males cited competitive outcomes (win vs. lose

23

and performance statistics) and speed and ease of learning skills as signiﬁcantly more
important sources for judging their physical competence than females. Conversely,
females cited self-comparison, internal information, and evaluation by peers, coaches,
and spectators as more important in judging their competence.

An additional study conducted by Halliburton and Weiss (2002) examined how
skill level may relate to sources of competence information. These researchers conducted '
a study with female gymnasts aged 12 to 14 within a wide range of skill levels (levels 5-
10). Gymnasts competing at lower levels (5, 6, and 7) used effort and enjoyment sources,
such as self-comparison sources more than gymnasts competing at higher levels (8, 9,
and 10). For those competing at higher levels, gymnasts used feelings of nervousness
and spectator feedback as information sources. These results indicate that skill level as
well as age variability is important to consider when investigating sources of competence
information.

Other research has examined the relation of children’s accuracy judgments of
physical competence (Horn & Weiss, 1991), self-perceptions of perceived physical
competence, global self-esteem, and competitive trait anxiety (Weiss, Ebbeck, & Horn,
1997), and individual goal orientations (Williams, 1994) to sources of competence
information. This line of research has revealed that children do differ in respect to these
constructs and reliance on particular information sources. Speciﬁcally, children who
overestimate their abilities use internal criteria (e.g., effort, skill improvement, and speed
of learning) to judge their ability in sport, while accurate and under-estimators use
external sources including peer comparison (Horn & Weiss, 1991). In addition, 10-13

year-old children with lower perceived physical competence, low self-esteem, and high

24

competitive trait anxiety identify peer comparison and evaluation, coach evaluation, and
game outcome as the primary sources of competence information (Weiss, Ebbeck, &
Horn, 1997). Finally, goal orientation has been found to be related to sources of
information for high school athletes. Speciﬁcally, those high in task orientation were
found to use information sources of internal criteria (i.e., reaching their goals, learning
and improving, pro-game attitude), comments from parents, and degree of enjoyment.
Those high in ego orientation preferred peer comparison, internal sources (i.e., reaching
goals, learning and improving, and pre-game attitude), comments from parents, and
degree of enjoyment (Williams, 1994).
Inﬂuence of Signiﬁcant Others on Competence Motivation Constructs

Parental inﬂuences. Parents have been described as the most important inﬂuence
on their child’s involvement and continued involvement in sport (Woogler & Power,
1993). Competence Motivation Theory (Harter, 1978, 1981) highlights the role
signiﬁcant others, particularly parents, play in shaping children’s self-perceptions, affect,
and motivational orientation. Harter (1978, 1981, 1990) contends that parents are
important sources of information about their child’s competence and communicate this
information through modeling and reinforcement. In the literature, parental inﬂuence
has been examined by researching the impact of parental behaviors generally manifested
in encouragement and expectations, parental beliefs such as the value placed on physical
activity, and parental attitudes including the level of the parent’s enthusiasm. Following
is an account of each of these parental inﬂuences and supporting literature on children’s

perceived competence and enj oyrnent in physical achievement domains.

25

Parental behaviors. In a series of studies, Brustad (1988, 1993, 1996) found a
link between parental behaviors and children’s perceptions of physical competence,
attraction to physical activity, enjoyment, and anxiety. In his ﬁrst study, Brustad (1988)
investigated young athletes’ perceptions of season long enjoyment and competitive trait
anxiety. Children (N=207) between the ages of 9 and 13 participating in an agency-
sponsored youth basketball league participated in this study. Results indicated that an
intrinsic motivational orientation was the strongest predictor of high enjoyment for both
boys and girls. In addition, low perceived parental pressure was associated with higher-
season long enjoyment for both boys and girls. The purpose of the second study was to
test a model linking parental physical activity orientations, parental socialization
practices, and children’s self-perceptions with children’s attraction to physical activity
(Brustad, 1993). Results indicated higher parental encouragement was linked to greater
perceived competence for children and perceived physical competence was an extremely
important variable in explaining the differences in children’s attraction to physical
activity. Parental encouragement and parental enjoyment of physical activity were
signiﬁcantly related to children’s perceived physical competence and attraction to
physical activity. Findings supported the importance of parental expectancies as reﬂected
by encouragement levels and suggests that parents affective orientations to exercise may
be a more important role-modeling behavior than level of physical activity. Gender was
also an important consideration in the study. The parents of boys reported providing
greater encouragement of physical activity than parents of girls. Perceived competence
was also higher in boys and was linked in part to the greater level of encouragement

received.

26

Finally, Brustad (1996) was interested in extending his previOus work by
examining environmental variables that had not been explored, such as socioeconomic
level. The purpose of this study was to identify the mechanisms of parental socialization
inﬂuence on their children’s physical activity levels. Participants included 107 fourth,
ﬁfth, and sixth graders ﬁ'om physical education classes in a large school district in Los
Angeles. There were 48 boys and 59 girls. Each completed assessments on attraction to
physical activity, perceived physical competence, and parental socialization inﬂuence.
Findings indicated that boys who perceived that their parents demonstrated personal
enjoyment of physical activity experienced a greater liking of games and sports, had
higher levels of perceived competence, and experienced more fim in physical exertion
than their peers who received less parental support. Girls who perceived higher levels of
parental enjoyment in physical activity and greater encouragement to be physically active
experienced a stronger attraction to physical activity because of favorable peer relations.
Moreover, these girls had a greater interest in games and sports and had enhanced
perceptions of physical competence compared to peers who received less parental
support. Encouragement was the parental variable that most strongly related to the
favorability of boys’ attraction to physical activity and physical competence. For girls,
parental enjoyment contributed most to their attraction and competence. The reseachers
concluded that boys like the exertional characteristics of physical activity and exercise
more, anticipate favorable peer relations in physical activity more, and have higher levels
of perceived competence than girls.

Additional studies conducted by Scanlan and Lewthwaite (1984, 1986) further

indicated that parents can be a source of both stress and enjoyment in their child’s youth

27

sport experience. These investigators were interested in the inﬂuence and stability of
individual difference and situational factors on the competitive stress experiences and
predictors of enjoyment by seventy-six 9 to 14-year-old wrestlers. Results indicated that
the most inﬂuential and stable predictors of pre-match stress were competitive trait
anxiety and personal performance expectations. Pre-match worries about failure and
perceived parental pressure to participate were predictive of round 1 pro-match stress.
These results may be indicative of the individual nature of wrestling. The parental
pressure to wrestle factor may represent how wrestlers perceive the overall role of parents
in their sport experience. For those experiencing stress, this role may be a negative one.
In addition, boys who felt that their parents and coaches were more satisﬁed with their
performance experienced greater enjoyment, perceived less pressure, and had fewer
negative performance interactions with their mothers. Finally, more positive perceptions
of adult involvement and interactions with the child in the sport context tended to be
related to greater enjoyment. Possibly higher perceived ability and more positive adult
inﬂuences resulted in greater enjoyment or more complex bi-directional relationships are
at work.

Weiss and Hayashi (1995), in fact, did ﬁnd support for the bi-directional nature of
parent-child relationships in sport. The purpose of this study was to examine parent-child
and child-parent inﬂuences within the context of competitive sport. The focus of this
study was on young athletes’ perceptions of their parents’ behaviors, as well as parents’
perceptions of the beneﬁts and sacriﬁces as a result of their child’s involvement in sport.
They were also interested in whether parent-child inﬂuences were associated with age,

gender, and level of perceived competence. The participants included 24 male and

28

female gymnasts between the ages of 7 and 16. Parents were interviewed about their
perceptions of personal family beneﬁts and sacriﬁces as a result of their child’s sport
participation. Children completed a survey assessing perceived parental inﬂuences and
perceived gymnastics competence. Results indicated that both athletes and their parents
perceived inﬂuences from one another in regard to sport involvement. Parents felt that
their behaviors modiﬁed or changed as a result of their child’s participation in areas such
as attending practices and meets, rearranging family schedules, investing time and
ﬁnances, watching and reading about sports, and deriving beneﬁts such as pride,
enjoyment, and feeling good about their child’s achievements. Children also perceived
parental inﬂuences in the form of beliefs and behaviors such as cheering, yelling and
giving instructions at meets; interest in and encouragement to participate; and positive
affect such as being pleased and proud about their involvement. In addition, the
gymnasts reported perceiving that their parents held positive beliefs and realistic
expectations about their competence. A percentage of children (10 to 25%), however, did
report negative interactions with parents resulting in negative affective responses.
Parental encouragement may depend on the expectations parents have for their
children, which, in turn, affect the children’s sense of their own abilities. Green and
Chalip (1997) examined the dynamics of parents and children enduring involvement (the
level of perceived personal importance and/or interest evoked by a stimulus) in sport. In
all, 153 parent/child pairs participated. Of the children, 153 were boys and 25 were girls
ranging in age from 5 to 13 years. Of the parents, 95 were mothers and 58 were fathers.
Both child and parent completed measures of parent’s satisfaction, child’s satisfaction,

parent’s enduring involvement, and child’s enduring involvement. The children also

29

completed a survey on their perceptions of soccer skill, and parents completed surveys on
parental expectations, encouragement, and organizational commitment. Results revealed
that the parents’ satisfaction with their children’s soccer program fostered parents’
organizational commitment; higher organizational commitment yielded higher parental
expectations for their children and higher parental enduring involvement in soccer; higher
parental enduring involvement prompted more encouragement of the child; higher
paternal expectations inspired more encouragement and bolstered children’s level of
involvement; and higher perceived skill promoted children’s satisfaction; children’s
satisfaction furthered children’s enduring involvement. Children’s enduring involvement
in soccer is most affected by their satisfaction with the program and hence how coaches
structure practices and learning. As a result, these authors suggested parental and coach
training. Instruction ﬁom parents must be less intrusive as children mature and want to
have control.

Gender differences in parental expectations and support have been examined in
the literature as well. Anderson and Wold (1992) examined the parental and peer
inﬂuence on adolescents’ self-reported levels of leisure-time physical activity through
measures of a) perceived leisure-time physical activity of signiﬁcant others, b) perceived
direct support for physical activity from signiﬁcant others, c) direct help from parents in
exercising vigorously, and d) perceived value of physical activity of signiﬁcant others.
The participants included 904 seventh graders (498 boys, 406 girls). Results revealed
that boys reported being more physically active than girls. For boys, physical activity
levels were most associated with direct help from parents, the physical activity level of

their best friend, and with support ﬁom parents. For girls, the strongest associations were

30

with direct help and the physical activity level of their best ﬁiend. These results indicate
that boys seem to perceive greater support from parents than girls. These results might
best be explained by examining boys and girls perceptions of parental expectancies in
sport, particularly for reaching higher levels of competitive participation.

To examine this question, Martin, Richardson, Weiller, and Jackson (2004)
sought to explore young athletes’ perceptions of sport role models, encouragement to
participate in sport, and future expectancies of adolescent athletes. Children (aged 9 to
18 years) and their parents participated. The parents consisted of 199 fathers and 227
mothers. The make-up of the four possible dyad combinations was fairly equal. Results
indicated that 99% of the boys and fathers chose a male as a sport role model, whereas
43% of the females and mothers chose a male sport role model. In addition, 53% of the
boys and 64% of the girls felt they received encouragement to participate equally from
both parents. Only 16% of the girls believed their fathers provided the greatest support,
whereas 37% of the boys believed so. Finally, parents believed that both parents
provided encouragement. Expectancies for future success, such as future success at
college, Olympic, and professional levels, indicated that boys were more likely to believe
that they could compete at all levels especially the professional level, fathers were more
likely than mothers to believe that their children could become Olympians, and fathers
believed that their daughters had a greater chance of becoming Olympians than did their
sons.

Parental beliefs. Parental beliefs and values have been examined to determine
their impact on children’s self-perceptions and participation in the sport domain. Jacobs

and Eccles (1992) examined the inﬂuence of mothers’ beliefs in relation to their ll-and

31

lZ-year-old children’s self-perceptions of ability in sport, mathematics, and social
domains. Findings indicated that gender-role stereotypes did exist in relation to each of
the achievement areas. Mothers exhibited more favorable stereotypic beliefs for sons in
the sport and mathematics domains, and more favorable stereotypic beliefs for daughters
in the social domain. The researchers concluded that mothers’ appraisals of their
children’s natural abilities in each achievement area were affected by the strength of their V
gender-role stereotypes. With regard to sports, mothers who had stronger beliefs that
boys were more naturally gifted in sports had higher perceptions of athletic ability of
their sons and lower perception of athletic ability of their daughters than did parents with
weaker stereotypical beliefs. Children’s own perceptions of ability tended to be
congruent with their mothers’ appraisal of their ability

Eccles and Harold (1991) revealed that children’s perceptions of the value of their
sport involvement to their parents was signiﬁcantly related to children’ self perceptions
of physical ability. In turn, children’s perceptions of their ability were linked to their
levels of participatory involvement in sport. Girls reported that their parents placed lower
value on their sport participation than the parents of the boys. Overall, this research
supported theoretical predications that children’s perceptions of their parents’ beliefs
would be signiﬁcantly related to children’s own beliefs about their sport involvement,
which in turn would predict levels of involvement.

Dempsey, Kimiecik, and Horn (1993) took this research a step further and
examined how parental beliefs and role-modeling impacted fourth and ﬁfth grade
children’s levels of participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). A

moderate relationship was found between parents’ perceptions of their children’s’

32

competence in MVPA and children’s actual levels of participation. No relationships were
found between parent’s own physical activity level and their children’s MVPA
involvement. A moderate relationship was found between children’s expectancies of
success in moderate-to—vigorous activity and their actual participation in these activities.

In a follow-up study, Kimiecik, Horn and Shurin (1996) were interested in
examining children’s beliefs and perceptions of their parents’ beliefs about the children’s
moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Participants included 81 children between 11 and
15 years of age. They completed assessments on their beliefs, ﬁtness values, perceived
ﬁtness competence, goal orientations, perceptions of parental beliefs, and moderate-to-
vigorous activity. Results indicated that children’s perceptions of ﬁtness competence and
task orientation were signiﬁcantly related to their reported moderate-to—vigorous physical
activity. In addition, children’s perceptions of their parents’ beliefs were linked to their
own beliefs, but children’s parental perceptions were not related to their estimates of
moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

Parental attitudes. Both mothers’ and fathers’ reported support was positively
associated with parents’ rating of their child’s enjoyment (Averill & Power, 1995).
These results may represent a bi-directional effect in which both are enjoying the
experience and, therefore, parents provide more support based on the child’s response.
Boys with the lowest levels of ability, competitiveness, and effort had fathers who
reported being the most likely to actively instruct their child. Mother directiveness
showed no signiﬁcant correlations. The ﬁndings suggest very different patterns of
maternal and paternal involvement. Mothers may follow the child’s lead and gear their

level of support and expectations to child enjoyment. Fathers may be more attuned to

33

ability and effort and may get most involved when the child’s ability and effort are low.
These results may reﬂect differences in perceived socializing roles or may reﬂect the
negative effects of an over-involved father on the child’s desire to achieve. Mothers may
feel less responsible for their child’s success and focus more on ensuring the child’s level
of enjoyment. Finally, the more involved the parent was, the less cooperative the child
was with the coach. Overall the ﬁndings suggest that fathers and mothers differ in the
responsibility that they feel for helping their child who is experiencing difﬁculty in sport
and in some cases the father’s attempts may undermine the child’s effort and enjoyment.
Power and Woolger (1994) were interested in parental attitudes as well. Findings

indicated that parents who are supportive and show moderate levels of performance
pressure and instruction had children with the greatest level of enthusiasm for the sport.
These effects are bi-directional: greater support and guidance leads to child enthusiasm,
which leads to greater parental support and guidance and so on. Although a moderate
level of directiveness and performance outcome may be optimal, this may vary as a
frmction of the age and ability of the child as well as the nature of the sport activity.

Similarly, tennis players between the ages of 6 and 18 who perceived high parental
support, reported higher levels of enjoyment and self-esteem (Leff & Hoyle, 1995).
Gender differences, however, did exist in the players’ perceptions of support from their
mothers and fathers. Females perceived greater support ﬁom both parents than did
males. In addition, males perceived higher levels of pressure from their fathers than from
their mothers, whereas females perceived similar levels of pressure from both parents.
These results point to the importance of examining the subjective interpretation of

athletes from the perspective of their socialization histories. Males and females are often

34

socialized differently into sport and this socialization is often a reﬂection of the parents,
particularly the father (Greendorfer & Lewko, 1978).

Parental attitudes can have an impact on their child’s subsequent affective response
as well (Hellstedt, 1990). He examined the perceptions of parental support and pressure
with 13- year-old male and female alpine ski racers. Overall, 52% indicated that their
father was the most inﬂuential in their athletic development, whereas, 44% indicated that
both parents were equally inﬂuential. The results indicated that the majority (73%) of the
athletes, both male and female, perceived a moderate to excessive level of pressure ﬁ'om
their parents. In addition, 26% felt that their parents forced them to compete. What was
surprising, however, was that many of the athletes did not perceive this pressure as
negative, but rather positive and supportive. A small subgroup of athletes did perceive
excessive pressure ﬁorn parents and did view this pressure as negative. It was also found
with this group that they were apprehensive of their parents’ emotional reaction when
they performed poorly. It was feared that this group might be continuing in their sport in
order to please their parents. Finally, low amounts of pressure were related to a positive
reaction from the child, whereas, high levels of pressure were related to a negative
emotional reaction by the child. Conclusions were that that young athletes can be
pressured too much and that sport can create harmony in the family.

Finally, Babkes and Weiss (1999) examined the relationship among parent’s reported
behaviors and attitudes, young athletes’ perceptions of their parent’s behaviors and
attitudes toward their sport participation, and children’s perceptions of their own
competence, enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation. The participants included 227 youth

athletes (114 females, 113 males), mothers (160), and fathers (123) from a competitive

35

select soccer program. The athletes ranged in age from 9 to 11 years of age. The results
suggested that children who perceived that their mothers and fathers had more positive
beliefs about their soccer competence, who gave higher amounts of positive contingent
responses for success, and who served as positive role models through their own exercise
behavior, reported greater preference for optimal challenges and use of internal criteria to
determine competence, as well as higher perceived soccer competence and enjoyment of
soccer participation. In addition, those who perceived their fathers as having greater
involvement, in the form of instruction and game attendance and who perceived less
pressure to perform reported greater enjoyment, perceived competence, and motivation.
Results also revealed a discrepancy between parents’ reports of how they think and act
with respect to their child’s soccer participation and how children perceive their parents’
attitudes and behaviors. These ﬁndings suggest that the role that parents play in
contributing to their child’s experience, developing competence motivation, and
psychosocial responses is determined by the child’s perceptions of parent feedback and
reinforcement. Parents need to recognize that there is a ﬁne line between their own
perceptions and those of their child concerning such areas as pressure versus support,
approval versus disapproval, and positive versus negative responses to performance. The
implications of these socialization differences in perceived pressure may be altered, or
perhaps exacerbated when parents serve in the dual role of coach and parent.

Inﬂuence of the coach. The coach has been called a powerful socializing agent
for young athletes (Horn, 2002). It is fair to say that the youth sport coach will spend a
signiﬁcant amount of time with a child involved in sport, especially as the child’s

competitive involvement grows. Hence, the way volunteer coaches structure their

36

programs, their attitudes, values, and behaviors may have a marked inﬂuence on the sport
participation of children. Children have suggested that coaches who employ a positive
coaching style keep sport fun and reduce stress. This type of coaching style would
emphasize reinforcement, encouragement, and instructional feedback following mistakes
(Gould, Wilson, Tuffey, & Lochbaurn, 1993).

Coaching behaviors (in the form of instruction, reinforcement, and
encouragement), in fact, do have a profound inﬂuence on young athletes’ perceived
competence, self-esteem, anxiety, and desire to continue participating in their sport
(Barnett, Smoll, & Smith, 1992; Smith & Smoll, 1990; Smith, Smoll, & Curtis, 1979
Results indicated that trained coaches differed from untrained coaches in both
observations and perceptions of players. Trained coaches’ behaviors were more
consistent with those behavioral guidelines presented in the coaching education program
than untrained coaches. Additionally, athletes’ evaluated trained coaches more positively
than untrained coaches regardless of win-loss records. Finally, children who played for
trained coaches exhibited a signiﬁcant increase in self-esteem; the control group children
did not. Furthermore, the greatest difference in attitudes toward trained and control
coaches were found among the children low in self-esteem. These children appeared
most sensitive to variations in coaches’ use of encouragement, punishment, and technical
instruction. In all, these results lend support for developing a “positive approach” to
coaching children and young adolescents. This positive approach would include
reinforcing desired behaviors, being more encouraging and less punitive, and more

technically instructive.

37

Coaches high in supportiveness tended to respond to desirable performance and
good effort with positive reinforcement (Smith & Smoll, 1990; Smoll, Smith, Barnett, &
Evertt, 1993). Coaches high in supportiveness also tended to respond to mistakes with
encouragement and support rather than with criticism and punitiveness. Coaches high in
instructiveness gave a good deal of technical instruction to enhance skill development.
Additional results revealed that low-self-esteem children responded most positively to
highly supportive coaches and most negatively to those who were low in supportive
behaviors. In addition, children with low self-esteem were more attracted to coaches who
were highly instructive. Finally, boys with low self-esteem who played for trained
coaches exhibited signiﬁcant gains in self-esteem by the end of the season. Clearly, the
cumulative results of these studies are encouraging, revealing that providing positive
coaching training may impact children’s self-esteem levels, particularly those low in self-
esteem.

Children who played for coaches receiving the training evaluated their coaches,
teammates, and the sport more positively than did those children who played for coaches
who did not receive the program (Barnett, Smoll, & Smith, 1992). Additional results
indicated that of the 80 children who played for trained coaches, 95% returned to play the
following year. Of the 108 children who played for the control group coaches only 74%
returned. When comparing win-loss records of teams with those remaining involved and
those dropping out, no differences were apparent. It seems that by modifying coaching
behaviors and, thus, the sporting environment, athlete attrition can be attenuated. More
speciﬁcally, those children who played for the coaching education group perceived their

coaches as providing more positive reinforcement, encouragement, and instruction.

38

Coaches’ practice behaviors were signiﬁcantly associated with players’ self-
perceptions, but coaches’ game behaviors were not (Horn, 1984, 1985). These results
suggest that players perceived coaches’ practice behaviors to be more salient indicators of
their ability than coaches’ game behaviors. Overall, results suggested that greater
frequency of no reinforcement was associated with lower perceptions of competence.
Surprisingly, greater instances of positive reinforcement for mastery attempts and
performance were associated with lower perceived softball competence as well. And,
criticism for performance errors were linked to increases in perceived competence.
These seemingly contradictory ﬁndings were explained by the contingency and
appropriateness of the coach’s feedback. Those athletes who were low in expectancies for
success as compared to athletes expecting higher levels of success, likely received more
frequent positive reinforcement for easy tasks, therefore, perceiving this information as
an indication that they possessed low competence in softball. On the other hand, those
athletes expecting success, who frequently received criticism from coaches may have
perceived this information as coaches having higher expectations, thereby resulting in
more positive competence beliefs. These results, again, highlight the complex nature of
feedback from signiﬁcant adults and how interpretations of feedback often are not what
are intuitively expected.

Female swimmers who perceived their coaches as providing praise and
information following desirable performance scored higher on levels of perceived
success, perceived competence, challenge motivation, enjoyment, and effort (Black &
Weiss, 1992). Male swimmers who perceived that their coaches provided more praise

and information following desirable performances scored higher on three of the ﬁve

39

variables than the females: perceived competence, perceived success, and challenge
motivation. In addition, female swimmers who perceived more frequent encouragement
and encouragement plus information following undesirable performances were associated
with higher levels of perceived success, competence, challenge motivation, enjoyment,
and effort. Male swimmers who perceived more frequent encouragement plus
information reported higher levels of perceived success, competence, and challenge
motivation. These results indicated that the coaches’ behaviors inﬂuenced sport
enjoyment and self-esteem, along with perceived success, effort, and preference for
challenging activities

Wong and Bridges (1995) were interested in researching coaching behaviors in the
youth sport setting also. Upon examination of coaching behaviors, all coaches on
average engaged in more positive behaviors, such as instruction and encouragement.
Results for the impact of coaching behaviors on intra-individual variables indicated that
perceived control mediated the relationship between coaching behaviors and perceived
competence. In addition, those higher in trait anxiety were more likely to adopt an
external perception of control.

Female athletes rated higher in ability and who received frequent
praise/information following a good performance, and less frequent encouragement and
corrective information in response to a mistake or poor performance had higher
perceptions of physical competence (Allen & Howe, 1998). In addition, the athletes
reported greater satisfaction with their ﬁeld hockey experience if they were rated higher
in ability by their coach, perceived their coaches as giving a greater ﬁequency of

encouragement and corrective information after a poor performance or mistake. Overall,

40

results are consistent with previous research and theory; however, it appeared that
adolescent females experience lower perceptions of competence when they received
frequent encouragement and corrective information for skill errors. It may be that
females are more sensitive to corrective information ﬁom coaches. Speciﬁcally,
adolescent females who receive a high frequency of corrective information ﬁom the
coach following mistakes, although encouraging, may still perceive this information as an '
indication of failure, which in turn results in lower perceptions of competence. In
addition, encouragement and corrective information in response to errors is a form of
helping behavior indicating a need for improvement and, hence, lower perceptions of
competence.

Several questions are raised about how an athlete interprets feedback ﬁ'om a
parent who is also the athlete’s coach. For example, what is the role of feedback on self-
perceptions, level of enjoyment, and motivational outcomes over time? Additionally,
what is the parent-coach’s perception of his/her feedback? And, what is the child-
athlete’s perception of the feedback?

Parent— coach inﬂuence. Research examining parent-coaches’ inﬂuence on
children’s sport socialization, outcomes, and self-perceptions is scant at best. To date,
only three studies have examined this dual-role relationship in the sport context. The ﬁrst
study to investigate this issue was conducted by Evans (1985) in soccer. He examined
how parent-coaches managed their dual-role, what problems existed because of this dual-
role, and how the child-player reacted to having the parent as a coach. Eight youth sport
soccer coaches and their children (6 to 12 years) were interviewed. Parent-coaches

revealed that when ﬁrst becoming involved in coaching, they were asked or assigned to

41

coach rather than volunteering and often times they were reluctant to take on that role. In
the end, however, coaches reported that they enjoyed their coaching experience. Coaches
also stated that they enjoyed coaching their own child, but often times were conﬂicted on
how they should treat their child in comparison to other children on the team. In an effort
to not demonstrate favoritism toward their child, coaches often mentioned that they
would consciously praise their child less and substituted for their child more often than
other children on the team. Finally, coaches were concerned about their ability to coach
effectively. Many coaches mentioned being humbled by their experiences when the team
was not winning, therefore, reﬂecting their competence as a coach. The win-loss record
of the team did, however, have varied effects on these coaches. Most coaches understood
that the players just wanted to play and have ﬁm, but some coaches became consumed
with winning and the role that they needed to fulﬁll. One coach mentioned becoming so
consumed in his role that his leisure time was ﬁlled with planning player positions and
strategy.

The children of these parent-coaches overwhelmingly agreed that they enjoyed
having their mother or father as their coach (Evans, 1985). Many felt that having their
parent as their coach contributed to the support that they needed during this time.
Children also felt that they received equal treatment ﬁ‘om their parent-coach. What was
different for these children, however, was the continued exposure to their coach outside
the athletic setting. For example, many children had to deal with their parents’ emotions
related to the game or practice at home, well after other children on the team were no

longer exposed to such behaviors. Finally, all children indicated that they would be

42

happy to have their parent back next season to coach, but would continue to play even if
the parent did not coach.

Very recently Weiss and Fretwell (in press) conducted an exploratory study to
identify the positive and negative outcomes for coaches who coached their own children,
for children who were coached by their parent, and for other members of a team who had
a parent-coach. Interviews were conducted with six father and son dyads as well as two
teammates randomly chosen from each “select” soccer team roster. Athletes were 11 to
12-years-old. As expected both positive and negative aspects of a parent coaching his
own son emerged, which the authors described as cordial, contentious, and a conundrum.
Cordial relations existed between the parent-coach and his son when the parent had
positive responses to his child’s performance, skill instruction, social support, positive
competency beliefs, and spending time together in sport-related activities. In addition,
other positive dimensions mentioned by the players highlighted parental inﬂuence in the
form of providing experiences and interpreting experiences. These types of parental
behaviors and inﬂuence can encourage children’s competence beliefs, attraction toward
sport, and continued participation. F ather-coaches’ perspectives were similar to the
athletes’ as their responses were congruent on several themes, such as quality time,
special attention, and social interactions. These opportunities provide a time and place
for parents and children to bond more closely.

Despite cordial outcomes that occur because of the dual-role, Weiss and Fretwell
(in press) did ﬁnd that contentious outcomes occur as well. All participants described
instances of pressure, high expectations, conﬂict, criticism, lack of empathy, negative

feelings, rebellious behavior, and preferential treatment. Several comments suggested

43

that the young athletes desired their parents and coaches to occupy distinct roles and
separate responsibilities within the sport environment. These comments suggest that a
conundrum exists when parents coach their own children.

This conundrum consistently emerged for the fathers who were coaching their
sons. Fathers verbalized the challenges of separating the parent-child ﬁom coach-player
role when interacting with their child within and outside the sport environment.
Responses by sons and teammates echoed these challenges as well. Players indicated that
the coach displayed unfair behavior toward the son, favoritism toward the son,
disadvantaging the son, and treating players differently. All three groups highlighted the
need to separate these roles.

Recommendations included addressing research to assist parent-coaches in
keeping their roles separate as well as considering children’s and parents’ differing
perceptions of similar behaviors. Additional research should also address the quality of
the parent-child relationship outside the sport context. It is possible that contentious
relationships outside sport are carried over into the sporting environment. Another factor
to consider is the level of competition that parents are coaching their child. Higher
competitive sports add other dimensions to the environment that will lead to conﬂict,
such as playing time, coaching decisions, and individual variables, such as puberty.
Finally, it was recommended that ﬁrture research address other possible dyadic
relationships (mother-son, mother-daughter, father-daughter), different types of sports
(e.g., individual), and levels of competition.

Barber, Sukhi, and White (1999 found no signiﬁcant differences between parent-

coached and non-parent coached groups on participation motives and competitive state

anxiety. Parent-coached children rated “1 want to improve my skills” higher while non-
parent coached children rated “1 want to learn new skills” higher. The authors suggested
that parent-coached children might have believed that they already possessed those skills
and wanted to reﬁne them. Moreover, it seems that these coaches did not inﬂuence their
child’s participation motives, rather the children may have inﬂuenced their coaches’
motives to coach, as many coached due to a need. These results represent the interactive
and bi-directional nature of sport socialization. It was suggested that researchers consider
this interaction when investigating parent-child relationships in youth sport. In general,
children reported low cognitive and somatic anxiety, and moderately high self-conﬁdence
scores. Parental pressure was not evident in children coached by a parent. Results
provided useful information to youth sport administrators and program directors
regarding decisions about parents’ roles in youth sport programs.
The Parent and Child/Adolescent Relationship

Very little research has been conducted within the sport domain examining how a
child’s involvement in sport impacts the parent and child relationship both in sport and
outside of sport. Wylleman (2000) has argued that a knowledge gap exists within the
ﬁeld of sport psychology concerning the role of interpersonal relationships in competitive
sport. He further argues that most of the research that has been conducted focuses on uni-
directional interactions, such as parents’ and coaches’ behavioral inﬂuence on children,
rather than bi-directional interactions. The only research that has examined the bi-
directional nature of relationships in sport was conducted by Wylleman (1995). He found
that talented athletes perceived interpersonal behaviors within the athletic triangle

(athlete-parent-coach) to be positive, supportive, and constructive in nature as well as ﬁ‘ee

45

from major relationship related conﬂicts. In addition, athletes perceived that the
interactions were context speciﬁc to the athletic setting and to situations occurring at
home. These ﬁndings are enlightening, but only provide a brief picture of what occurs in
the athletic setting. Consequently, a large gap still exists. To gain insight into what may
happen in relationships, especially those relationships between parents and their children,
it is necessary to review literature outside of sport.

Since the mid-19708 an abundance of literature has been published examining the
relationships between parents and their children, especially during the supposed
tumultuous period of adolescence. Essentially, what is known in the literature has been
categorized into two areas: transformations that occur in family relationships during
adolescence and the impact that parents have on adolescent development and
psychological outcomes (Steinberg, 2001).

Continuity and transformations in relationships. During the 19603 and 19708 the
period of adolescence was deemed the “storm and stress” period. Adolescence was
stereotyped as being a period of conﬂict between parents and their adolescent children.
However, several empirical studies were undertaken to challenge this view and in fact
found that over 75% of the adolescents involved in the research indicated that they were
experiencing happy and content relationships with their parents (Rutter, Graham,
Chadwick, & Yule, 1976). In cases where conﬂict between family members and
adolescents was occurring, it was found that this conﬂict preceded the child’s entry into
adolescence, thereby refuting the assumption that most conﬂict in families occurs during

the period of adolescence.

46

In accordance with the view that adolescents view their relationships with their
parents in a positive light, the degree of closeness perceived between parent and child is
congruent. Degrees of closeness will ﬂuctuate as the child ages, but close relationships
with parents remain the most inﬂuential in shaping the decisions that adolescents will
face even beyond the adolescent years (Steinberg, 2001). Larson and colleagues (Larson,
Richards, Moneta, Holrnbeck, & Duckett, 1996) conducted a cross-sectional study of 220 '
5‘h-12th graders in which they examined the amount of time and context of interactions
with family, their subjective interpretation of the experiences, and whether age related
changes are related to internal factors within the family or external factors that may pull
the child away from the family. The results indicated that there was a linear decrease in
the amount of time adolescents spent with their family, decreasing from 35% of the
waking hours in 5th grade to 14% in the 12th grade, especially for males. The reason for
this decline, however, was not due to conﬂict within the family, but rather external
factors. It seems that after ninth grade these adolescents were spending more time away
from the home, such as being with ﬁiends. Such variables as having a car, job, and
permission to stay out later likely contributed to this time away from family.

Although a decline in time spent with family occurred as children aged, other
variables remained consistent or, in some instances, transformations occurred. The
quantity of time spent alone with their mothers and the smaller quantity of time spent
with fathers remained stable across the age periods, suggesting that the adolescents and
parents may be deliberately selecting shared time to maintain intimate interactions.
Furthermore, girls spent more time engaged in discussions with parents involving

interpersonal issues. These results suggest that girls tend to grow in their need to engage

47

in interactions around more personal issues. In addition, adolescent relationships with
their mothers tended to become more symmetric across the age periods and showing the
greatest symmetry in late adolescence. Finally, transformation occurred in reports of
adolescents’ emotional states. They reported less positive emotional states in early
adolescence, especially during talk, as well as perceiving family members as being less
friendly during this period. However, these states and perceptions became more favorable ’
for boys in the early high school years and for girls in the late high school years. These
results suggest that early adolescence is often the most strained period in parent-
adolescent relationships.

Parent and child/adolescent relationships remain constant and transform within
father-child and mother-child dyads as well. Studies conducted with families whose
children’s ages are in middle childhood and adolescent years have revealed similarities as
well as differences amongst dyads. Examples of this research include typical interactions
among family members, such as during problem solving tasks, interpretations of
interactions, how fathers versus mothers are viewed by children, and degrees of closeness
felt between daughters, sons, and parents.

In one study, parents and adolescents were involved in problem-solving tasks to
plan a ﬁctional two-week vacation. It was anticipated that this task would enhance the
families’ potential for exhibiting individuality and connectedness. Observational results
indicated that fathers were more likely to exhibit behavior that fostered autonomy and
interpersonal competence compared to mothers (Grotevant & Cooper, 1985). Father-son
interactions indicated that fathers seemed to be encouraging or at least tolerating their

sons’ assertiveness and directness on the task. Mother-child interactions appeared either

48

as directive or distracting relative to the task. Father-daughter interactions appeared to
involve more sociable behavior than did father-son interactions, whereas mother-son and
mother-daughter interactions did not appear to be different on these dimensions. The
ﬁnal picture in these families portrayed fathers who appeared to comment on others’
suggestions rather than express their own, and who agreed more with their sons rather
than their daughters.

In terms of interaction patterns between adolescent and parent dyads, differences
in perceptions are apparent between adolescents and their parents. In addition,
adolescents report variations in the types of interactions with fathers and mothers. For
example, Barnes and Olson (1985) found that mothers perceived better communication
with their children than did fathers; however, adolescents expressed having difﬁculty
communicating with both parents. Mothers reported having higher degrees of openness
in parent-child interactions than did fathers. Mothers’ openness was consequently
reﬂected in their adolescents’ responses indicating more positive interactions with their
mothers than with their fathers in terms of a greater degree of openness.

Children and adolescents also report greater feelings of responsibility for
reciprocating caring and emotional supports with mothers more than fathers (Y ouniss &
Smollar, 1985). This ﬁnding was the result of several research studies with adolescents
ﬁ'om varying age groups, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. Overall, ﬁndings
with father-daughter dyads revealed that daughters felt fathers are authority ﬁgures who
provide advice on practical matters and provide guidelines for their daughters’ behaviors.
Most daughters viewed their fathers as supportive, but distant, and that the support lacked

emotional content. Most contact with fathers was viewed as infrequent and daughters

49

described themselves as being uncomfortable and withdrawn in the relationship. Mother-
daughter dyads were viewed as being a more complex picture. Daughters viewed their
relationships with their mothers as being a combination of authority and equality,
intimacy and conﬂict. Daughters felt comfortable in conﬁding in mothers and with
arguing and disobeying them. Daughters also felt comfortable in reciprocating the
emotional needs of mothers. Additional ﬁndings involving father-son and mother son
dyads revealed interesting results as well. With father-son relationships, results revealed
that the relationship could be described as distant, but respectﬁrl. For instance, sons
viewed their fathers as someone with whom they could share recreational or work
activities and with whom they could discuss objective and practical issues. The
relationship was viewed as asymmetrical with fathers meeting the needs of their sons and
also commanding obedience and respect from their sons. Conversely, mother-son
relationships involved authority as well, but these relationships were not viewed as
distant. Most mothers and sons appeared to have a close relationship based on openness
and sharing of conﬁdence. In general, sons viewed their relationships with their mothers
in the following manner: mothers must enforce rules, but also listen to their sons’
problems and show respect toward their sons.

In a follow-up study with 605 adolescents it was found that these adolescents
perceived their mothers as knowing them better than their fathers, a perception that
increased with age (Y ouniss & Ketterlinus, 1987). Furthermore, results revealed that
daughters perceived their fathers as knowing them signiﬁcantly less well than sons said
that their fathers knew them. These results reﬂect previous ﬁndings that adolescent

daughters talk more and have more open conversations with their mothers than their

50

fathers. Additionally, these results support research that daughters presume that their
fathers are either disinterested or are judgmental if they should reveal what they are
thinking or feeling (Y ouniss & Smollar, 1985).

Some research indicates that degrees of closeness with parents during the
adolescent period are related to variations between pubertal statuses. One retrospective
study examined this possibility with undergraduate students who were asked about their
perceptions of the development of their relationships with their parents (Pipp, Shaver,
Jennings, Larnbom, & Fischer, 1985). Overall results of this study indicated that
relationships with mothers were marked by greater feelings of closeness in adolescence,
with some variations between adolescent pubertal status. These variations in closeness
might lead one to conclude that conﬂict between parent and adolescents might be
impeding close ties with parents. In general, it has been found that pubertal timing rather
than pubertal status is more strongly associated with parent-adolescent conﬂict. For
example, early maturing boys have been found to report negative affect due to conﬂict
with both parents and fathers reported increased conﬂict with late maturing boys
(Steinberg, 1988). Early maturing daughters also have reported elevated rates of conﬂict
with parents (Savin-Williams & Small, 1986). These studies support the view that
conﬂict tends to be the most ﬁ'equent with adolescents who experience puberty “off-
time” (Laursen & Collins, 1994).

This strain that occurs within families might not be a direct result of the behaviors
and perceptions of adolescents only. Steinberg (2001) asserts that parents are more likely
to hold on to negative feelings after arguments more so than the adolescents. In fact,

parents reported that adolescence was the most difﬁcult period of time for them than any

51

other period in their child’s development (Silverberg & Steinberg, 1990). Further, day-
to-day conﬂict was deemed unimportant by teenagers, but as a signiﬁcant source of
distress for the parents. These results stress how differing perceptions of incidents that
occur in the family might have a lasting impact on some members, whereas little impact
on other members within the family. Adolescents may be able to ‘let go’ of minor
conﬂicts that occur much more easily than adults in the relationship. In addition,
adolescents appear much more resilient during periods of conﬂict than for which they are
given credit. This is especially true for those adolescents that are given support of one or
more caring adults and for those in which one or both of their parents practice
authoritative parenting (Steinberg, 2001).

Ifa parent were to assume a dual role of coach, however, the perceptions of the
child may differ. For example, conﬂict may occur between the parent and child because
of this dual role. Most adolescents report having a happy and content relationship with
their parents, but it is unknown how the dual-role may impact this relationship. In
addition, differences between relationships with mothers and fathers may further
complicate the circumstances in coaching one’s child. Children may feel uncomfortable
talking with father-coaches about issues that come up within the context of sport.

Impact of parenting style and practices on child/adolescent development.
Authoritative parents have been described as being warm and involved, but ﬁrm and
consistent in establishing and enforcing guidelines, limits, and developmentally
appropriate expectations (Baumrind, 1971). Steinberg and colleagues (Steinberg, 1990;
Steinberg, Elrnen, & Mounts, 1989) further contend that parents who are authoritative

also provide “psychological autonomy granting” in which they encourage and permit

52

their adolescents to develop their own opinions and beliefs. Research has consistently
indicated that children (preschool and elementary aged) who are raised in authoritative
homes do better than those not raised in these environments on virtually every indictor of
psychological health (Steinberg, 2001).

Additional research examining the impact of authoritative parenting in families
with adolescent children continues to indicate that these children fare better than their
non-authoritatively raised peers. For example, academically, differences have been
found to exist. In one study examining the impact of authoritative parenting on
adolescent achievement, the mediating roles of parental involvement and academic
encouragement, and the moderating role of authoritative parenting, several positive
results emerged (Steinberg, Lamborn, Dombusch, & Darling, 1992). Over 11,000
students from nine high schools in Wisconsin and California with varying socioeconomic
and ethnic backgrounds participated. Findings indicated that those high school students
who described their parents as authoritative improved more academically and became
more engaged in school over a one-year period than did those adolescents describing
their parents as being non-authoritative. These ﬁndings were consistent across sex, age,
and social class groups. These ﬁndings provide evidence that parenting practices
continue to make a difference during the high school years, refuting previous beliefs that
older adolescents are resistant to the inﬂuence of their parents. Additional ﬁndings
highlighted the mediating effects of parental involvement, such as attending school
programs, helping with course selection, and monitoring student progress. Those
students whose parents were more involved had better school performance and school

engagement. Finally, parental involvement played a much more direct role in facilitating

53

adolescent school performance and engagement rather than parental encouragement. It
seems that more direct (actions) rather than indirect (verbal encouragement) involvement
of parents are key to the success of their adolescents in high school.

The child may view a parent in a coaching role as being involved in the child’s
life, but it seems that perceptions can become complicated because of the dual role. For
example, the parent is now viewed as a source of power in two environments. However,
adopting an authoritative parenting style in the sport context may buffer against
misguided perceptions on the part of the child. The ability of the parent to maintain this
type of parenting style may be challenged, however, due to the competitive and
sometimes autocratic structure of sport.

Issues Surrounding Retrospective Reports

Retrospective interview methods were incorporated in this study to provide a
better understanding of events impacting the relationship over the long-term.
Additionally, issues surrounding the parent-coach’s feedback were explored as well as
the impact of that feedback on the child’s enjoyment, perceptions of competence, and the
desire to continue to participate. Allowing individuals to reﬂect on their experiences will
enhance our knowledge of the processes that individuals have gone through during the
middle childhood and adolescent years. Additionally, previous research has indicated
that during the middle childhood years, children have difﬁculty processing the fact that
they can have both positive and negative emotions about an event (Harter, 1999).
Therefore, limitations in information processing during this stage of development may

reduce the child’s ability to reﬂect accurately on his/her experiences.

54

Children, at this age, may have had difﬁculty discussing their interactions with
parents also. Because of the power differential that is apparent with parent and child,
children may have been hesitant to talk about any negative interactions that occured with
a parent. In addition, the power differential is further intensiﬁed by the fact that the
parent is also the coach; therefore two normally separate sources of power over the child
now become one source of power over the child. Finally, the interviewer may also have
had an effect on the ability of children to remember and express their perceptions and
feelings. The interviewer becomes a person of power also. Individuals of all ages,
particularly children, are susceptible to distortions in memory, especially when
experiencing interactions with people who are perceived as in positions of power (Rutter,
Maughan, Pickles, & Simonoff, 1998).

In addition, evidence suggests that children have distortions in memory through
several different mechanisms (Rutter et al., 1998). First, social factors become important.
When children are given incorrect information by an adult, it is more likely that the child
will take this information at face value than if the information had been supplied by
another child. Second, children (unlike adults) rarely challenge the credibility of adults
who are asking questions. In fact, children will often incorporate the content of questions
into their answers. Third, children will often provide answers to questions that they
perceive to be the belief of the interviewer. Fourth, children may consciously distort
reports of something they have witnessed or experienced, and are more likely to do so in
response to fear of being chastised or to avoid embarrassment.

Conversely, there are limitations to using retrospective recall to gather

information from informants. First and foremost is the possibility that respondents will

55

experience some degree of forgetfulness (Hardt & Rutter, 2004; Loftus, 1994; Rutter et
al., 1998). However, people tend to remember whether an event occurred more so than
the sequence of events (Hardt & Rutter). Second, individuals tend to seek some form of
meaning in their memories that are inﬂuenced by expert recommendations, such as
therapists (Schacter, 2001). Third, individuals can only recall later what they were aware
of at the time, such as an event that occurred in the family (i.e., a change in job by
parent). Fourth, individuals’ memories may be inﬂuenced by their current mood state,
but this bias may not have a signiﬁcant inﬂuence on responses (Brewin, Andrews, &
Gotlib, 1993; Mcfarland & Buehler, 1998). Fifth, retrospective data may be
representative of a heterogeneous group of individuals due to non-cooperation of others
(Hardt & Rutter). For example, those individuals who experienced very traumatic events
during childhood with a parent may be reluctant to participate in an investigation asking
them to recall negative events.

To address these limitations in the use of retrospective recall procedures, the
researcher delimited the sample to undergraduate and graduate students. These
individuals were not so far removed from the situation that extreme lapses in memory
may have occurred. They were far enough removed, however, that the likelihood of re-
living negative events did not result in psychological harm to the individual. The
researcher also interviewed both the parent and child to address the issue of validity in
statements and events that occurred in the past. The researcher was cognizant of any
situations in which the respondent may have attempted to explain events, or feelings

about those events, based on classes they may have taken while attending undergraduate

56

or graduate school. Additionally multiple questions were asked to cover a wide range of
experiences related to a construct ( Hardt & Rutter, 2004), such as feedback.
Summary

Previous research indicates that both coaches and parents can inﬂuence children’s
self-perceptions, affective responses, and motivational processes in the sport and physical
activity domain. Given this research, it is apparent that when children perceive that
parents are exhibiting low pressure, are encouraging, and believe that the child has
competence in his/her sport or activity, more positive developmental outcomes occur.
These outcomes include higher levels of enjoyment in the sport, intrinsic motivation, high
perceptions of competence, and motivation to continue (e.g., Babkes & Weiss, 1999;
Brustad, 1988). Furthermore, parents, who are positive role models, inﬂuence their
children’s decision to engage in sport and physical activity (i.e., Dempsey, Kimiecik, &
Horn, 1993; Kimiecik, Horn, & Shurin, 1996). What is apparent in the literature also is
that parental involvement in children’s sporting experience sends messages to children
about their ability in sport. The interpretation of these messages is what is important, but
often this interpretation is complex and may be dependent on the child’s socialization
history. In addition, there may be gender differences in how children perceive parental
support and pressure (Leff & Hoyle, 1995; Martin, Richardson, Weiller, & Jackson,
2004). The complexity of the child’s interpretation of feedback may be ﬁrrther
complicated when the parent is coaching his or her own child. Finally, the level of
involvement that a parent has in his/her child’s sport may impact the type and frequency

of feedback given to the child (Hellstedt, 1987, 1990). A parent’s level of involvement

57

may be further intensiﬁed when coaching one’s own child. It is presently unknown how
a child may interpret a parent-coach’s level of involvement.

The perceptions that children have of their coaches’ behaviors and feedback are
also linked to their motivational processes. Coaches, who provide instructional and
supportive feedback, are more likely to coach children who report higher levels of
enjoyment and lower attrition rates than those coaches who engage in less of this type of
feedback. Those athletes, who perceive more instructional and supportive feedback, have
greater positive changes in self-esteem, particularly those previously with low self-
esteern (Barnett et al., 1992; Smith & Smoll, 1990). Finally, the research indicates that
the coach’s practice feedback provides more salient competence information to an athlete
than during other times of contact, such as in competition. The interpretation of this
information is complex, however, and is often dependent on the performance
expectations of both the coach and player (Horn, 1985).

Previous research also provides a glimpse into the perceptions of the parent as
coach dual role. Evans’ (1985) study indicates that most coaches and children perceived
positive experiences in this dual role relationship. What is most interesting, however, is
the impact the dual role had on the parent/coaches’ perceptions of what was expected of
him/ her and the coach’s subsequent behavior toward his/her child. Some reported giving
less frequent positive feedback and reduced playing time for their child. In addition,
some reported an inability to “let go” of their coaching role when they should be in their
parental role. In the end, how do these behaviors impact the child?

Weiss and Fretwell (in press) were able to provide a more detailed account of how

having a parent in a dual-role impacts both the parent and child. It seems that

58

simultaneously the relationship can be cordial, contentious, and create a conundrum.
This research had limitations, however, as the investigators only examined father-son
dyads. A need exists to investigate the impact for all dyads that may exist with the
parent-coach dual role.

Common throughout the research on the parent, coach, and parent as coach is how
feedback can directly impact the child’s motivational processes, whether it is the
development of an internal/extemal sense of control, high/low perceptions of
competence, levels of enjoyment, or motivation to continue. Not known, however, is how
children who are coached by their parents interpret and use feedback from their parent-
coach. Additionally, a void exists in parent-coaches’ interpretation of the feedback they
provide their own children and how their feedback impacts their children. Also not
known is how positive and negative experiences on the ﬁeld or court inﬂuence the
relationship over time.

The research on parent and child/adolescent relationships provides a vision of
what one might expect to happen with the relationship in a sporting context. Wylleman
(1995) found that talented athletes had positive perceptions of their relationships with
parents and coaches that were context speciﬁc. If a parent were to assume a dual role of
coach, however, the perceptions of the child may differ. For example, conﬂict may occur
between the parent and child because of this dual role. It seems that most adolescents
report having a happy and content relationship with their parents, but it is unknown how
the dual-role may impact this relationship. Relationships with parents have been found to
have both continuity and transformation and most major conﬂict between parents and

adolescents is reported to occur because of conﬂict that occurred prior to adolescence,

59

perhaps due to an early or late maturing child (Larson, Richards, Moneta, Holmbeck, &
Duckett, 1996; Savin-Williams, & Small, 1986; Steinberg, 1988). In sport, the
opportunity for parents to coach their children at earlier ages is immense due to a need in
this country for coaches at the youth sport level. Coaching an early or late maturing child
may complicate the parent’s ability to have a symbiotic relationship with his or her child
in and outside of sport. It appears that adopting an authoritative parenting style might
buffer against some of the conﬂict that may occur in these relationships (e.g., Steinberg,
Lamborn, Darling, Mounts, & Dombusch, 1994).

Differences between relationships with mothers and fathers may further
complicate the issue of coaching one’s child. Sons and daughters have reported feeling
closer to their mother than their father. Most children have also reported that they view
their father as the authority ﬁgure and feel uncomfortable talking with their father about
personal issues (e.g.,Youniss & Smollar, 1985). Ifchildren are to he coached by their
father, it is likely they will feel uncomfortable talking with their father about conﬂich
issues. Conversely, sport may offer the opportunity to draw children closer to their

parents, especially their fathers.

60

CHAPTER THREE
Method
Participants
The participants included 11 undergraduate and graduate students who were
attending or had attended a large Mid-westem university and the parents who coached
them. This sample size was comparable to other qualitative studies in sport psychology
examining dyadic relationships (Chaumeton & Duda, 1988; Evans, 1985; Weiss &
Fretwell, in press). A parent-coach was deﬁned as any parent or guardian who formally
coached his/her child for at least two seasons and whose child was between the ages of 10
and 18 at the time. One dyad was included in the sample in which the parent had
coached for one season only due to the uniqueness of their experiences. The most
frequently reported age-range for child-athlete participants was 20-22 years (27.3%) and
the most frequently reported age-range for their parent-coach was 51-55years (18.2%).
In all, there were 5 father-daughter dyads, 5 father-son dyads, and one mother-daughter
dyad. Ten dyads were Caucasian and one dyad was Hispanic. Parents coached their
children for 1 to 11 seasons (M=5.64 seasons) in a variety of sports. These sports
included the team sports of basketball, baseball, softball, hockey, and water polo. One
parent coached his child in the individual sport of cross country/track. All parents
coached in a volunteer capacity and at varying levels of competition. Three coached at
the AAU or club level, seven at the recreational level, and one at the interscholastic level.
All parents reported having a sporting background either as a player, a coach, or both.

Children ranged from 5 to l7-years-old (M= 10.18-years-old) when their parent began

61

coaching and ranged ﬁom 12-18-years-old (M=15-years-old) when their parent stopped

coaching them. Table 1 provides a demographic outline for each dyad.

 

 

 

Table 1

Demographics of Each Dyad

Dyad Child/ Parent- Seasons Age Age Sport (3)

‘ Athlete Coach Coached Began Ended

01 Daughter Father 1 14 15 AAU Basketball

02 Daughter Father 4 9 12 Elementary school
basketball

03 Daughter Father 9 9 18 AAU Track/Cross
Country

04 Daughter Father 5 8 13 Summer softball

05 Son Father 5 1 1 15 Summer
baseball/basketball

06 Daughter Mother 1 1 5 14 Summer
Softball/basketball

07 Son Father 7 6 12 YMCA Basketball

08 Son Father 4 12 15 Summer baseball

09 Son Father 1 1 8 18 Summer baseball

10 Son Father 3 13 15 Club Hockey

11 Daughter Father 2 17 18 High School Water
Polo

Instrumentation

Child-athlete demographic survey. All child-athlete participants completed a
demographic survey (Appendix A) during the initial recruiting process to obtain
demographic information and to assist in determining the ﬁnal pool of participants for the

interview process. The child-athlete survey contained questions addressing at what age

62

the parent coached the child, the sex of the parent-coach, what sport the child was
coached by the parent-coach, the competitive level at which the child played (e.g.,
recreational or competitive), and the level of enjoyment he/she had being coached by
his/her parent. Current demographic information was included as well, such as age, sex,
race/ethnicity, current sport or physical activity involvement, and the level of that
involvement.

Parent-coach demographic survey. Parent-coaches completed the demographic
survey (Appendix B) prior to the interview. The parent-coach-participant survey
contained questions about the parents’ own sporting background, his/her reasons for
coaching his/her child, the competitive level of the sport(s), and his/her level of
enjoyment in coaching. Current demographic information such as occupation, age, sex,
race/ethnicity, and current involvement in sport was included as well.

Child-athlete interview question guide. To obtain speciﬁc information about the
child-athlete’s perception of the dual-role, an interview guide (Appendix C) was
developed. The guide consisted of semi-structured interview questions using a standard
written protocol with both open-ended and close-ended questions. This format allowed
for ﬂexibility in asking follow-up questions. The interview guide consisted of three
parts: warm-up, main questions reﬂecting the research questions, and wrap-up. Warm-
up questions included how they learned sport skills, in what sports they participated
and/or currently participate, when their parent began formally coaching them, why their
parent stopped coaching them, how long their parent coached them, and how they felt
about their parent coaching them. The main questions consisted of describing positive

and negative situations that occurred and how these situations impacted their relationship

63

and behavior toward each other, how they interpreted their parent-coaches feedback, if
this feedback was different compared to others on the team, how their level of enjoyment,
competence, and motivation was impacted by their experiences and parent-coach’s
feedback, and what they would take ﬁom their experiences if they were to coach their
own child. The wrap-up consisted of asking the participants if there were any points that
they would like to elaborate upon or if they had anything they would like to add that was
not asked. Each was then asked if they had any questions of the interviewer and were
thanked for their participation.

Parent-coach interview guide. To obtain speciﬁc information about the parent-
coach’s perception of the dual-role, an interview guide (Appendix D) was developed. The
guide consisted of semi-structured interview questions using a standard written protocol
with both open-ended and close-ended questions. This format allowed for ﬂexibility in
asking follow-up questions. The interview guide consisted of three parts: warm-up,
main questions reﬂecting the research questions, and wrap-up. Warrn-up questions
included their personal background in sport and coaching, why they began and stopped
coaching their own child, if a parent coached them, and if they were successful as a I
coach. The main questions consisted of identifying positive and negative experiences
and how these experiences impacted their relationship and behavior toward their child,
how they interpreted their feedback given to their child, their perception of their child’s
interpretation of the feedback, if this feedback was different compared to others on the
team, how they believed their child’s level of enjoyment, competence, and motivation
was impacted by the experiences and the parent-coach’s feedback, and what advice they

would give others interested in coaching their own child. The wrap-up consisted of

asking the participants if there were any points that they would like to elaborate upon or
if they had anything they would like to add that was not asked. Each was then asked if
they had any questions of the interviewer and were thanked for their participation.
Procedures

Following approval from the University Committee on Research Involving
Human Subjects (see Appendix H), the recruitment process began. Participants were
recruited by establishing contact with students via undergraduate and graduate student
listserve announcements and announcements in undergraduate and graduate kinesiology
classes. Within these announcements, the purpose and protocol of the study were
explained. Interested students were asked to provide contact information to the
researcher. In all, 42 students responded to these announcements. Informed consent
forms (Appendix E) and demographic surveys (Appendix A) were then distributed to
these participants. Of the 42 forms that were distributed, 30 were returned to the
researcher resulting in a return rate of 71%.

Two researchers who were familiar with the research questions, then reviewed the
completed demographic surveys and chose the interview sample from the pool of student-
participants using selected criteria as described below. Dyads were selected for interview
ﬁ'om the responses to the student-participant demographic survey. Minimum
requirements for selection included meeting criteria for age (coached between the ages of
10 and 18) and number of seasons coached by the parent (at least 2). One dyad was
selected in which the parent had coached for one season only. This dyad was included as
a test dyad, but their experiences were unique from other dyads, therefore, their responses

were included in the ﬁnal analysis. From this pool of participants, 11 dyads were selected

65

in which child-athletes responded to having an average of very low to moderate level of
enjoyment (I to 4) and in which child-athletes responded to having an average of high to
very high levels of enjoyment (7 to 10). Of the lldyads chosen, three child-athletes
indicated that they had very low to moderate levels of enjoyment and eight with high to
very high levels of enjoyment. The following information was considered when choosing
participants: equal number of sons and daughters, equal number of those coached for a
low, medium, and high number of seasons, equality in the number of fathers and mothers
who coached, equality in levels of enjoyment of being coached by a parent, equality of
child-athletes currently participating in sport, and the type of sport in which the parent
coached the child. Of the child-athlete participants initially chosen for the interview
pool, all agreed to be interviewed except three individuals. Two child-athlete participants
declined based on the availability of their parent and one did not participate due to the
unexpected death of the parent who had coached the child-athlete. Consequently, three
other child-athlete participants were chosen based on the selection criteria. All agreed to
participate. Those child-athlete participants not selected for interview were notiﬁed and
thanked for their participation and were informed that no information contained on their
demographic forms would be used in the study.

The child-athlete participants were then asked to notify their parent-coach about
the feasibility of participating in the study and obtain permission for the researcher to
contact the parent to discuss the study. All child-athlete participants agreed to contact
their parent-coach and, after contact, all parent-coaches agreed to participate. The

researcher then contacted parent-coaches via telephone and obtained their verbal consent

66

to participate. The parent-coach informed consent form (Appendix F) and demographic
form (Appendix B) were mailed and completed prior to the interview.

Upon obtaining verbal or written informed consent, a meeting with each
participant was scheduled to establish rapport and conduct the interview. Interview
questions were provided to the informants approximately two days prior to the interview
to allow time for participants to adequately reﬂect on their experiences. Inforrnants were
asked to refrain from discussing the questions with other participants in the study.
Interviews were scheduled in an environment comfortable to the participant or via
telephone. The student-participant and parent-coach-participant were interviewed
separately.

At the time of the interview, each participant was reminded of his or her right to
withdraw from the study at any time. The participants were then reminded of the purpose
of the study and that there were no right or wrong answers to the questions and that
conﬁdentiality of the conversation would be maintained. Finally, permission was
obtained to audiotape the discussion ﬁom all participants. The interview then began.
Each interview lasted approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. All interviews were digitally
recorded using a Sony digital voice recorder, saved to the Sony Digital Voice Editor
program, and transcribed verbatim.

Data Analysis

Interview data were analyzed using both inductive and deductive analysis. First,
deductive analysis occurred in which all interview question responses reﬂective of each
research question were organized with their corresponding research question. For

example, questions designed to illicit an answer to the larger research question of How

67

does the dual role of the parent as coach inﬂuence the relationship between the child-
athlete and parent-coach? were organized under this umbrella question. Second,
inductive analysis occurred through content analysis procedures that were employed to
identify emerging themes. These procedures were based on recommendations of several
qualitative methodologists (Patton, 2002; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Two researchers
independently read each response to identify raw data quotes, which were then organized
into lower order and higher order themes as well as general dimensions. Consensus
between these researchers was apparent at each stage of theme development. At all stages
the two researchers analyzed the data independently prior to meeting to share their
ﬁndings.

In an effort to ensure the trustworthiness of this study, some of the criteria
recommended for triangulation (Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Patton, 2002) were followed.
Trustworthiness includes the dimensions of credibility, transferability, dependability, and
conﬁrmability. Credibility is parallel to internal validity except that “the focus has
moved to establishing the match between the constructed realities of respondents and
those realities as represented by the evaluator and attributed to various stakeholders”
(Guba & Lincoln, 1989, p. 237). Furthermore, transferability is a parallel to external
validity, dependability is an analog to reliability, and conﬁmability is an analog to
objectivity. Several kinds of triangulation can contribute to the veriﬁcation and
validations of qualitative analysis. These include methods triangulation (employing
different data collection methods), triangulation of sources (verifying the consistency of

different data sources), analyst triangulation (multiple analysts review ﬁndings), and

68

theory/perspective triangulation (using multiple perspectives of theories to analyze and
interpret the data) (Patton, 2002).

The current study employed three of the recommended methods of triangulation.
First methods triangulation was employed using both qualitative and quantitative
methods. A demographic form was employed as a crosscheck for information obtained in
the interview, such as why parents began coaching their own child, level of enjoyment for ‘
both child-athlete and parent-coach, and years of coaching and participation. Second,
triangulation of sources was employed. Information, experiences, and perceptions
concerning the parent-coach and child-athlete relationship at the time and over time were
collected ﬁ'om two sources with their own points of view. Third, analyst triangulation
occurred. Two researchers experienced in qualitative research and analyses read the
transcripts several times to become familiar with the data. All participant quotes were
organized for each question to assist in data organization. These two researchers then
met to discuss and compare and contrast raw data quotes. The raw data quotes were then
fruther organized into second order themes and general dimensions. Consensus between
the two researchers was apparent at each stage of theme development. A third researcher
served as a reliability check for the inductive analysis. This individual was familiar with
the transcripts, but was not involved in the coding process. This researcher was asked to
verify emergent higher and lower order themes previously agreed upon by the original
research analysts. The three researchers discussed similarities and differences to obtain
triangular consensus. This process was adhered to until all three researchers agreed on

existing lower order themes, higher order themes, and general dimensions.

69

CHAPTER FOUR

Results of Child-Athlete Responses

Results of child-athlete interview responses revealed nine general dimensions
addressing the four research questions. These general dimensions included: dual-role
inﬂuence on relationship, positive outcomes for child-athlete, negative outcomes for child
athlete, perception of feedback type, general interpretation of feedback, impact on child-
athlete’s conﬁdence in ability, motivational orientation for child-athlete, instilled values
and beliefs about sport, and impact on enjoyment. The following section will include a
presentation and explanation of each dimension and theme, including quotes from
individual athletes.

Dual Role Inﬂuence on Relationship

To determine how the child-athlete viewed the impact of the parent-coach’s dual
role on the relationship at the time and presently, child-athlete participants were asked a
series of questions: (a) How do you think those [positive] experiences impacted your
relationship with your parent/coach?; (b) How do you think those [negative]experiences
impacted your relationship with your parent/coach?; (c) When you were a child, how did
having your parent as your coach impact your behaviors and experiences toward each
other outside of sport?; ((1) As an adult, how have your experiences being coached by
your parent impacted your behavior toward your parent today?; (e) Think of a recent
time(s) when you believe that having your parent as your coach impacted your interaction
with each other. Explain it to me? What did each of you say and do and what was the

response to the other? Participant responses revealed three third order themes including

70

positive/strengthen relationship, negative/strain on relationship, and no impact on

 

 

 

 

 

 

relationship (see Figure 2).
# of quotes 1’t order themes 2"d order themes 3" order themes
5 Time together ﬂ
9 Sharing sport experiences 7
3 Learned about each other ,
Sport Expenence
2 Closer bonds in family »— Created Closer
1 Differential relationship from Bonds
family members Positive/

2 Parent-coach aware of child’s —- StrenQthened

needs _, Relationship
2 Taught responsibility
1 Made relationship resilent — Created Positive
1 Emotional management COPmQ _

Over-involved/overemphasis on sport
Overcritical ~— Negative/Strain
2 Coaching decisionslactions strained relationship
2 Dual role not a concern
No Perceived

3 No lasting effects of negative events J Impact

Figure 2. Child-athletes’ perceptions of the dual role on the relationship.
Positive/strengthen relationship. Overall the majority of participants’ responses
indicated that having a parent as a coach had a positive impact on the relationship and/or
strengthened the relationship. A second order theme was developed ﬁom this higher
order theme indicating that respondents agreed that the sport experiences created closer

bonds through a number of avenues. One avenue was that it allowed the children to

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spend time together with their parent that they rrright not have had the opportunity to do if
not for sport. For example, one son summed up his experience with having his father
coach him in this manner:
I think it probably bettered it [relationship] and again just the fact that he could
relate more and be a part of my life rather than just the father ﬁgure in the house,
at home because he could be away from that. Our time spent was away from the
home type thing where he and I [were] away from my brothers and my mom so
we [could] spend that [time] together. So we gained something as far as the
relationship between the two of us.
In other words, their sport experience was viewed as a time that they could spend away
from their usual day-to—day parent and child experiences. Another female athlete who
was coached by her father agreed, but took her sentiments a bit further:
.. .he had just always made the time to be there and to be a coach and to take that
time and when there are lots of parents who didn’t come to every game or didn’t
take the time to coach ...... this was deﬁnitely a way that could kinda bridge this
and really get us involved. He did any kind of sport I wanted to. He didn’t know
anything about ﬂoor hockey, but he coached it just because I wanted to do it and
they needed a coach and so just to do that. He would encourage me in whatever I
wanted. I liked playing football. He encouraged me and played catch and things
like that. So I think it deﬁnitely added a lot to our relationship. . ..
This athlete seemed to understand that her father was taking the time to do something that
other parents did not do for their children and realized that the experience ‘bridged a gap’
in the relationship. Perhaps the father understood this gap existed and seized the
opportunity to get to know his daughter.
A second avenue in which these athletes viewed the dual role as creating a bond
in the relationship was that they were able to share sport experiences at the time as well
as being able to continue to share sport experiences. One daughter concluded that being

involved in sport with her father allowed for them to share a commonality in the sport

experience, which carried over into their daily lives:

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I think again that’s kinda a positive impact on my relationship. In fact [it]
deﬁnitely bumped it up to a new gear. It allowed us to share something and so
that could carry through. And obviously outside of sport we still had things to talk
about, things in common. Just developing something that he and I could share
together which then continues to better [the] relationship, in-depth relationship...

Yet another daughter spoke of sport as being somewhat of the only connection currently
bonding the two together:

...we have that little experience that we did together and we still have sport as a
common thing. So, when my dad and I wanna spend time together that’s what we
do. We go to a Reds game or we go to a Bengals game or we watch IU
basketball. It’s usually some kind of activity revolving around sport and in some
ways it’s that early experience and that kinda early bonding we did with sport
[that] is the link that you know we still have. . .. I think. Even to this day my
father is probably less interested on a personal level. IfI want to have a good chat
with my dad, we talk about sports. That’s still kind of that common ground for
us.

Other athletes spoke of how spending time with their father in that coaching role will
impact their future with their own children. For example, one male athlete spoke of his
father-son/coach-athlete experience in this manner:
I think of it as something that we always can have to talk about. You know
especially when I have kids, you know [telling] them kinda what he did. It’s just
something that we’ll always have in common where a lot of kids don’t have that
with their dad.
And ﬁnally, most of the athletes spoke of how having their parent as a coach allowed
them to continue to spend time with their parent sharing sport experiences. Several spoke
of how spending time together in the present has changed from being an authority-
subordinate role to becoming more equal. One daughter spoke of her current experiences
with her mother in this manner:
Ifwe’re sitting there watching a basketball game or something, we’ll start
analyzing it or if we go to one of my high school’s basketball games. Watch my

old coach play, my old teammates play. . .analyze what they could’ve done and
just sit there talking about the game. . And then my, like the college basketball

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tournaments or something were on TV. We could sit down and watch those
together and do a lot more stuff together.

A third avenue in which the experience of having a parent for a coach created closer
bonds in the relationship was by the parent and child having the opportunity to learn from
each other. Three athletes spoke of how having their father as their coach helped them
learn something about respecting each other, the time dedication put forth, and how to
communicate with and trust the other person. One daughter summed up her feelings in
this manner by saying, “I think it’s positive just to have that experience together, that you
grow together and you know a little more about each other and trust each other and it’s
really different than your daily living at home.” Two sons agreed with this type of
statement in these responses:

I think it only made us, our relationship, stronger. It could only have helped us.

You know only have led to better things. . .that maybe he could trust me or believe
me and because he learned throughout these years how much of a competitor I

am... I think it allowed us to talk to each other better. It allowed us to
communicate to each other ‘cause we went through all that. I think later on it was
a lot more difﬁcult to come to me to give me advice on, on stuff on the baseball
ﬁeld, but like in general I think it only helped us out. ..
The second son discussed the relationship with his father-coach in this way:
You know maybe if anything it’s maybe improved the way our relationship. . . the
way I act towards him because again I appreciate it more now and see the time
dedication and different things. In that way I would say either improved our
relationship or increases my respect for him as a father I guess. . ..
A fourth avenue for creating closer bonds was by how the dual role impacted the
family in some way. For example, two athletes spoke of how being in that dual role with

the parent brought the family closer through creating lines of communication in the

family, especially when dealing with stressful situations created by the dual role. A son

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spoke of how his relationship became stronger with his mother. His relationship with his
mother then impacted his relationship with his father-coach He stated:

I think that even with my mom. It helped my relationship with my mom. Because
we always had something in common. We can watch a game together and be like
that’s what you should do or your dad tries to do this and, you know, kinda gives
you an understanding of what your dad’s trying to do for you and what you try to
do for your dad.

Another athlete (daughter) who was coached by her father stated this about her
relationships with her family:

I think almost even though they were negative, I think it almost made our whole
family stronger because it got me to talk to my mom about things and my brother
about things and in return that brought our whole family closer because then my
dad and my brother reciprocated the same thing during a different sport and my
mom and I were on the other side. So, I think it brought all of us together in a
different way at a different time.

One athlete, however, spoke of how the impact of the dual role on the family created a
differential relationship with her father, especially when compared with her siblings:

My sisters don’t talk to him about Sport. They could care less about sport. I don’t

lmow what they talk to him about, but it’s not sport, and so for me, when he’s in

one of those moods where he’s not very chatty, but I wanna talk, like that’s
always a good way for me to kinda reel him back in and remind him that we have
this little common thing.

A ﬁnal avenue in which the parents and children were able to create closer bonds
was through the parent developing an awareness of the child’s needs. Two athletes spoke
of how they became so close to their parents, that they seemed to have a sixth sense about
the other. One female athlete who was a long distance runner eloquently revealed the
following about her relationship with her father-coach:

If anything, we were just really close and we got to know each other so well.

Like today, we joke around that we’re practically telepathic because we know, it’s

like ESP. We know what the other one’s thinking almost [at] all times. We’re so

connected inter-personally. I guess we’re somewhat dependent on each another
because we had to learn to rely on each other with not just running stuff, but

75

dealing with all the travel issues and everything. But you know overall it
positively affected my behaviors and experiences later on when I went through
some major difﬁculties and I think both of us again collaborated to think of
different life skills to use to get through that just like I would for the running stuff.
An additional second order theme emerged in how the relationship was positive or
strengthened because of the dual-role. This theme indicated that the dual-role created
positive coping in the relationship. For example, some athletes spoke of how incidents
with parent-coaches in sport taught the athletes responsibility. A male athlete who played
basketball for his father ﬁ'om the age of 6 until he was 12 stated the following, “I
probably behaved better than I would have just ‘cause he was like my coach and I tried to
impress him and act not as childish.” In a sense, this young man may have had to learn
the lessons of growing up from his father, but through sport. Another son who was
already somewhat mature understood what he needed to do for his father and learned
from that experience. He stated:
I liked helping out my dad ‘cause I knew it was kinda hard for him, but I knew he
wanted to do coaching. That he wanted to coach us. So, I felt like it was almost
our duty as his sons to do that kind of stuff for him.
In addition to teaching responsibility, one athlete spoke of how the experience taught him
about emotional management:
I think it was just the fact that the game got heated and more or less he felt like he
needed to raise me a little bit better I think and how to control my temper. Other
than that I don’t think it had too much of an impact... We just kinda had a face-
to-face conversation and he said you know you can’t be doing these things. You
see what happens to other people and I don’t want to see, I want you to play. You
know you’re a big part of the team and if you get kicked out. You’re going to
hurt our chances of winning. Kinda put things in perspective as to why I can’t be
doing those kind of things.

Finally, another athlete commented on how when negative events occurred that those

events helped make the relationship more resilient:

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...he kind of got upset with me for a little bit. I was probably not concentrating as
much as I should and I went in the hall and was crying and just upset and did not
want to play anymore. [I] was angry, angry at him. I thought that he was against
me, putting too much pressure on me. . .That they needed to happen and that it
helped them overtime. You know, we needed to have a few bumpy rides but it
just made us stronger.

Negative/strain on relationship: Although most child-athletes spoke of positive
outcomes for the relationship, some did indicate that negative events did occur that
caused a strain on the relationship. Three lower order themes emerged within this higher
order theme. The ﬁrst lower order theme was that some of the child-athletes perceived
that their parent-coach was over-involved and put too much emphasis on sport. For
instance, two female athletes spoke of how their father could not seem to separate their
roles when the child needed the parent to do so. One commented that:

...the further along it went and the more competitive it got, I think it had a very

negative impact on my relationship with my father because I did feel so negative

and angry about the whole experience. I just felt like he was too involved and
there was no separation of like well the basketball player and the
daughter and I wanted that separation. To him, I think, it was just kind of all like
that’s what he was interested in.
The other athlete echoed this response, perceiving that her father just could not take off
his coaching hat. She stated, “... he was thinking about it and talking about it so
frequently that it, he would bring it home from practice and we’d have discussions at
home. You know, I think I got a little bit tired of that.”

A second lower order theme emerged in which athletes spoke of how their parent-
coach seemed to be overly critical of them, especially when they had left the playing
area. One male athlete commented on his father’s behavior in this manner:

. . .speciﬁcally I can think of the car ride home type thing when we would reﬂect.

When I got into my later years maybe the last year he coached, the more
speciﬁcally into the later years of the more elite hockey, which he would give me

77

pointers why didn’t you do this and if I took it negative, I would take it defensive,
you lcnow, and I would start battling...

Finally, a third lower order theme indicated that athletes demonstrated an inability
to understand coaching decisions made by their parent-coach, which impacted their
relationship. For example, one daughter spoke of how she did not understand playing
time decisions and how this impacted her behavior toward her father at home:

. . .it weakened it during the hard times when we did lose or when I was upset

about playing time... like a bad indication would be, you know, there were times

when I would come home crying because I didn’t think that I got to play
enough...
Another female athlete who was coached by her father in basketball indicated how her
father’s behavior in the stands impacted her thoughts and feelings toward him:

...especially the whole like screaming in ﬁont of the crowd and things like that. It

made me angry at him, but I don’t think I was at a stage where I could kind of

verbalize that anger to him and so it really strained our relationship a lot, in my

mind. Again I don’t know that he would be cognizant enough to have felt that. I

don’t know that he would perceive it in that way, but that’s how I felt.

No perceived impact. Finally, many athletes spoke of how having their parent for a
coach did not seem to impact the relationship in any manner, positive or negative. Two
lower order themes emerged within this higher order theme. The ﬁrst lower order theme
was that the dual-role of parent as coach was not a concern for the child. Two athletes
agreed that their fathers were involved in their lives enough to make an impact,
regardless of the coaching responsibility. One commented,

...for me it wasn’t like oh he’s my coach and oh this is great or this is bad, it was

just he’s involved, which I thought was good... I guess I didn’t look at him as ch

it’s my dad as a coach, it’s my dad, it’s my coach, where it seemed separate to
me.

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Lastly, three athletes agreed that the negative events that occurred because of the dual-
role had no lasting impact on the relationship. One female athlete who was coached by
her father summed up responses in this manner:
I don’t know if that was just adolescent rebelling thing or what, but yeah, we had
a few disagreements. It was never anything more than, you know, short arguments
and then that was the end of it. .. I think they were so insigniﬁcant they didn’t
really [mean] anything; I mean we both always [have]been close.
Positive Outcomes for Child-Athlete
To determine what the athletes perceived as positive outcomes for themselves
they were asked the following questions: (a) Did your parent-coach treat you differently
from others on the team? If so, how? In what way?; (b) Think of those situations when
you had what you would consider to be positive experiences in sport with your parent as
your coach. Describe those incidents to me. What happened? When did these incidents
occur? Why do you believe they were positive experiences? How did it make you feel at
the time?; and (c) How would you sum up your experiences with having your parent as

your coach? Results revealed four second order themes including perks, learning from

parent, sharing with parent, and miscellaneous positive outcomes (see Figure 3).

79

 

206

# of quotes 1" order themes order themes

3 Playing time
3 Assistant coach duties/extra

 

 

. . . . — Perks
responsrbrlrtres
2 Advocacy
1 Reliable transportation ___1
7 Improving sport skills
5 Life skills r- Leaming From
Parent
1 Inspired to work harder
5 Feelings of success T]
Sharing with
4 Sharing emotions I Parent
4 No preferential treatment
4 Delayed understanding of parent- Miscellaneous
coach behavior L Positive
2 Expectations of being a leader Outcomes
1 Sharing parent with teammates

 

Figure 3. Positive outcomes for child-athletes.

Perks. Results of discussions with child-athletes indicated that they believed there
were many perks made available to them because a parent coached them. One of the
biggest perks was that many perceived that they received more playing time due to being
the son or daughter of a coach. A female athlete who was coached by her father
explained her feelings in this manner:

I was the coach’s kid and I was playing. I mean that’s why you coach as a parent.

That’s one reason people coach, so that their kids get playing time, so in some

ways it was to my beneﬁt because I did get to play every game, all game, and you
know I learned a tremendous amount from that.

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Another male athlete also believed that he received playing time due to his father being

the coach, but also believed that the playing time may have been the result of his talent:
The biggest difference was the playing time. I mean, but in that kind of league
you had to play everybody so many innings per game. So, he even sat me a couple
of times, but usually he would keep me out there a little bit longer than the other
players. And I don’t know if that had to do with actually being good at the sport
or him being my dad ‘cause he kept my brother in there just as long. It may have
something to do with me being his son that I would play longer. . .. I enjoyed the
playing time. I liked getting in there more often.
An additional perk that several athletes mentioned was the ability to assume the
duties of an assistant coach on the team. These athletes mentioned how they beneﬁted
from this experience in some manner. For example, a male baseball player spoke of how
he learned about responsibility by helping his father:
I was kind of like a helper on the team too. I helped set up practices and do a lot
of other things and I’d call a lot of the players when we’d get rained out. So I
think it gave me some kind of responsibility to move on with and it was probably
the best time I could be getting that, going through maturity and all that, so I think
of it as very helpful.

Additionally a female basketball player spoke of helping her father when he gave her

some control on the team. She stated the following:

He expected me to be a leader, you know, if he had to walk out of the gym for a
minute “ , lead the girls in this or do that” you know. So I think it put a lot

more expectations on me. . .Sometimes I liked it ‘cause, like I said, I liked to be a
leader. I liked to be in control.

One athlete mentioned a beneﬁt being that he always made practice on time due to
having a ride ﬁ'om his parent-coach. He stated, “I always had a ride and I didn’t have to
worry about that stuff and [the] father aspect I enjoyed it more, I was never late to
practice...” And, ﬁnally two female athletes spoke of how having their parent as a coach

created situations for their parent to become advocates for the athletes. Both situations

81

involved the parent advocating for gender rights. One daughter who was coached by her
father explained her situation in this manner:
I was only like one of two girls who played. And the other team had no girls, the

other coach when lining up, he started putting the bigger boys on that side and so
my dad told him that that’s not what this is about, it’s about fun and that he needs

to stop doing it. I don’t know if he treated me differently then or if he would have

done it for anyone, but because I was one of few girls.

Finally, a daughter spoke of how her mother advocated for equal treatment for girls
participating in baseball/softball.

One big thing is my third grade year, playing softball, the township decided it was

alright to let the boys playing baseball pitch to each other and the girls still had to

have the coaches pitch. And my softball team. . .most of us wanted to be able to
pitch, so my mom tried to change the rules. Ended up actually changing it and just
like showing that she would just stick up for us that we deserved equal

treatment. . .

What is interesting about this comment is that her mother’s actions left a lasting
impression that the child seemed to realize over time.

Learning ﬁom parent. A second positive outcome for child-athletes was the
opportunity to learn from their parent. Many commented on how they appreciated being
able to learn and improve sport skills from their parent. For example, one male baseball
player spoke of his learning experience with his father in this manner:

You know thinking back, I wouldn’t want to learn the game from anybody else

besides my father... I just remember learning things from him and I’m glad things

worked out the way they did. You know I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Another female athlete who was coached by her father spoke of how her father helped
take her to another level and how they must focus on each race to do so.

. . .my dad’s helping me so I can go to nationals which is the whole objective you

know... it was just you know let’s work on this for the next race, this is how you
can do better, don’t worry about it...

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In addition, to learning and improving sport skills, several child-athletes spoke of
how being coached by their parents helped them to develop life skills, such as learning to
prioritize, raising their own children in the sport environment, dealing with adversity, and
temper control. One female athlete who was coached by her father during elementary
school basketball spoke of how her experience taught her something about overcoming
obstacles in other aspects of her life, such as school:

I think. . .[his] perseverance taught me, sometimes when the people that are
maybe coming down on you or trying to be hard on you they’re not really being
hard on you, they’re telling you the truth and giving you some drive to, and
encouragement to, keep going and put more into what you’re doing ‘cause they
can see some real talent or value in you. So, reciprocating that into real life just
you know sometimes when I felt like I got a bad grade or something it made me
think that maybe they’re not being hard on me. I mean maybe they know that
there’s more to me or more to the work I did and that I could have done a better
job and just to give a little more the next time.

Furthermore, a male athlete who was coached by his father in baseball spoke of how his
time with his father taught him about controlling his temper in other arenas in his life:
I think it helped me control my temper even out of sport. I think it had an impact
in the way I kinda treated people... Well like how I would treat them fairly or you
know kinda let them have their say or you know whatever. I felt like I was
representing my family in a way, so I guess I learned how to you know represent
myself a little bit better. How to have more responsibility and kinda not let the
sport kinda get to me and be upset about it and certain things.
It seems that this athlete learned not only anger management, but how to take others’
perspectives as well.
Lastly, a daughter spoke of how her father taught her about how hard work can
have pay offs in other aspects in life other than sport. She stated, “I think it also inspired
me to you know work harder and be better ‘cause that’s what he told me to do.” This

athlete seemed to value the words of her father by working harder to succeed in other

aspects of her life.

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Sharing with parent. A third second order theme that emerged was that of sharing
with parent. Many athletes spoke of the opportunity to share feelings of success with
their parent as well as share other emotions associated with sport experiences. Feelings
of success were voiced in being given the opportunity to be on a winning team and being
recognized in school for those successes. One daughter spoke of her successful
experiences with her father in this manner, “I would say just the feeling of being, of
winning and our school and our team being known as the team to be on. It was always
exciting just ‘cause my dad was always a part of it with me.” Still others spoke of such
aspects of sharing championships with their parent-coach and how special these
experiences were. One male hockey player who played for his father during his teenage
years said, “Well I guess positive would be just him being a part of winning. You know
we won, winning tournaments, him being a part of that where he gets to walk out on the
ice and get a trophy type thing...” And ﬁnally, another athlete spoke of a single incident
in which she was able to share a successful experience that came by surprise to her and
her team:

.. .when I was in probably eighth grade, she coached us again through another rec

team, through the Y. and we were a bunch of white girls from the suburbs

playing all the inner city black girls and she just kept telling us “just go out there
and have fun” and low and behold we were kicking everybody’s but.
In addition to sharing success, most athletes indicated that they were able to share
emotions that frequently arise in the sport experience with their parent. One athlete
mentioned how he enjoyed being able to share the feelings of both the ups and downs that
were experienced through his hockey participation:
I guess I have to say broad and basically that I enjoyed sharing, you know, he

wasn’t in the stands, but could be on the ice and he took part in the feeling when
we won because he had a part to do with that being that he coached us. So we

84

could share it more. The feeling of win [ing], but also we could, you know on the
negative, we could share the feeling of lose [ing] a little bit more too.

Yet another athlete spoke of being able to share just the general excitement of the
upcoming participation; certainly something that would not be able to be shared with a
coach who was not a parent.

I think positive experiences were just general excitement of hey we got a game
tomorrow, do you think we can beat this team or you know hey [we] lost to this
team by ﬁfteen last time, think we can beat em this time? The building of
excitement to some of the games and knowing that he was potentially involved
with the outcome, that he was coaching, that he was inﬂuencing who was playing
or our strategy.

Finally, one athlete poignantly spoke of how he was able to share emotions with his
father that he would never have experienced outside of sport:
The best time, we won championships every year we played that he coached. And
all I can remember [is] him crying after each one. And I’d never seen my dad cry
at home. You know even if one of us got in a ﬁght. Ifme or one of my brothers
with him, he still wouldn’t cry, but if we’d win then he would cry. So, it was
kinda touching to see that and realize that my dad cared about how well our team
did, and you know, we didn’t really talk much about how Dad could cry and I
can’t believe he cried. But other than that he showed little emotion as a parent
and pretty much as a coach... but to see him cry was like, you know, interesting.
Miscellaneous positive outcomes. A ﬁnal second order theme was labeled
miscellaneous positive outcomes and revealed such lower order themes as expectations of
being a leader. It seems that some athletes did not mind assuming a leadership role on
the team and valued the fact that their parent-coach expected the athlete to fulﬁll that
role. A female water polo player felt her father valued her leadership due to her talent
and devotion to implementing a new water polo program at her high school:
. . .it was a brand new program and I’d sort of gotten some help from other
programs and other coaches so I think I was one of the more experienced
players on the team. So, I don’t know if other coaches might have treated

me differently as well. Sort of being more of a leader on the team and then
because it’s your dad, I guess that he has expectations as well.

85

Yet another athlete who played baseball for his father for 11 seasons knew his father held
him to higher standards because he was one of the best players. He was often used as an
example to other players, which he appreciated. He expressed his feelings in the
following statement:

Maybe he had higher expectations for me. I was the shortstop on the team, batting
in the clean—up spot. I mean there’s just like the certain thing around the coach’s
kid. You know, he’s usually one of the best out there. He wanted to not only
coach me, but to have me on this team and I think that’s one way to get the other
kids on the team to learn stuff is to, if somebody already knows it on the team, to
show the kids that this kid’s doing it, then they could also learn from that too.
Also he could use me as an example.

A second lower order theme that emerged from child-athlete comments indicated that the
participants found it positive that they did not experience preferential treatment from their
parent-coach. One daughter who was coached by her mother remembered being
reprimanded for an incident, but knew that others would have received similar treatment.
Thus, she found satisfaction in knowing that she was not being treated differently. She
stated,
We were treated the same and so when I would get a bratty attitude, when I got
closer to being a teenager and stuff... At one point she did kick me out of practice
because I was being a brat and talking back to her and none of the other kids
could get away with it, so I couldn’t either.
Another male basketball/baseball player mentioned that he was not treated differently,
but that it may have had to do with his talent in the sport as well as how the league was
structured. He stated:
I think that he, to kind of pat myself on the back, I was pretty good (laughing) and
so I think that to a certain extent made it easy for him. I don’t think he, in terms
of the baseball ...he kinda had that borderline of like well my son’s eighth, ninth,
tenth best player on the team, do I play em, do I play favorites or what? I was
pretty good so I think that made it somewhat easy, I was a logical choice to play

that high in the order of pitched games that type of stuff. In basketball I wasn’t a
great player. I started in high school and I was anywhere from probably the third

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to sixth, seventh best guy on our team, basketball wise. But the league we were in
was a league that we joined as a team just ‘cause we needed more playing
experience, so I think that was part of it so that kinda made it easy too. Also being
a small town you Imew everybody. I knew everybody so it was, yeah, you could
have the parental pressure but everybody you know we might have a game where
we’d only have eight guys there, so everybody was gonna play...
A third positive miscellaneous outcome was that many of the athletes became aware of
what their parent-coach was doing for them and the sacriﬁces made. For example, these
athletes spoke of how they realized the time commitment their parent-coach devoted to
coaching, how their parent made an effort to be a part of their lives, and how their parent
was trying to help motivate the athlete. One athlete summed up his thoughts in this quote:
I think I appreciate it more and I see, what a time commitment and that meaning
he really I guess wanted to be in his kids’ lives. So, I appreciate that and see that
he was you know a good father and it might of taken a couple more years to see
that.
A ﬁnal miscellaneous outcome mentioned by one athlete was that she appreciated being
able to share her parent with her teammates. It seems that she was proud her father and
enjoyed the fact that her father did so much for her as well as her peers. She commented:
... like team outings or pizza parties that my dad put together that maybe the other
team didn’t get. It always felt good when the girls were saying you know positive
things about their experience on that team and how nice my dad was, just feeling
like you know he was playing a part of everyone’s life and they were all having a
good time.
Negative Outcomes for Child-Athlete
To determine what the child-athletes perceived as negative outcomes for
themselves, they were asked the following questions: (a) Did your parent-coach treat you
differently ﬁom others on the team? If so, how? In what way?; (b) Think of those

situations when you had what you would consider to be negative experiences in sport

with your parent as your coach. Describe those incidents to me. What happened? When

87

did these incidents occur? Why do you believe they were negative experiences? How

did it make you feel at the time?; and (c) How would you sum up your experiences with

having your parent as your coach? Results revealed three higher order themes of

inappropriate expectations as perceived by child, teammates expressed displeasure to

coach’s child, and conﬂict with parent-coach (see Figure 4).

 

 

 

 

# of quotes 1" order themes 2" order themes
ﬂ
5 Pressuring with very high expectations
2 Used as example i— lnappmpriate Expectations as
Permived by Child

1 Forced leadership
2 Concerns about playing time

~ Teammates Expressed
1 Concerns about playing favorites 05891883“ to COBCWS Child
3 Understanding coaching decisions
3 Over-involved parent-coach

_ Conﬂict with Parent-
2 Parent-coach was more critical of own Coach

child
Needing attention from parent

Figure 4. Negative outcomes for child-athletes.

 

Inappropriate expectations as perceived by child. Although some athletes

perceived parent-coach expectations as positive as previously outlined, others perceived

expectations as inappropriate. For example, one athlete mentioned how, at times, she

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was forced into a leadership position when she just wanted to have fun. She explained
her feelings in this manner,

He expected me to be a leader you know if he had to walk out of the gym for a
minute “[child’s name], lead the girls in this or do that” you know. So I think it
put a lot more expectations on me... I just wanted to have fim. ..

Other athletes spoke of how their parent used them as an example, which they did not
appreciate. One female athlete explained her feelings about her father’s behavior in the
following manner:

I do remember there was a time where we were warming up for a game and there
were three of us and we were running like lay-up drills and we were giggling
about something... I remember my dad pulled me off the court and he’s just like
‘do not be laughing out there.’ And I’m like “What!” He’s like, “If you’re
laughing, you’re not focused on the game...” Now nobody else on the team got
reprimanded for laughing before the game and so on the one hand it’s like “Geez
thank god he didn’t say anything to anybody else ‘cause they’re going to think
he’s a whack job, but on the other hand it’s like come on why are you like yelling
at me for laughing before the game, you know I’m just dissipating a little energy
here.” I was aware that there was a difference and some days I was “Ahh come on
dad.”

And another male athlete mentioned being used as an example even before he was
cognitively and physically mature enough to handle that responsibility. He stated:

Well, when I was younger I didn’t like it so much. I felt that he was kinda
singling me out and I remember that kindergarten year crying a lot and not
enjoying it so much and feeling like it was a chore to go to practice and not
having so much fun ‘cause I was not to the abilities of the other guys. . . He might
of, if anything, put higher standards on myself, but I think he did a pretty good job
actually of keeping everyone equal... I mean so they’re all kinda gooﬁng around
and stuff, so I had to be the straight one there and keep all the other kids in order.
Make sure they listened.

Still other athletes mentioned that their parent-coach displayed pressuring behavior
toward them, which resulted in feelings of expecting more. One athlete mentioned never

being able to live up to her father’s expectations:

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. . .there was constant feeling of, you know, even if I scored 30 points, I didn’t
score 35. I missed those two shots and the ﬁ'ee throw. You know so it was this
constant feeling of never being quite good enough or never being able to quite
live up to the expectation or the potential. So, it was, it was really hard.
Another athlete mentioned feeling blamed for her team’s defeat in a competition. She
commented:
I don’t know what happened, we probably lost I’m guessing, but I do remember
him kind of being very upset with me and putting a lot of the, at least what I
perceived at that time, blame on me for the performance as a team and I was
pretty upset about that.
From these results it appears that daughters, in particular, perceived expectations from
their father-coaches as negative or pressuring.
T eammates expressed displeasure to coach ’s child. A second higher order theme
that emerged from conversations with the child-athletes indicated that they often had to
deal with the displeasure of their teammates. For example, two athletes spoke of how
their teammates would voice concerns to them rather than the parent-coach about playing
time. They would then have to deal with the fallout of their parent-coach’s decisions,
such as conﬂict in her relationships with peers. One female athlete spoke of how her
father’s decisions about playing time adversely impacted her social life. She stated:
. . .I didn’t want the girls to get mad at me about things because some girls were
like, you know they would get upset if they weren’t getting playing time, but they
wouldn’t get mad at my dad, they’d get mad at me. So it kinda led into like social
life and school life of people being upset with me or people being my friends
‘cause they were getting more playing time, so there was kinda like a good feeling
for it and a bad feeling for it too. It was mostly just girls who weren’t getting
playing time, you know talking bad[ly] about me and my dad [sic]. Just not being
my friends and causing controversy between different groups of girls.

Another male athlete echoed these comments and did not understand how his teammates

might believe that he could alter his father’s decisions. He commented:

9O

Well I just remember that a lot of kids would come up to me and be always like
your dad has got to play me more. Kinda like I was the assistant coach and that
they wanted more playing time so that kinda bothered me because it’s like you
know, I know he’s my dad, but you know I’m not going to go home and say you
need to play so and so more because he came up to me and he was crying

and. . .That was the only thing that really bothered me.

Besides having complaints about playing time, one athlete mentioned that teammates had

complaints about the coach playing favorites with team members. She stated,

there were two teams, people saying that they wanted to be on our team and
that we were playing favorites and stuff like that. Just like friend issues... all the
girls were talking bad about him, you know I’d get upset at him and tell him he
was ruining my life because the girls were mad at him and they took it out on me
and stuff like that.

Conﬂict with parent-coach. The ﬁnal higher order theme that emerged was that many

of the athletes felt a negative outcome was dealing with some type of conﬂict with their

parent coach. One area of conﬂict was the child-athletes’ inability to understand the

coaching decisions of the parent-coach. For example, one athlete mentioned disagreeing

with her father-coach about the type of work—out or practice plan that would be best. She

stated:

We could have disagreements every once in a while about the type of workout
that day because I would think ‘oh I need to be doing a hill workout today, ten
repeats, 400 meter,’ what not, and he made me think I needed more speed stuff
and that came about kinda when I was a little older, I want to say when I was 14
or 15 and up until 17 or something. I don’t know if that was just adolescent
rebelling thing or what, but yeah, we had a few disagreements but it was never
anything more than short arguments and then that was the end of it.

Another athlete mentioned not understanding his father’s decisions about strategy and

who should receive playing time, especially for those perceived to be of low ability. He

commented:

Strategy wise might have been the biggest negative and some of it might have
been baseball, you know ‘why you playing, I can’t even remember the girl’s
name, why you playing her you know, she stinks and why you starting her’ and

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he’d just be, you know I have to and that was about it. You know I might be upset
with it ‘cause it was going to be a big game and I thought he was making a bad
move and that was always his reply I have to and we’re going to live with it and
that was about as negative as it ever really got with him.

Other sources of conﬂict with parent-coach included perceiving the parent-coach as being
overly-involved in his/her child’s sport experience. For example, one athlete commented
that her father never seemed to step out of his coaching role, which caused frustration for ‘
her:
...I knew how he’d always been with me as far as being overly involved in my
sport. Kind of being overbearing about it. Giving me like more feedback than I
could ever want or need or use and it wasn’t always positive. . ..You know, so it
was never like, I could never step away from the sport experience because my dad
was with me (laughing). So, I wouldn’t say it was a great experience.
Another child-athlete stated that his father-coach seemed to be overly involved especially
during the car rides home from competition and practice. He stated:
...there were some type of arguments. [That] type of thing in the car on the way
home about what I did or didn’t do that game and that was deﬁnitely the most
negative thing I can think of off the top of my head.
Finally, two female athletes perceived their father-coach as being overly-critical of their
playing. Both felt that their father-coach was not as critical with other players on the
team. For example, one daughter stated:
. . .my father was very, critical of my playing and I’m sure he thought he was. . .by
pointing out everything I had done wrong (laughing). I’m sure he thought he was
developing me. But sometimes that was hard as a kid to hear all the time you
know, rather than hearing the good things than the bad things. And he didn’t do
that with the other players.
In addition, the other female athlete had similar thoughts. She explained:
...he was trying to encourage me and inspire me, but at the same time I felt like
he was coming down on me and being too critical, ‘cause he didn’t express his

views to the girls as much, like try harder or whatever. He pushed all those on to
me.

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Perception of Feedback Type

To determine how child-athletes perceived what type of feedback their parent-
coach provided them they were asked: (a) In what ways did your parent provide
feedback to you about your sporting ability?, (b) What did your parent-coach do or say
that made you believe you were a good athlete?, (c) Were there times outside of practice
or games that your parent provided feedback to you? Can you describe those incidents to
me?, and (d) How did the feedback provided by your parent compare to the feedback
given to others on the team? Explain. Results revealed three higher order themes of

verbal, visual, and actions of parent-coach (see Figure 5).

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# of quotes 1’‘ order themes 2“d order themes
_]
9 Encouraging/positive
reinforcement
5 Constructive criticism plus r— Verbal
positive reinforcement
2 Instructional _d
2 Video with verbal
feedback _
Visual
1 Demonstration
4 Reinforced ability with coaching
decisions
3 Extra practice
_ Actions of Parent-
1 Indirectly reinforced through actions Coach
1 Motivating
1 Took to tryouts ﬂ

 

Figure 5. Child-athletes’ perception of feedback type.

Verbal. Several athletes spoke of how their parent-coach provided feedback to

them in verbal form. Two athletes mentioned that their fathers were instructional in their

feedback. A female basketball player stated, “I guess again just mostly kinda directly

telling me good job or you know you need to work on this or he would take me to the

gym and we would work on that ...” Additionally, a male athlete just simply stated, “A

lot of it was verbal. A lot of it was just trying to teach me.” Many other athletes

explained how their parent-coach was encouraging and provided positive reinforcement

94

as well. For example, some athletes spoke of how their parent-coach was quick to tell
them that they were of high ability compared to other athletes. One daughter spoke of
her father in this manner, “Also positive, verbal feedback a lot... Basically he always
told me ‘You know you’re one of best athletes out here.” Another female athlete
mentioned:
...he would actually spend a lot of time giving me positive feedback about, you
know, he would just say little things like you’ve got the best jump shot of any girl
I’ve seen play in the state this year or, you know, just different things like that.
Others spoke of how their parent just gave them general encouragement to keep trying in
order to succeed. For example, one son spoke of his father who was his baseball coach in
this manner:
I don’t know maybe he just constantly reminded me you just got to keep at it if
you want to succeed. Obviously he saw something in me if he worked with me so
much, but I think he just helped me out maybe just like motivated are mentally
just to get my mind set that I was good and that there was like a future you
know... I think my father told me there’s thousands of athletes out there with the
ability that I have, but the people that are going to succeed are the ones that like
work at it and practice at it. You know, I think little things just kept are motivated
to keep on working to be better.
Lastly, most of the athletes identiﬁed constructive criticism as a method in which their
parent-coach provided feedback to them. Simply put, child-athletes perceived their
parent-coaches as pointing out not only their strengths, but those areas in which they
needed improvement. One daughter spoke of her mother-coach’s feedback in this
manner:
She would give me constructive criticism so what I needed to improve on and
then she’d tell me that I was doing, what areas I was doing well in. You know or
just outside playing, like, [I] needed to improve my shot or something or she’d tell

me that my shot looked bad on that one that I needed to go back to using good
form.

95

Another female athlete spoke of her father’s constructive criticism in a similar fashion.
She stated:
I would say almost entirely verbal feedback, both positive and negative. I think if
I did something good, he would compliment me on that or say that that was good
and likewise if I did something not right, he would tell me how to improve that or
do it differently.

Visual. A second method in which child-athletes perceived their parent—coaches to
provide feedback was in a visual fashion, such as using videotape or demonstration. Two
athletes spoke of how their fathers used videotape to help provide a better perspective of
the athletes’ performances. One daughter spoke of how her father pointed out her
strengths by using others in the video as appropriate models. She stated:

A lot of times even we would watch games together or watch tapes of games and
he would say you know, “oh see how that person is blocking out, you do it like
that, that’s good or you should do it like that, that would be better.” So, kind of
giving me feedback within the context maybe of teaching me by watching other
like video tapes. . .
Similarly, a male athlete spoke of how his father often used videotape, but often the focus
was on areas in need of improvement. He said, “He would have my brother tape a lot of
games and he would talk about what we did on tape and he would always, he’d probably
give me more when I was younger, more negative criticism than positive. . .”
In addition to video analysis, one athlete mentioned how his father would use
demonstration to help him with his game and how much he appreciated having
revelations about his father’s insight into coaching tips. He stated the following:
. . .baseball-wise it was a lot of just getting out and throwing the ball and, hey,
how do we get the backhanded grounder? And, he would show me how to turn
the glove and which way to turn it and how to hold the ball, throw a curve ball.
But, how to hold the ball being a lefty, I could do different things even just

holding it just diﬂ‘erent, hold the ball differently. He would show me some of that
type of stuff. That was fun, like wow you know he’s right like if I hold it with the

96

seams I can get it to tail and don’t even throw a curve ball or so it was, it was a lot
of demonstration and doing.

Actions of parent-coach. A third method in which the athletes mentioned that their
parent-coach provided feedback to them about their ability was in the actions of that
parent-coach. One manner that was mentioned by one athlete was through the indirect
actions of the parent, such as his involvement in the college recruiting process. She
perceived that her father-coach believed she possessed high ability because he worked
very hard with college coaches to get her recruited to play at a higher level. She summed
up her thoughts in this manner:

. . .and then the other thing he would do that I think sent a clear signal to me.
Again, I told you he was really involved in the recruitment process in putting
together the ﬂyers and the tapes and kinda the packets that got mailed to colleges.
So, that sent a very clear signal to me that he felt I had a lot of athletic ability. that
he was contacting coaches and coaches were contacting him. . .but, then later on
when my high school coach was [coaching] me, they would contact my father
because he had already established that he was the one (laughing). So, I felt like
he sent me a signal that he felt really good about my ability.

Other athletes spoke of how their father-coach spent extra time with them practicing
on their skills. Apparently, the time spent working on these skills sent a message to these
athletes that they possessed high ability. One female stated the following about the extra
time her father spent with her:

usually it was like a lot of mentoring. He did a lot of taking us into the gym
Saturdays or Sundays when the gyms were closed, then kind of work with us on
whatever we were struggling with and just give us that extra time you know
around the gymnasium that we needed.

Another athlete felt that the extra practice was helpful as well as his father’s efforts
to ﬁnd competitive leagues in which to participate. He said, “. . .he just kept on working
with me, just that itself, just like we kept on practicing and we tried to ﬁnd good leagues

to be in just so that we could get better.”

97

Other athletes mentioned how their parent-coach was reinforcing about the child-
athlete’s ability through the coaching decisions that were made. For instance, a daughter
spoke of how her father seemed to build the team around her abilities and wanted her in
the game due to her ability to help the team win. She stated:

And when he coached me just little things... I played every game all game. Well I
ﬁgured at some level too my dad was competitive enough that he wanted to win
and he thought having me in there would increase his chances of winning. So that '
sent a signal to me that you know, ok you’re good, I want you in there kinda
thing. . . You brow if it was more like even when he was coaching kind of
building the team around me rather than putting together kind of a cohesive
group, which always obviously made me feel really good and positive about kind
of where I was with my skill development...
Others spoke of how their parent-coach would shift them into different key positions that
would beneﬁt the team as a whole. A daughter spoke of her father’s strategies stating,
“. . .he helped me, he kind of shifted around certain positions depending on what was
needed.” Another daughter spoke of her mother similarly, but also believed her mother’s
intent was for the daughter to understand her ability compared to others. She said,
“. . .putting me into different positions and showing me that I could play everywhere and I
don’t know it was mainly just the good game and allowing me to kind of like compare
myself to the other people on the team.” Finally, a son mentioned that his father would
pit him against a strong opponent as indication of the father’s belief in his son’s ability.
This athlete stated, “. . .he would put me on their best offensive player so I could play
defense on him.”
Finally, one athlete mentioned how her father was motivating her before races by
doing little things to indicate his belief in her ability to perform well. She stated,” to
get me all psyched up, [he’d] leave me notes in my lunch box. Different things like that.

It was little things along the way like that.” And, another athlete who was coached by his

98

father in hockey perceived that being taken to tryouts by his father-coach was an
indication of his father’s belief in his ability. He said, “He would take me to all different
types of tryouts. Take me to different skates and I kind of knew I was somewhat good.”
General Interpretation of Feedback

To determine how the child-athletes perceived this feedback provided by their
parent-coach, each was asked one question: How did you interpret this feedback?
Reponses indicated several lower order themes including pressuring, positive and
instructional, encouragement, reinforcing of one’s beliefs, high expectations, disregarded

negative feedback, and well-intentioned feedback perceived negatively (see Figure 6).

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# of quotes 1“ order themes General Dimenssion

 

4 Well-lntentioned Feedback
Perceived Negatively
2 Positive and
Instructional
2 Encouragment
, _ General Interpretation of
1 Rernforcrng of one’s L Feedback
beliefs
1 High Expectations
1 Disregarded Negative
Feedback
1 Pressuring

 

Figure 6. Child-athletes’ general interpretation of feedback.

One athlete, who happened to be the oldest current child-athlete in the study, had
a somewhat contentious relationship with her father in his coaching role. She perceived
her father’s feedback as pressuring. She believed that her father created an environment
in which it was her duty to bring the team success. In addition, she felt as if she always
had to compare herself to others and that she never was able to fulﬁll his expectations.
She stated this:

I remember the emphasis being very much on as a team it was important to win

when he was coaching us, but the way we’re gonna win is to make a good
player, and so I was always in this role of comparing myself to others. He always

100

created this kind of environment with me where, okay you’re not doing it as good
as her or that person scored 45 points, you need to score that next time. So for me
there was a lot of social comparison... down to me as the only way this team is
going to be competitive and win is if you’re good. So, then I felt more of the
pressure on me than on us as a team.

Two athletes, however, mentioned that they interpreted their father’s feedback as
positive and instructional. They took to heart what their fathers were telling them and
tried to improve. One daughter mentioned, “Usually, positively. If it was positive
feedback on my skills or what I needed to do to change usuallyI took it to heart and
worked on it and you brow tried to improve.” In addition, a son stated this about his
perception:

...like most of it was him trying to make me better. It wasn’t like “you stupid
idiot, you brow you’re letting every ground ball through you.” It was like “okay,
here’s how you’re going to ﬁeld a ground ball or here’s how you ﬁeld a ground
ball in the open ﬁeld and here’s why”. . .. It was more of trying to show me the
game and the skill and making me realize this is why you do it this way and not
this way. Let me put the effort in, he never belittlcd the effort or anything, it was
constructive criticism.

Others interpreted their father-coaches in a positive light as well through believing
that their parent was being encouraging. A daughter believed that her father was
encouraging her to reach her goals. She said, “It just increased the whole positive cycle.
I’ve accomplished this. Cool, I can get this goal even though it seems far out of reach you
brow. I brow you can get it.” One son spoke of how his father kept encouraging him to
improve through all the mistakes that he made. He stated the following:

It was only good. When things weren’t working out and he got down on me I
think as I look back on it, it was only for the best. If I couldn’t do something he
[would] not yell at me, but tell me, “just keep on doing it and keep on doing it.

You’re going to keep on failing until you start making changes,” and if he just
kept on harping at me and that changed, then I got better.

101

Additional comments came ﬁ'om athletes who commented on how the parent-coach
feedback reinforced one’s own beliefs, that the parent-coach had high expectations, and
that the athlete often disregarded negative feedback. For example one athlete brew he
had high ability. He stated, “It was I don’t know kinda like a reiteration of what I was
thinking to myself...” Another athlete believed his father had high expectations of him
and that is why his parent-coach provided certain feedback. He said:

...he would just, if like on the ﬁeld I did something wrong, he’d make me do it
over and over again. If I kept on missing ground balls, he’d hit more. Just so I
could get the repetitions. IfI did something wrong, maybe he would yell at me
because he had such high expectations for me. Like particular things that he
said... Maybe just he brew that my level of competition was so high that he
would just maybe tell me to stop being lazy or stop gooﬁng around and get
focused, so maybe little things like that.

A ﬁnal athlete mentioned that she often disregarded negative feedback and focused
on positive feedback. She felt that she was more in-tune with her ability than her father.
She commented:

...depending on what type of feedback. Ifit was positive, I appreciated it. I
believed it every time. If it was negative, I guess compared to a coach that’s not
my father, I’m probably more likely to shrug off the negative, less likely to
believe him, I guess, and say he doesn’t brow what he’s talking about. I think
you respect your parents as coaches in a different way than you respect a different
coach and also since he was learning too and had less experience. Sometimes I
would kind of maybe listen to his feedback a little bit less.

Lastly, several athletes mentioned how they came to perceive their parent-coach’s
feedback differently as they matured into adulthood. Essentially, with time, they were
able to reﬂect on the situation and what their parent-coach was trying to do for them.
Two female-athletes mentioned how they were quite sensitive to constructive criticism as

a child and came to understand more about the nature and intent of constructive criticism.

A daughter who was coached by her father summed her thoughts up in this manner:

102

I’ve always been a little sensitive to negative feedback from constructive criticism
[with] things that I’ve done wrong. I’ve always been very... I don’t like to make
mistakes. That’s always been a thing but no matter who was giving it, but
especially parents, so I sometimes interpreted not always the best way when I was
younger and ‘ oh, they’re picking on me.’ But as I got older realizing that that’s
part of life that he’s meant to help rather than to put anybody down.

Two male athletes came to realize that their perceptions of feedback changed over a
developmental period. They realized that they were eager to accept the feedback ﬁ'om
their father-coach when they were younger, but as they aged they came to appreciate this
feedback less and less. One athlete commented, “Well, when I was younger I probably
listened more than when I was older. When I was older, I felt that I knew what was best
for me and I didn’t even listen to him much.” The other athlete’s thoughts were similar.
He stated:

Originally, when I was younger, I probably took it and it was probably more

positive, but as I got older maybe he started being a little more critical ‘cause he

wanted to improve me more and sometimes I’d take it negatively and get

defensive, which didn’t come [across] too well and then leads into arguments.
Impact on Conﬁdence in Ability

To determine how the experience of being coached by a parent and the feedback
provided by that parent impacted the child-athletes’ perception of competence, each were
asked a series of questions. These questions included: a) What did the positive
experiences with your parent-coach mean for the way you thought about your athletic
ability then? As you think back on it, how did these experiences affect your perceptions
of your athletic ability now?, and b) What did the negative experiences with your parent-

coach mean for the way you thought about your athletic ability then? As you think back

on it, how did these experiences affect your perceptions of your athletic ability now?

103

Overall, responses revealed ﬁve higher order themes: instilled conﬁdence, reinforced
self-perception, delayed understanding of how to develop, latent realization of ability,

and no impact on conﬁdence in ability (see Figure 7).

 

# of quotes 1’‘ order themes 2" order themes

 

4 Through practice

2 Through positive reinforcement/verbal
persuasion

Through coach’s belief/support ~ Instilled Conﬁdence
Through goal achievement

Instilled conﬁdence

‘d—lN

 

Through reduced pressure

3 Reinforced self-perception Regrforcettli Self-
ercep on
Ex n'ence
2 De Delayed Understanding of
1 Preparation How to Develop

4 Latent realization of ability Latent Realization of

n“. L_T_. w

1 Self-serving bias Ability
3 .

NO Impact No Impact on Conﬁdence in
3 Created emotional response Ablllly

Figure 7. Impact on child-athletes’ conﬁdence in ability.

Instilled conﬁdence. Several athletes spoke of how their parent-coach instilled
conﬁdence through verbal, non-verbal, and behavioral actions. One athlete commented
on how his father-coach’s feedback gave him the conﬁdence to keep on going. He said,

“It gave me more conﬁdence I think to move on and keep playing and to help others...”

104

Others mentioned how their parent instilled conﬁdence in them through verbal persuasion
and reinforcement. A female athlete spoke of her father’s use of verbal reinforcement in
this manner:

I think I was always made to feel like I was a really good athlete and again I think

while there was a lot of criticism and critiquing that went into that, I always did

kind of have the sense that my dad was doing that because he saw the potential

and he knew that I could really be good. And so I would say I always felt like I

was a good player and that I had the potential to be really, really good, and that

interaction with him always left me feeling like yeah I’m the best person, the best
basketball player that this town has ever seen or ever will see. Now I just do what

I need to do to kinda develop that. So, the interaction did make me feel like I had

a lot of skill and a lot of potential.

It seems that she came to realize with time that her father brew she had potential and that
is why he provided the reinforcement that he did. Another female athlete who was
coached by her father spoke of how her father’s encouragement seemed to increase her
conﬁdence in her ability as an athlete. She said, “I think it brought it up. I think my dad
encouraged me a lot and made me realize that I was a good player...”

Additionally, one athlete spoke about how her father-coach’s feedback made her
realize that she could reach and set goals as well as believe in her abilities. She stated,
“Like you know I can achieve the goals I set and to set high goals because he encouraged
me to go after things that people said I could never do.”

Other athletes mentioned that they realized that they did not have ability
compared to others, but that their parent-coach instilled working and practicing as a
means of achieving higher performance. One daughter spoke of her father’s work ethic
in this manner:

I think I never really thought about ability. It wasn’t until I was in high school

when I could think I really don’t have a lot of natural athletic ability, but I am
willing to work harder than anybody else. He helped instill that a lot in me that

105

it’s just how much you work. You have to work hard. So I think more than ability
he made me reﬂect on the value of hard work in sports. . .

A daughter spoke of her mother in a similar fashion. She stated:
. . .[She] showed me that if I actually put my mind to something that I could
improve it. Even if I’m not as good at one particular aspect of the sport, if I
actually practice, then I might be able to do better at it.
Two athletes spoke of how their parent coach instilled conﬁdence through the parent-
coach’s belief and support. For example, a daughter, who initially had little conﬁdence
spoke of how her mother’s belief helped change this attitude. She spoke of her mother-

coach in this manner:

It made me more conﬁdent and when she suggested that I try out for the travel
team, ‘cause she’s the one that told me about it and suggested that I do it, it kind
of shocked me a little bit. But, because I guess I hadn’t thought of myself as that
good, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make the team or not. But, she seemed pretty
conﬁdent that I’d be good enough to make it.

Another athlete who was coached by his father had a somewhat different view as he
believed in his ability, but his father’s support brought that belief to a higher level. He
summed up his thoughts in this manner:

I had a lot of faith in my athletic ability. Not only of the things that my father told
me, but how he showed me. How he showed his support. How he offered to work
with me. How he thought he wanted me to get better. You brow all those things
just made me feel real strong about my athletic ability... I think I only grew
stronger and grew better from those. Not only the little situations then, but as an
overall aspect, as in the whole situation in general. You brow it wouldn’t make
me as strong a person as I am or as good an athlete.

Finally, one athlete spoke of how his father-coach was very low pressure in his
feedback. This manner of providing feedback helped instill conﬁdence in the child-
athlete’s belief in his ability. This belief prompted the child-athlete to try-out for a

college team as well. He stated:

106

It was good. . . He was not high pressure because I was a good soccer player. I
played goalie in high school soccer and Iwas good. I ended up playing goalie in
college. I was a good pitcher in high school baseball and junior high baseball.
About the time he started coaching me was when I started becoming a better
pitcher and he was never high pressure but he was very reassuring that you’re
good... So, in terms of the positive inﬂuence, he was very low pressure, didn’t
force me to do anything, and let me make my own decisions at that age... And
ability wise I mean, it makes me feel good about my ability. . . Then, making a
college soccer team as a walk-on and playing four years and becoming a senior
captain and the whole nine yards, I think, though he didn’t push me, [it] was
probably his positive reinforcement. It deﬁnitely helped me make that decision
you know to give it a try and it was a worthwhile decision.

Reinforced self-perception. Three athletes mentioned that their parent-coach’s
feedback during both positive and negative experiences helped reinforce their own self-
perception of their ability. For example, one athlete who was coached by his father
during his teenage years mentioned knowing his limitations as well as his strengths. His
father’s feedback reinforced these perceptions, but did not seem to damage his self-
esteem. He stated:

I can’t say I had negative experiences. I think both my father and I are very
grounded, down to earth people and recognize where our talents lie and don’t lie,
so anything negative was not a great revelation (laughing). It was pretty much
known to me...

Another athlete mentioned that having ability helped with having his father as his
coach especially when it came time for his father to provide positive feedback. He stated:

Well it made me feel good about them [perceptions of ability] because .. .I was
always an elite player on my team, one of the better ones, so ... in that way I
never got the ‘it’s just the coach’s son.’ I never did because I was always, not to
be vain, but I really was one of the better players on my team, one of the best, so
it did make a difference and I brew I was good and my dad let me know I was
good. . .So, I guess it made me feel good about my athletic ability and [I] brew
where I was at and what I could possibly do.

Delayed understanding of how to develop. Some athletes mentioned that they

realized over time how their parent was trying to help them through the use of feedback.

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It seems that this feedback helped the child-athletes develop past the time they were
being coached by the parent. One athlete mentioned how her father-coach’s feedback
helped prepare her for playing for other coaches at a higher level. She also came to
realize what her ability was because her ﬁrture coaches were providing similar feedback.
She stated:
Once I got to high school, it had made me stronger taking criticism ﬁom other
coaches ‘cause I had heard it from him before. And I think that it just made me
stronger when I heard it from them, that I didn’t get upset about it. But, I realized

that there may be some truth if he had said it before and now they were saying it.
And I took it to heart and did or practiced what they said and it made me not so

angry.
Two other athletes mentioned that the experience with their father-coach helped them
prepare for future participation and gave them knowledge about the game and how to
succeed. One son spoke of his father’s feedback in this manner:
I’m glad that happened you know ‘cause it put me through something that I’ve
never been through before. I was so young and now maybe since I’ve been
through that, like if it happened now or a few years ago. I would brow what was
going on because I’ve been through it.
And a daughter spoke of how the feedback from her father helped her develop into a
intellectual player. She stated:
Like I feel like in some ways I just brow a lot more about playing basketball,
intellectually I think... I think I understand the game better and so I think
compared to other women who are 35, I’m still up there.
Latent realization of ability. Several child-athletes mentioned that they did not come
to realize their ability until later, long after their parent stopped coaching them. Most
spoke of how they realized over-time why their parent provided feedback in the manner

in which that parent-coach did. For example, one daughter spoke of how she now

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realizes that her father provided the feedback in the manner that he did because he
believed she was a good athlete. She stated:

As an adult I can understand what he was doing, why he was doing it and again
when I look back now and think “yeah, well I’m much better than I thought I
was.” Part of the reason I brow that is because of the way my dad interacted with
me. I look back and think I was really good and he brew it. He saw it and that’s
why he did that, I mean other than the constant, you brow, “Oh I could have done
this better, I could have done that better.” I look back and think he did that
because he knew I was good and so that gives me the perception now that I was
really good... and I look back now and I look at how my skill level was compared
to the other girls I was competing against, I was better than I thought or better
than I brew, so it’s weird. Like on one hand at the time I felt like yeah you brow
I’m good and I’ve room for improvement and that’s why my dad’s riding me. But,
now I look back and I think I was really, really good, but I didn’t know that
because my dad was always riding me. I always kind of felt I was good and you
brow had potential and my dad made me feel like that, I think I also probably
lacked conﬁdence or felt like oh it’s never going [to be] enough. I’m never
scoring quite enough points, like there’s always something he wants to work on...
because there was always something more to improve upon...

Another athlete put somewhat of a negative spin on how his father’s feedback
ultimately shaped his view of his ability. It seemed as if he was blaming his father for his
lack of ability to perform at a higher level. He formed somewhat of a self-serving bias
toward his father in the end. He summed up his thoughts in this manner:

I think I could’ve been a better baseball player because I was, I was so good at
that age that my dad was reluctant to teach me more. . .I probably could’ve been a
better hitter because when I got to be older, I kind of lost a lot of my standing. I
wasn’t as good as everybody else. I think that had an impact ﬁom my dad not
coaching me as much as he would coach everybody else... I think that impacted
on how I went on to play in the future... so I think it was kinda detrimental not to
be taught as much as the other players. I think it affected me.
No impact on conﬁdence in ability. Finally, some athletes believed that the manner
in which their parent-coach provided feedback during negative incidents had no impact

on their perceptions of ability. One athlete mentioned that he believed he brew more

about the sport than his father, so negative comments had no impact. This athlete was a

109

teenager at the time and was probably shifting his source of competence information
from parent to more internally referenced information. He stated:
. . . I don’t think about them relating to my athletic ability now or even looking
back, so no it really had no impact on what I thought about my athletic ability.
[It}was kinda more the ‘I brow more than you’ type attitude rather than him
saying you didn’t do this and me feeling bad about it. So it basically did nothing
to what I thought [about] my athletic ability.

Another athlete stated that the negative feedback he received was related to only one
aspect of the game. He brew he had ability in other areas of the game, therefore, the
feedback had no impact on his self-perceptions. He said:

You brow, I wouldn’t say anything about my athletic ability ‘cause I knew I
could play. I brew you brow it was just pitching. You brow there’s a lot of other
things to do on the baseball ﬁeld, I don’t think it affected my athletic ability in my
head.

Finally, three athletes mentioned that the negative and positive feedback that they
received created more of an emotional response than an impact on their perceptions of
ability. For example, a son who was coached by his father stated that he has become an
emotional player and fan due to the feedback provided by his father-coach. He stated:

I think it made me more of an emotional player and [as] a fan I get real emotional
when I watch games or even when I play recreational sports I get emotional. So, I
think that kinda carried over throughout my life. More or less it had an impact
that way.
And a daughter who was coached by her father during the elementary years responded to
her father in this manner during what she perceived as negative times:
I don’t think that I ever let it really get to me thinking that I wasn’t a good athlete.

I think I just usually, I was just more upset at my dad about the comments than
letting it play into my perception of my own talent.

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Motivational Orientation of Child-Athlete
To determine the current motivational orientation of the child-athletes, each were
asked one question: As an adult, how do you know if you perform well in sport? Results

revealed two higher order themes of externally referenced and internally referenced (see

 

 

Figure 8).
# of quotes 1"‘ order themes 2"d order themes
7 Based on performance
__ Externally
Referenced
3 Feedback from others

 

 

2 Effort

1 Affective

1 Knowledge F lntemally Referenced
1 Fitness

1 Ability

Figure 8. Motivational orientation of child-athletes.

Externally referenced. Several athletes mentioned judging the outcome of their
performances based on external sources such as feedback ﬁom others including peers,
coaches, and spectators. One female spoke of her reaction to her performances in the

following manner:

lll

...actually it’s more when other people tell me that I play well. Kind of like they
have to take the role of my mom and tell me that wow you played well. I still
think I play well, but it feels more real when someone else tells me too.
Other athletes spoke of knowing that they perform well being based on their performance
in the contest, such as scoring goals and points, or making defensive stops. For example,
a female athlete mentioned this about her performances:
It’s frmny it’s still kind of social referenced. You know how am I competing
[against] others and how much of my own agenda am I accomplishing? Like it’s
terrible, but it’s most of the time when I play on leagues, it’s not for me about
winning or losing. That doesn’t do much for me. It’s more about did I get the

rebounds (laughing) and score [points] that I wanted this time and how was I

compared to the other center on the other team?

A male athlete had somewhat of a different take on his perceptions of his
performances. He spoke more of fulﬁlling a role on the team and performing when the
team needed him. He stated:

You know I’ve learned that in baseball if you’re not the one that’s just to hit
home runs, if you’re just up there getting base hits, then you’re doing your job.
Just little things like that. I brow when I’m doing good. Or I brow when I’m
doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

lntemally referenced. While some athletes spoke of how they judge their
performances based on external sources, others mentioned that their judgments are based
on more internally referenced sources. For instance, one athlete spoke of how her
performance judgments are determined on her affective response. She stated, “Just out of

my level of enjoyment now-a-days. It’s more you brow if I had fun and everyone

enjoyed themselves, that’s when I brow I did well and had a good time out there.”

112

Yet, other athletes spoke of effort as an important source for judging the outcome. A
female spoke of her perceptions in this manner:

I know that I perform well if I feel, I guess it’s this feeling that I get inside me,
like I worked hard. I really like to win. I’m very competitive and I really like to
win, but it’s not so much winning as if I played well and I played hard... So, I
think that’s how I brow if I perform well. I’ve given everything I have. I’ve given
a hundred and ten percent, then I’ve performed well.

Another athlete spoke of how he brows he puts forth effort when physiologically he
responds while playing. He stated:
kind of a feeling within myself with saying that was a good job, self-esteem
you brow, just browing if I have a pretty big sweat, then I know that I ran hard

and I tried hard, so just kind of a physical sweating, out of breath, that kind of
thing.

Other examples that had one response for each were in the area of knowledge, ﬁtness,
and ability. One athlete believed that knowledge was important. He stated:

Just the browledge of the game that I’ve gained. I feel like I may not have the
greatest ability of everyone that I play with, but I think I have a great knowledge
of the game and I brow that I can play.

The second quote embodied the idea of ﬁtness. This athlete stated:

I rim still off and on and do yoga, biking, those things. It’s more a mixture of
stuff. It’s more like health ﬁtness related stuff. Ifmy average resting heart rate is
still the same as when I was competing, and it’s not (laughing), I’d probably brow
that I’m doing well in my training. Different variables like that.

And ﬁnally, one athlete mentioned ability as an internal component for judging
performance outcomes. He said the following:
golf is probably my biggest one as an adult now that I play and I brow what I
can shoot, I know what I should shoot (laughing), and I brow what I do shoot.
They’re three different things and I can ﬁnd happiness in being like ‘hey you

brow I’ve only played once this year and I shot bogey golf, I’m happy with that’.
So, I guess I’m grounded, realistic.

113

Instilled Values and Beliefs About Sport

To determine how being coached by a parent impacted the child-athletes’
motivations to continue in sport participation, each was asked one question. This
question was: How did your experiences affect your continued participation in sport?
Results revealed the general dimension of instilled values and beliefs about sport, which
best represented how their motivation was impacted. Several lower order themes

emerged from the responses as well (see Figure 9).

 

 

# of quotes 1" order themes General Dimension
7
3 lnstilled a love for the game
3 Enjoyment of the game
2 Other coaches impacted motivation
1 lnstilled a sense of advocacy . .
,_ lnstilled Beliefs and Values
About Sport
1 lnstilled the value of effort
1 Conﬂicted motivation
1 Value of trying new activities

 

—

Figure 9. Instilled values and beliefs about sport.

Value in trying new activities. One athlete mentioned being motivated to try new
activities through his experiences with his father-coach.

More than anything I think that his experiences, him being able to tell me a little

bit about his experience and saying, “hey, you brow, just give it a try, don’t have
any regrets about not trying out for a team.” Probably more, I can remember a

114

few like three or four comments from coaches and that one is in the top three, just
give it a try.

Enjoyment of the game. Three athletes spoke of how their parent-coach instilled a
value in enjoying the game whenever they played it. A daughter spoke of her father’s
inﬂuence in this manner:

I mean I continued to participate in softball, ﬂoor hockey was nothing past
elementary school, but I continued to participate in softball all throughout high
school and I did intrarnurals in college and stuff like that. So, I think that it helped
to you brow instill an enjoyment of the game and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed him
traveling with us at that time and I continued to participate.

Another athlete spoke of how she struggled with wanting to play the game after
formal competition ended as well as her experiences with her father-coach. She,
however, went back to the game because her father did instill an enjoyment of the game
within her. She summed up her thoughts in this manner:

. . ..basketball I wanted nothing to do with [it] for a long time and it probably
wasn’t until the end of my junior year in college that I started playing again. Then
I started playing on intramural teams and summer leagues and things like that.
And so that experience back then kind of had that short term immediate impact
where I didn’t want to be involved, but at the same time that experience showed
me “hey you’re really good at this and you should be doing this ‘cause it is fun.” I
think now I can ﬁnd it fun and I can ﬁnd it competitive without the pressure. So
yeah I guess I took away from it, after I got past that little period that I didn’t
want to play, that oh I’m pretty good. I can compete with these people. So I have
felt very conﬁdent about joining leagues and continuing to play.

Instilled a sense of advocacy. One athlete spoke of how her mother-coach instilled a
sense of equality about sport participation. She said, “And that whole thing in third grade
with the pitching issue, I’ve become more of a equal rights person. I don’t like it when
things aren’t equal when they could be or should be.”

Instilled a lovefor the game. Three athletes mentioned that their parent-coach

instilled a love of the game that led them to continue to play their respective sport or seek

115

other avenues within the sport, such as coaching. One daughter mentioned, “I still really
love basketball and I want to be a basketball coach when I get older.” While a son spoke
of his love for the game of basketball in this manner:
I grew more in love with basketball and continued it throughout school and now
at [college] I play intrarnurals. I play at least three times a week and, like I said, I
just played in a basketball tournament this weekend and I think I enjoy it more
than I would if he wouldn’t have gotten me into it.

Instilled the value of eﬂon. One athlete mentioned that her father instilled the values
of effort within her and this work ethic continues to impact her participation today. She
stated the following:

I carry that with me, that it’s the hard work and he helped instill it’s not about
you, it’s about the team and I carried that attitude with me at the high school. I
carry that attitude with me now when I do things in an athletic manner. It’s not
about me and it’s not about winning, it’s about what’s good for the team and it’s
about how hard everybody works.

Conﬂicted motivation. One athlete seemed to display a conﬂicted motivation in
response to having her father as a coach. She said:

When he stopped coaching I think I was relieved, almost happy, to have a new
coach. But, then there’s always times that I wanted him back just to be able to talk
like logistics of the game and strategies. . .because I was so used to talking things
out with my dad as the coach.

Other coaches impacted motivation. Finally, two athletes spoke of how the positive
experiences that they had with their parent-coach negatively impacted experiences with
future coaches. Because of these negative experiences, these athletes stopped performing
in their sport. A male child-athlete summed up his thoughts in the following manner:

I think having my dad as my coach and having ﬁrn all those years even not just
my dad, but you brow my federation coaches and even my junior varsity coach
and freshman coach were just all good coaches. You know they enjoyed the

game, but when I got to the highest level to where I was going to make a decision
whether playing college ball or doing something with baseball and I think, my

116

high school coach kinda had a huge impact on that. As I look back I think it had
to do with having so much fun before I got to that point.

Impact on Enjoyment

To detennine how being coached by a parent impacted the child-athlete’s level of
enjoyment, each was asked: How would you describe your level of enjoyment in sport at
the time? Results revealed several lower order themes reﬂecting a positive impact on

enjoyment, with only one response reﬂecting a negative impact (see Figure 10).

 

# of quotes 1" order themes General Dimension

5 Fun because of winning

4 Fun being with friends/being
on a team

3 Fun to create bond with
parent

2 Fun because good at
sport — Impact on Enjoyment

2 Fun to be a part of competition
1 Positive memories about
expereince

Created stress due to lack of
fun

A

 

_—

Figure 10. Impact on child-athletes’ enjoyment.
Fun because of winning. Several athletes mentioned enjoying their experiences
with their parent-coach because it was fun to win. One athlete summed up this theme in

this manner:

117

It was probably the most flm I had anytime playing baseball. It was really
enjoyable. You brow when we’d win too, we’d go out for ice cream and so that
was kinda like positive reinforcement to keep doing well. Well, we won a lot and
winning is always fun.

Fun being with ﬁiends/being on a team. Four athletes mentioned that being with
friends on a team created a sense of enjoyment about their experiences. One son-athlete
spoke of how being on the team created other experiences outside sport with his
teammates. He said, “The camaraderie especially the basketball team was ﬁve or six of
my closest ﬁ'iends. It was the same people that we went over to somebody’s house on
Friday night that type, it was the same group of people.” Another athlete summed up her
feelings about her teammates in this manner, “I really enjoyed the team. The interaction
with the other girls on the team. That was good. I did like that part of it. We always had a
really good group of girls.”

Fun to create a bond with parent. Three child-athletes mentioned their
experiences were made enjoyable by being able to create a bond with their parent. For
example, a son said, “. . .probably the bond that we created by him coaching me made me
appreciate it more.” Another athlete’s comments reﬂected this person’s response. He
said, “Being able to share that with my dad, he was family. Just by succeeding and
having your dad as your coach really makes it better.”

Fun because good at sport. Two female child-athletes spoke of how their
experiences with their father-coach created a sense of fun because they were good at their
respective sports. For example, one athlete said the following:

I enjoyed the personal success. I felt like I could, deﬁnitely see my improvement,

my skill development and as I progressed and played progressively better players

in more competitive leagues, I enjoyed that. I was mastering this sport and I was
doing really well in it.

118

Fun to be a part of competition. Two athletes found that the competition was fun for
them at the time their parent coached them. One athlete stated:

I liked the physical nature of basketball. I liked being able to come and throw my
body around and bang into other people. I hadn’t really played any other sports
that were like that ‘cause I had just played volleyball and softball which you don’t
get a whole lot of contact. It’s not kinda physical in the same way, so I did like the
training and the time we spent training to play basketball. So there were a lot of
things about it I liked.

Positive memories about the experience. One athlete talked of how the experiences
with her father were enjoyable because they were able to create positive memories. She

stated the following:

I just remembered clearly being on the softball diamond down there and you
know all different levels and I remember my shirt colors and I remember just
being out there and I remember them letting me play second base, which is what I
always wanted to play. I don’t remember why I did, but just smiling a lot in
pictures, I’m always smiling. It’s actually something I can connect with some of
my ﬁ'iends today as we’ve grown apart. Friends from childhood, we still have this
connection. We didn’t talk in high school but we can still connect through this
one activity so I think that always brings up positive memories. I have very fond
memories of softball.

Created stress due to lack of fun. Finally, only one athlete mentioned that the
experiences with her father-coach created stress and a lack of fun. She stated:
I would say that it was stressful, a lot of stress then, my dad and I didn’t talk very
much. It was hard, it was hard to have him as a coach ‘cause I didn’t understand
him that well you brow and some of his decisions I felt, I wanted to understand
why he’d make them. In terms of games, who he’d played in the game or why he
was doing it or some practices what we did, I didn’t understand. Since we didn’t
have a very good relationship like talking-wise, I didn’t understand what his
decisions, what thoughts were behind his decisions.
Summary
A research question that was addressed in the study was: How does the dual role

of the parent as coach influence the relationship between the child-athlete and parent-

coach? Overall, results of child-athlete comments indicated that all believed having a

119

parent in the dual role of coach strengthened the relationship. Creating closer bonds and
creating positive coping strengthened the relationship. By the abundance of comments
stating that the relationship was strengthened, it is clear that these athletes
overwhelmingly agreed that the sport environment created a bond between the two. In
all, negative comments about the relationship were minimal, indicating that few negative
incidents occurred to weaken the relationship. Athletes indicated that the relationship
became strained when the parent became over-involved, and over-critical. In addition,
some child-athletes indicated that the relationship became strained when they did not
understand their parent-coaches’ decisions or actions. Of the seven responses, that
indicated a strain on the relationship, ﬁve responses were ﬁ'orn daughters (four who had a
father for a coach). Finally, several athletes indicated that there was no perceived impact
on the relationship because of the dual role.

Additional research questions addressed in the study were: What are the positive
outcomes for children who have parents as coaches?, and What are the negative
outcomes for children who have parents as coaches? Positive outcomes for children
were being the recipients of perks, learning from their parent, sharing experiences with
their parent, and experiencing several other miscellaneous outcomes, such as being a
leader. Negative outcomes expressed by child-athletes were inappropriate expectations
as perceived by the child-athlete, teammates expressed displeasure to child-athletes, and
child-athletes sometimes experiencing conﬂict with their parent-coach. Overall, child-
athletes expressed more positive outcomes than negative outcomes as a result of the dual
role. However, for those athletes who perceived negative outcomes, the precipitating

factors seemed to be the expectations placed on them by their parent-coach.

120

Additionally, more daughters than sons perceived expectations from their father-coach as
negative.

The ﬁnal research questions that were addressed included: What is the child-
athlete 's perception of the feedback, and What is the role of feedback on self-perceptions,
level of enjoyment, and motivational outcomes overtime? Child-athletes indicated that
they believed their parent—coach provided verbal feedback, visual feedback, and feedback
through the parent-coaches’ actions. Overall, athletes perceived the feedback in a
positive manner, such as instructional, reinforcing of one’s beliefs, and high expectations.
Others had a developmental interpretation of the feedback, meaning they perceived
feedback differently when they were younger as opposed to when they reached
adolescence. One athlete each mentioned that the feedback was interpreted as pressuring
and was selectively attended to.

In addition, child-athletes indicated that the feedback positively inﬂuenced their
self-perceptions, affect, and motivation in sport. Child-athletes believed their parent-
coach instilled conﬁdence, reinforced their self-perception of their ability, provided a
delayed understanding of how to develop, as well as a latent realization of their ability.
Some mentioned that the feedback had no impact on their perception of ability. Most
athletes indicated that they had developed an internal motivation for sport as well. Some
athletes mentioned external sources for judging their competence, but generally these
sources were combined with internal sources. Child-athletes indicated also that their
parent-coach instilled values and beliefs about sport in that the child-athletes valued
trying new activities, valued having an enjoyment of the game, valued a sense of

advocacy, valued a love for the game, and valued effort. Others experienced conﬂicted

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motivation and one mentioned that other coaches rather than his parent-coach negatively
impacted his motivation to continue in sport. Finally, all child-athletes indicated that
their experiences impacted their enjoyment, particularly in making the experience fun.

Only one athlete mentioned a lack of fun due to stress.

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CHAPTER FIVE
Results of Parent-Coach Responses
Results of parent-coaches interview responses revealed seven general dimensions
addressing the four research questions. These general dimensions included: dual-role
inﬂuence on relationship, positive outcomes/personal rewards for parent-coach,
frustrations of parent-coach, parent-coaches’ perception of their feedback, interpretation
of child’s response to feedback, perception of child’s motivation to continue in sport,
perception of child’s enjoyment. As with the previous chapter with child-athlete
responses, the following section will include a presentation and explanation of each
dimension and theme, including quotes ﬁ'om individual parent-coaches.
Dual Role Inﬂuence
To determine how the parent-coach viewed the impact of his or her dual role on
the relationship with his/her child-athlete at the time and presently, each was asked a
series of questions: (a) How did you distinguish between your role as a parent and
coach?, (b) How do you think those (positive) experiences impacted your relationship
with your child in sport and away from sport?, (0) How do you think those (negative)
experiences impacted your relationship with your child in sport and away ﬁom sport?,
(d) How did your experiences impact your behavior toward your child today?, (e)Think
of a recent time(s) when you believe that having coached your child impacted your
interactions with each other. Explain it to me? What did each of you say and do and
what was the response to the other? Results revealed the following second order themes:
sport experience strengthened bonds, sport experience strained relationship, and no

perceived impact (see Figure 11).

123

 

# of quotes

1"t order themes

2"d order themes

 

NNNNNNw-h

"i

Created lines of communication
that still exist

Sharing sport experiences

Worked through the rough spots

Learned about each other
Time together
Made closer

Advocated/supported
Developed a mutual respect

L—

 

Good relationship L

Child viewed parent-coach’s
expectations as pushing

Disappointment with child’s

motivation _

Treated all team members the
same

Did separate roles
Did not separate roles

No impact on relationship
outside of sport

—-—1

124

 

 

Sport Experience
Created Closer
Bonds

NegativelStrained
Relationship

No Perceived
Impact

Figure 11. Parent-coaches’ perceptions of the dual role on the relationship.

Sport experience strengthened bonds. As with the child-athletes, parent-coaches
believed, predominantly, that being a parent in a coaching role helped to strengthen
bonds between the parent and child. Parent-coaches believed the relationship with their
children was strengthened through several avenues. Some of these avenues were

congruent with child-athlete responses. The ﬁrst means that parents mentioned was that

of how the experience allowed parent and child to spend time together. For example, one
parent believed that sport allowed him to spend time with his son that he may not have
had because of other commitments that he had as a father, provider, and husband. He
stated the following:
. . .spending time and experiencing whatever activity it is together. .. there’s only a
short period really when the kids are young and everybody’s busy with work and
family and other things and it was, it was just a way that helped to ensure that
we’d always take out time to be together. So I thought it was time well spent.
Another parent spoke of how the experience allowed them to spend time together
when his son was younger and how they now spend time together because of those
previous experiences. He stated:
I’m getting kind of old for it, but I still try to play basketball once a week and I
play with him and his older brother and a lot of 20 year olds and I’m 51. I’m not
as quick or as fast as they are but I still hold my own pretty good. But, he is just
phenomenal and it’s just so much fun for me to watch him play and try to guard
him and things like that. We play against each other right now and we play hard
and so I enjoy it immensely seeing how good he is. . .just spending time together.
A second means for strengthening bonds was sharing sport experiences. This theme
was congruent with child responses as well. Some parent-coaches spoke of how sharing
sport experiences at the time created a stronger relationship. For example, a father-coach
said, “. . .it gave us a common ground of things to talk about. We could, talk about the
game. We could talk about her performance. We had those common experiences that we
could share and relate to with each other...” Conversely, other coaches spoke of how
their prior time together created opportunities in present day to share sport experiences.
A mother-coach stated, “When we watch softball on TV, [we] talk coaching strategies
and what would you do, what would I do, that kind of thing maybe it opened up another

line of dialog.”

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A third avenue mentioned by parent-coaches was that the sport experience created
lines of communication that still exist. Six coaches spoke of how this communication
was key to positive relationships. For example, a father said this about his experience
with his daughter:

...sometimes if you drift apart from your kid and you don’t have those common

experiences, you don’t have a communication base to deal with. Well I think

having those common experiences allowed us to have a communication base and
be able to talk about that speciﬁcally and then use that as an up-bridge to talk
about other things in life that related to that.

Another father spoke of how he is able to communicate with his daughter very
openly because of the experience. He said, “I think that her and I communicate very well
together, at a level higher than the average person.”

A fourth avenue that participants spoke of was the experiences shared just simply
made them closer. For example, one father-coach said, “Well on the sport of course, it
made us very close together and outside I think there’s a bond there that’s permanent.
She brew what I was thinking. I’d brow what she was thinking.” Another father-coach
believed the experience helped forge a friendship in present time. He said:

Well as a father and a son I would say that it probably made us closer... I guess

today you’re more on the level of a father and a son, you’re ﬁ'iends where before

you’re kind of separated I would say a little bit. You’re a coach and a player
instead of a father and a son as much or a ﬁiend.

A ﬁfth avenue for building the relationship was that two parent-coaches believed that
they advocated for their son or daughter. For example, one father-coach said, “. . .on the
positive side, she understood that I was there for her and that I was going to stand up for

her whenever I could.” Another father-coach believed he continues to advocate for his

daughter:

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...all my intent was ever to do was to help her as long as she remained interested
in it... Well, she has problems and her difﬁculties and she tries to struggle
through them on her own, but in the end she’ll always let me help her. Sometimes
she waits too long but, I have complete faith in that child.
Two coaches believed that they were able to develop a mutual respect for the other. For
example, a father said this:
Well, I just think that we have a mutual respect for each other that [has been]
building for twenty-three years. Working together on the team was just another
piece of that coming together you brow. We communicate well together and
about things that give and take, this and that and trying to understand each other
and I think that we had mutual respect for each other...
And two coaches mentioned that they were able to learn from each other as well. A
father-coach said, “I think we had a better understanding of each other by being around
each other more. Whereas, you know I don’t brow if I would’ve had that same
relationship if I hadn’t been involved with her in it.”

Others mentioned that they were able to work through the rough spots, which
created closer bonds. For example, one coach said, “. . .It probably made us stronger
‘cause we ﬁgured out a way to get through it,” when they experienced rough times.
Additionally, a father-coach stated, “I think us working and communicating to try to get
over the rough spots allowed us to become closer and to bond more.”

Finally, two coaches just simply believed they had a good relationship with their
sons and sport helped contribute to the relationship. They stated, “I think it helped. I
think we had a good relationship,” and “I think it was a good relationship. We always
had a good relationship...”

Negative/strained relationship. Although most coaches spoke of how being in a

dual role strengthened the relationship, some did mention how the relationship can be

strained because of the dual role. One way, consistent with child-athlete responses, was

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that the child viewed the parent-coach’s expectations as pushing. Interestingly, most
responses in this category were from fathers who coached their daughters. For example,
one father-coach did not think his daughter worked to her potential, which may have
impacted his expectations toward her. He said:

Well, I really didn’t stop coaching her. All the way up through high school, I
went to all the games and I had input in it. I guess our biggest period of conﬂict
probably came over the year she was a senior about which scholarship she was
going to take and so forth. We had a lot of disagreement about that. She ended up
not playing in college... I didn’t think she spent enough time working on her
game and she said, “well, girls didn’t do that.” She was right on that girls don’t
just pick up basketball, not in this state anyway; boys do, but girls don’t. They
play basketball when it’s structured and I didn’t think she spent enough time on
her game. So, we had some conﬂicts. Nothing, nothing bad you understand what
I’m saying? I thought that she could be a whole lot better than she was, so she
wasn’t terribly interested... I’m sure she felt at that time I was pushing her a little
too hard. But that’s, you know, I guess that’s true for probably everybody.

Another father had similar feelings about his experience with his daughter. He said:

.. .my kids were pretty good athletes, therefore, I expected a little bit more out of
them. I think every parent does and believe me there was many a quiet ride home
after practice where we didn’t speak to each other you know or whatever “you
expect me to do this or that”... And so, it was I guess kinda difﬁcult...

The only other issue mentioned by one coach that caused a strain on the relationship
at the time was his disappointment with his daughter’s motivation. He stated:

was not the kind of person who would come and say, “dad I need help.”

She just didn’t come and ask for help and I guess it was the same feeling I had. I
was a history teacher and they would take a history test and they’d come back in
and not do real well on it and everybody would ask, you know what I’m sayin?
When you think you’re pretty good at something, you have a specialty in
something, and your kids don’t seem to recognize your ability, that’s always a
little bit, I don’t know, it isn’t irritating as much as it’s just that you don’t
understand why...

No perceived impact. Finally many coaches seemed to believe that the dual role did

not impact the relationship at the time or over time. One reason mentioned by several

coaches was that they treated all team members the same. By treating everyone as

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equals, it was believed that the relationship was neither strained nor strengthened. For
example, one coach said:

I don’t even brow that I did distinguish between the two, I mean I just, I kind of
treated the other young ladies that I was coaching as well as ,the same you
know. I mean I just kind of let my, my parenting skills and my coaching skills
kind of co-exist and just kind of ﬂowed through.

Another coach mentioned that he would make an example of his son as well as other
players if needed. He stated:
Well I tried to treat as any other player. I didn’t, I don’t brow if nepotism
is the right word or not. Yeah I purposely tried to not. . .if he wasn’t doing
something right I wouldn’t spare him, I would correct him in front of anybody
else just like I would any other player. If I needed to make an example of the
right way or the wrong way of doing something. I didn’t show favoritism I guess
and I didn’t hold him back either. I wanted to be fair with him ‘cause I wanted to
be treated fair, so that’s just the way am I guess.
Other coaches stated that they did not separate their roles as a parent or a coach. It
seemed that their children wanted the roles to co-exist. For example, one father-coach
stated, “That’s really hard to say. I mean I treated him the same, I treated him the same
on the baseball ﬁeld as I did at home.” Conversely, other coaches stated that they did
separate roles and this was based on the needs of their child. One father-coach stated the
following:
I don’t think with that we ever took it home. If he wanted to play ball or
something away from the organized sports we did. I tried, as I recall, just to treat
him no different than the other eleven kids on the team. Not try to over-coach,
which is something that also you brow disturbs me when I see parents that just
over-coach.

In this instance, the father-coach moved ﬁ'om role to role based on the needs of the child.

In a similar fashion, a mother-coach mentioned how she discussed the roles with her

daughter, thereby, creating harmonious times. She stated:

129

We had talked about it beforehand that when we were in the gym or on the ﬁeld

that I was the coach and not mom and um just kinda left it at that. It was difﬁcult

at times to separate the two.

Finally, one coach simply stated that the dual role did not impact the relationship

outside of sport. He said:

I can remember times where I tried to reinforce positive things for him to maybe

understand what I’m trying to tell him. Away ﬁ'om sports I don’t think there was

any impact. If I look back, I don’t think that it canied beyond that game if there

was, you know, if he had an issue with something.
Positive Outcomes/Personal Rewards

To determine what the parent-coaches perceived to be positive outcomes for
themselves, they were asked the following questions: (a) Think of those situations when
you had what you would consider to be positive experiences in coaching your child.
Describe those incidents to me. What happened? When did these incidents occur? Why
do you believe they were positive experiences? How did it make you feel at the time?,
and (b) How would you sum up your experiences with coaching your child? Analysis of
comments found that the following themes emerged ﬁ'om the data: enhanced self-
perceptions through success with children, enhanced coaching browledge, winning, and
rrriscellaneous personal rewards. Analysis of data revealed four 2"d order themes. These

themes were enhanced self-perceptions through success with children, enhanced coaching

browledge, winning, and miscellaneous personal rewards (see Figure 12).

130

 

# of quotes 1’‘ order themes 2'W order themes

 

_

 

5 Demonstrated competence in teaching
sport skills
3 Demonstrated competence in teaching
life skills H Enhanced Self-Perceptions
Increased self-worth Through Success With
Children
Former players appreciated coach

1 Learned from other coaches Knowledge
Parent-coach was a self-study

Winning

2 Learned from daughter how to coach
girls Enhanced Coaching
J
4 Winning :ir

3 Seeing child excel T‘
2 Being a role model
2 Child helped with team issues ,
_ Miscellaneous
1 Associated with sport professionals Personal
Rewards
1 Provided opportunity to better understand
child

 

1 Opportunity to develop athletes

—

Figure 12. Positive outcomes/personal rewards for parent-coaches.

Enhanced self-perceptions through success with children. Several coaches
indicated that one positive outcome or personal reward from which they beneﬁted was
that they enhanced self-perceptions. One self-perception that was enhanced was that they
were able to demonstrate competence in teaching sport skills. For example, one father
spoke of how the skills he taught her daughter helped during later competitions after he
stopped coaching her. He stated:

She’s used a lot of the skills that she learned in later life and she came in and she

was telling me that up there at one of the intramural games that the guys accused

131

her of playing like a boy, which I took for her as a compliment... so in later life I
think that she kinda liked some of the skills she had learned...

Another father indicated that he felt that he was helping his daughter improve on a steady
basis. He stated, “I would like to think that I helped her, yes. Well she became stronger
and more motivated. Of course, in track and cross country everything is measured by
time and her times were improving consistently.”

In addition to demonstrating competence in teaching sport skills, several coaches
stated that they were able to demonstrate competence in teaching life skills. For example,
a father-coach simply believed that he taught his son some things he could use outside of
sport. He said, “I thought I taught him a lot: self-conﬁdence and winning and losing and
that.” Yet, another coach thought he was able to teach his daughter as well as other
children about being a part of a team. He summed up his thoughts in this manner:

.. .something happens where they learn that they’re part of a team and there’s

certain people out there behind you and that they’re accountable to each other

instead of ‘it’s me up on the block, I’ll go swim my one event and I’m done.’ Six
of us have to play quality defense together and so we were successful in getting
kids to appreciate that. The team aspect of it. Team water polo or team basketball
or team football or any team, team volleyball are much different sports than
swimming or golf or bowling or something. The concern is the. team and that’s
what we were focused on getting them to appreciate that.

Additionally, several parents spoke of how their experiences coaching their child
contributed to increasing their self-worth. One coach spoke of how several children
became successful in sport and this increased his sense of self-worth. He stated, “. . .a lot
of the kids that I had went on to do very well in basketball, so I take a little pride in that.”
Another coach spoke of how it made him feel good that his son always wanted him to
coach. He stated:

I think he was proud of me being his father and his coach, so I felt good about
that. He always wanted me to be his coach. I tried to encourage him. I suggested

132

to him you brow maybe you should have somebody else for a coach and learn
from someone else and not just ﬁ'om me and he never wanted that. He always
wanted me to be his coach, so I felt real good about that.

Finally, two coaches stated that their former players often come back and tell
them that they were good coaches. Each experienced increased self-perceptions as a
result. One coach stated:
The kids always respected me and when I see them later on, after I was done
coaching, they come over to the house there and they’d say, “hey number one
coach,” so they respected me. They thought a lot of me because I gave ‘em a
little incentive on winning. All my kids thought a lot of me because I treated
them like kids, you brow, like human beings actually. You brow I treated em
well. I never, never jumped on any particular one of my kids.

Enhanced coaching knowledge. Parent-coaches stated that the opportunity to coach
their child helped enhance their coaching browledge. One coach stated that he increased
his browledge by learning through other coaches. He stated, “Not having a lot of
experience myself I had to learn from other coaches about strategies, a little bit of the
game .. .” Conversely, another coach stated that he had to learn on his own in order to
help his daughter. He stated:

I did a little bit of reading and when I went to track meets, I did a whole lot of
watching. A lot of the strategies that we came up with were just between her and I
as far as training and the workouts and watching what other successful people did.
Because just like everything else you know, if the ﬁsh are biting a certain lure, the
guy that’s catching ‘em all isn’t going to tell you. You brow not really, you gotta
ﬁgure it out yourself.

Additionally, two coaches learned from their daughters. More speciﬁcally, those
fathers learned how to coach girls through interactions with their daughters. One parent-

coach stated:

. . .because she’d tell me what the girls were upset about and so forth. I found, for
instance, the boys you can scream at. You can use a little profanity. Girls you
can’t do that. You just look at the girls cross-eyed and they’d start boo—hooln, so
she’d tell me, “Dad you’re hurting so and so’s feelings, you know you can’t do

133

that.” She knew more about that than I did. I was not used to working with girls. It
is different.

Winning. Several responses indicated that many coaches saw winning as a personal
reward of coaching their own child. For example, one father-coach said, “We won more
games than we lost and I think the kids enjoyed it. Again, coming from a smaller
community you tend to brow all the kids even away ﬁom the baseball ﬁeld.” Another
coach had similar thoughts. He said, “. .. our team always ﬁnished ﬁrst. We had three out
of four championships...”

Miscellaneous personal rewards. Finally, many coaches mentioned a variety of
personal rewards from coaching their own child. One reward was that they got to be a
role model to their child. One father summed up his thoughts in this manner:

I think most boys want to spend time with their fathers. You know especially

when they’re young, up until maybe twelve. I mean they pretty much idolize their

dads so that’s always something that I had kept in my mind. I was being a role
model and my actions and what I did and what I said would pretty much be
watched all the time so it’s just kind of a developmental stage that I expected and
worked my best to try to do it as well as I could.
In addition, two coaches spoke of how their child helped with team issues, such as locker
room issues and demonstrating or teaching skills. One coach said, “When I was trying to
communicate to the team, she picked up and really handled it. She was helpful in keeping
the others following along.” The other coach stated:

I would of felt very nervous about going into the dressing room with the girls.

And when she was on the team that made it all better. . .. She’d tell me what the

girls were upset about and so forth... She helped me a lot. I enjoyed it because

as I said it kinda took all the pressure off because she was on the team and she
helped me out on that.

Three coaches mentioned that they were able to see their child excel and this was

rewarding to them. For example, one mother said this of her daughter’s experience:

134

. . .just to watch her be able to relax and focus on the enjoyment of it instead of the

pressure situation and just the difference in her attitude when you could just go for

it all and not worry about getting yelled at by someone else... Well it made me

feel good that she was comfortable enough to attempt it and she just proved to

herself that I brew she could do it and I just had to see that she could do it.
Finally, one coach each mentioned that being able to associate with sport professionals,
having an opportunity to better understand his/her child, and having an opportunity to
develop athletes as a positive outcome/personal reward.
Frustrations of Parent-Coach

To detemrine what the parent-coaches perceived to be negative outcomes for
themselves, they were asked the following questions: a) Think of those situations when
you had what you would consider to be negative experiences in coaching your child.
Describe those incidents to me. What happened? When did these incidents occur? Why
do you believe they were negative experiences? How did it make you feel at the time?,
and b) How would you sum up your experiences with coaching your child? Results
revealed four lower order themes of dealing with parent complaints, teenage child not

listening to parent while coaching, helping child through difﬁcult times, and

participation/playing time rules (see Figure 13).

135

 

# of quotes 1" order themes General Dimension

 

3 Helping child through difficult times

3 Teenage child not listening to

parent Wh'le coaching e Fmstrations of Parent-Coach

2 Dealing with parent
complaints

2 Participation/playing
time rules

 

Figure 13. Frustrations of parent-coach.

Dealing with parent complaints. One frustration the parent-coaches spoke of was
that they often had to deal with parent complaints about playing time issues and coaching
decisions. One coach who coached at the high school level commented, “I really got
worn out by dealing with the parents. . .the majority of parents thought they had a better
idea of how things should be done.” Another parent who coached his son in baseball had
a similar frustration, but also brew that he would play favorites in order to win. He said:

Well, just putting up with some of the parents was my personal experience you
brow. Trying to satisfy the parents as well as the kids. Trying to get em all
playing, that was my experience. I tried to satisfy the parents and get their kids
playing time too, you brow equal playing time. It was hard to give them equal
playing time. There were a lot of hostile parents like that and I told em I said ‘hey
I just volunteered for this job. I’m not getting paid for this. I said next year you
can do it...’ They were mad because their kid wasn’t playing in the game. I had
played a kid maybe an inning or two. I was playing the kid what I was required to
play him. I did give them, tried to give them as equal playing time as I could. But

136

I did play favors where I, you brow, I would play the kids that would help me win
rather than help me lose you brow. I just put them in the best positions I thought
they could play and stuff like that. I had to run the games.

Teenage child not listening to parent while coaching. Three parent-coaches also
mentioned that there were moments of frustration when their child would not listen to
them as they were trying to coach. A mother spoke of how her teenage daughter would
not follow her instructions and this led to asking her to leave practice. She commented:

One of the practices would have been for a different year and a different league.

All the girls were snipping at each other and I tried to lay down the law while

snipped at me, so I snipped back at her and “oh you wouldn’t do that to any

other kid” kinda thing. Then it became the mom and daughter battling and I

couldn’t remove myself from the situation. I just kept right at her, eventually

made her leave practice. And I still feel so horrible about it. At the time that was
not pleasant.
Yet a father-coach explained that he seemed to battle with his son during the teenage
years because his son brew more about the game at that point. He said:
I would say probably early on maybe when he was about eleven or twelve that
age up to fourteen. I think there were times where he probably thought he knew
enough about the game that if I went to the mound, and he was pitching, and had
some advice for him, I think he had a hard time with it at times. It was just like,
you brow, you’re my dad not my coach.
In both situations, it seemed that the child was unable to separate the parent from coach
and viewed the parent-coach in more of a parenting role.

Helping child through drﬂicult time. Three participants spoke of how they
experienced frustration when they were not able to strategize ways to help their child
when the child was experiencing difﬁculty in the sport. For example, one father-coach
explained that it was ﬁ'ustrating for him when his daughter did not receive an athletic

scholarship. He commented:

I was very upset about the coaches at Cincinnati. They called her every Monday
night for at least 3 months. Promised her a scholarship and then they didn’t call

137

the night of the signing date, so I called them the next night and they said they
decided to give it to a 6’5” transfer from Florida. Well that was a little, that was
devastating. She bought a Cincinnati sweatshirt and the whole bit and planned on
going over there and then when I tried to arrange for her to go to a junior college,
she was having none of that. So, that was the most negative experience we had.

It really devastated her when they backed out on her.

This parent-coached tried to help by ﬁnding an alternative program, but the child was not
interested. Another coach had difﬁculty ﬁnding ways to help his daughter when she
experienced ﬁ'ustration. He said:

...if there were negative aspects about me coaching _ [it] was trying to deal
with her frustration. When things weren’t going the way she wanted them to go
personally for her, she would get very, very frustrated. Her getting frustrated
could at times frustrate me too because there were sometimes I wasn’t able to
communicate with her well enough or be speciﬁc with her enough to get her over
the hump about what she was frustrated about. I think that was probably, if there
were negative aspects, it was just dealing with her ﬁ'ustration and me not being
able to get her over that as quickly as she wanted to... because nobody wants to
see their kids hurting. And I use the term hurting loosely, but nobody wants to
see them ﬁ'ustrated. Nobody wants to see them aggravated or disconcerted about
anything, but if there were on occasions things [that] didn’t go the way she
wanted to then she would become aggravated and ﬁ'ustrated. You know, you
want the best for your kids, you want your kids to be happy all the time and you
work real hard to make that happen and when it doesn’t happen, it frustrates you
as a parent.

Participation/playing time rules. Two coaches mentioned that they experienced
frustration with rules of the program, such as playing time rules. One parent-coach stated
he had issues with the rules in general and trying to get everyone playing time regardless
of skill level. He stated:

...everybody was supposed to receive equal playing time and that was mind-
boggling to have twelve, ﬁfteen girls on the team and then have to provide a
rotation into a twenty-four, thirty-two minute game to where they all had equal
playing time regardless of their skill level. And I was trying in the back of my
mind, the bottom line was all of them wanted to be winners, so how do I go about
this? You brow you can’t save your ﬁve best players for the very end and expect
to come back and yet some of the kids had to play with some of these kids that
were star-gazing out there half the time.

138

Another father who coached his son expressed similar ﬁ'ustrations, but mentioned how it
bothered his son as well. He said:
kinda recall a situation that he and I did discuss ‘cause it bothered him a little
bit. When I was coaching the senior league, there were only three teams in town
and we played teams from other towns and basically everybody who tried out
made the team. Well we had a tlrirteen- year-old girl tryout and she had never
even played baseball at the little league level. It made it a difﬁcult situation. We
couldn’t cut her. I selected her, interesting part of it is I brew her father. Her
father was the athletic director at a private school. It wasn’t his idea, it was the
daughter and the mother’s idea and you know the part that bothered me is that
physically and athletically she didn’t belong at that level because you’re at the
ninety-foot base-paths, the full pitching etcetera, but you brow she tried out.
This father-coach had to deal with the playing time rules as well as explaining to his son
why things occur the way they do in sport.
Parent-Coaches Perception of Their Feedback
To determine how parent-coaches perceived the type of feedback they provided
their child, each was asked: a) How did you provide feedback to your child about his/her
sporting ability?, b) How did the feedback you provided to your child compare to
feedback given to other children on the team?, and c) Were there situations other than
practice or games that you provided feedback to your child about his/her athletic
performance or ability? Can you describe those situations? From participant responses
four lower order themes emerged. These themes included positive instructional,

encouraging/reinforcing/praise, goal-oriented discussions, and mistake-contingent

negative reinforcement (see Figure 14).

139

 

# of quotes 1“ order themes General Dimension

 

 

7 Positive instructional
4 Encouraginglreinforcinglpraise
_ Parent-Coach’s Perception of
Their Feedback
3 Goal-oriented to discussions
1 Mistake-contingent negative
reinforcement

Figure 14. Parent-coaches’ perception of their feedback.

Positive instructional. Most of the parent-coaches believed that the feedback they
provided their child was positive and that they were helping their child improve in the
sport. For example, one coach spoke of how he provided instructions during and after the
competition. He also spoke of how the instructional period seemed to be a collaborative
effort between he and his daughter. He said:

...we’d talk about what we were going to do that altemoon or evening as far as
training... Well, I would tell her this is your time ‘cause we’d always kind of have
a goal to shoot for and as far as time would go, ﬁnishing time or a strategy of
where she might be in a long distance race at what point in time. And then of
course, in the longer distance races I’d go to certain points and we’d yell back and
forth like just part of instructions. At the end of the race [when] she cooled down,
she’d tell me all about the race even though I just watched it, especially on the
track.

140

It seemed that coaching his daughter in an individual sport propelled the collaborative
effort between the two. His daughter had to be honest about her performance because he
could not always see ﬁrst hand how she performed.
Another mother-coach mentioned how she provided feedback when her daughter
would ask for it. She stated:
More than likely, in the car on the way home or if it was something that needed to
be worked on maybe if she was doing something out in the yard it would get
brought up. “You brow, remember when this situation happened maybe if you
would have done this.” But, the majority of the time, we really discussed speciﬁc
situations.

Encouraging/reinforcing/praise. Several coaches mentioned also that they believed
their feedback to be positive in a way that was encouraging, reinforcing, or praising. One
father-coach mentioned how he believed this to be the most effective method and that
negative comments were not. He said:

at that level it was still just more encouraging than really doing a lot of hard
coaching. . .. And just encouraging the good part of it, subtle changes but not
harping on it continuously. At that age I don’t think it works. “Just try this or try
that or you know just keep doing it that way.” Just more subtle reminders, more
encouraging rather than sarcasm, [it] just doesn’t work at that age, and that’s
where I think I would say it works.
Another coach echoed these sentiments and believed that praise was important to use
with his daughter. He said, “Just sitting down and talking with her. Just being able to
communicate verbally with her and, and praise her for the things that went well...”
Goal-oriented discussions. Three coaches perceived their feedback to be situated
toward reaching goals. For example, one father-coach spoke of how he and his daughter
critiqued her performance and set goals to improve on that performance. He commented:
She’ d tell me how it felt at two hundred meters. She’d tell how she could hold

back or how she got boxed in and we’d just critique the whole race. We’d do that
a dozen times on the way home I think.

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Another coach commented that he was always working with his daughter on improving
through goal-oriented discussions. He said:
You brow it’s like I praise my kids sometimes and I brow they like that, but they
also get a fair amount of analysis you brow. I’m not like a perfectionist. But,
once I’ve accomplished something, then I’m already eager to accomplish the next
thing. . .so my kids get tired of me always teaching. So, like I think they do
something good and then they’re quickly going to hear about the next thing that
they can do. They mastered that so that was a good shot next time, now that
you’ve done that, you can try doing this shot.
His comments seem to reﬂect a general life philosophy as well as a coaching philosophy.
Mistake-contingent negative reinforcement. Finally, one coach spoke of how he
basically told his son when he made rrristakes to improve and that mistakes hurt the team.
No instruction was provided. It seemed that he believed his son could handle these
comments due to his son’s cognitive maturity at the time. He commented:
I just verbally expressed it to him. I would say probably more on the order of
trying to be reinforcing, but stern I guess. I think a lot of times if he made a
mistake, he brew what he did... I would state something to him like, “you brow
hey you made a mistake we can’t afford that and left it at that.”
Interpretation of Child ’s Response to Feedback
To determine how parent-coaches perceived their child’s interpretation and
response to the feedback, each parent-coach was asked the following questions: a) How
do you think your child interpreted this feedback?, b) Did you feel it was effective?
What were his/her reactions to this feedback?, and c) Were there situations other than
practices or games that you provided feedback to your child about his/her athletic
performance or ability? Can you describe your child’s response? Results revealed ﬁve
lower order themes of child put forth more effort, child’s personality facilitated response,

child interpreted as pressuring, child’s interpretation was inconsistent, and child did not

use feedback (see Figure 15).

142

 

# 0f QUOIGS 1" order themes General Dimension

 

3 Child put forth more effort

3 Child’s personality facilitated

response
2 Child's interpretation was _. Interpretation of Child's
inconsistent Response to Feedback

2 Child did not use feedback

1 Child interpreted as pressuring

 

—I

Figure 15. Parent-coaches’ interpretation of their child’s response to feedback.

Child put forth more effort. Three coaches seemed to believe that their feedback
resulted in their child putting forth more effort. In other words, they believed their child
incorporated their feedback. For example, one father who coached his daughter believed
that it was most effective when his daughter was young. He stated:

I think she interpreted it very well. When she was very, very young and me being
the coach as well as dad, it came to her in a more positive light. She would always
take it positively, but work very, very hard to implement the strategies and
suggestions that we were talking about.

Another coach believed his son put forth effort, especially when he was one-on-one with

his son. He commented:

I think be appreciated it. He understood and brew what he had to do but I tried to
give him positive encouragement about the things he did do well and hoping that
that would make him go out and excel at it. More feeling good that he did do
things well and then I’d let him brow what else he needed to do. .. He would tend
to do that when I’d tell him about it he would. . .if we played out here by ourselves
he would do it when he was playing with me ‘cause he felt comfortable... He’d

143

say “I know Dad,”(laughing), but he’d agree. He brew, [and] I felt like I was
right.

Child 's personality facilitated response. Three coaches felt that their feedback was
effective, but that their child’s personality ﬁt well with the feedback. For example, one
coach commented that his son always seemed appreciative of the feedback and never
questioned his father’s advice. This parent-coach said:

Good. I mean he enjoyed sports... I would say so because I just don’t ever
remember any rebellious attitudes or any “what are you talking about? What do
you know? You brow you don’t understand.” Ijust don’t remember any of that
type of thing from . And sometimes I’m not so sure it was that I was
doing the right thing, a lot of it has to do with his personality.
Yet, another father-coach expressed that his daughter’s personality caused her to be
harder on herself. He said, “Well I hope that they were good. I said she was a person of
extremes. She was much harder on herself than anybody else could’ve been.” It seemed
he knew his daughter well enough to brow that she did not need her father-coach to focus
on the areas of improvement.

Child interpreted as pressuring. One coach seemed to believe that his daughter
thought his feedback was pressuring. He said:

She was kinda one of those people when the game was over it was over with,
either good or bad. She just really did not like to talk about the game that
much. . .Well at the time I think she got a little irritated by it. . .At the time she
probably felt I was pressuring her a little too much.

Child interpretation was inconsistent. Two father-coaches who coached their
daughters believed that their child interpreted the feedback differently based on the mood
of the child that day. One coach summed up his thoughts by saying, “She would
probably say I was too critical... There again I think it was probably both ways. Days

where she accepted it and then there’s other days when she didn’t wanna even talk to me

144

about it.” The other coach stated, “Well I think that when I was ofﬁcially coaching her,
she responded really, really well. Other times it was sometimes you know she was
irritated by it, sometimes she wasn’t.”
Child did not use feedback. Finally two coaches believed that their sons often
times did not use the feedback. One father-coach said:
I mean at least he heard the message. Could, the results [have] been better? You
know maybe. Not sure how that would have been done, but not saying that after
the feedback that everything was just you know totally one hundred percent
corrected, going forward.
Another coach was more direct in his response. He stated the following:
I’m sure that he probably just at times in one ear and out the other (laughing).
Yeah I would say that depending on what, he listens, maybe try to gain something
from me talking to him or telling him something. I would say if I brew he was
looking at me, I could tell he was listening. If he had his head down or looking in
a different direction, I probably wasn’t getting through to him.
Perception of Child ’s Motivation to Continue in Sport
To determine how each may have perceived their coaching to impact their child’s
motivation to continue in sport, each was asked one question. How do you think your
shared experiences impacted your child’s involvement in sport today? Results revealed
two lower order themes that indicated a belief in a positive impact because of the

experience. These themes were impacted career choice and built a foundation for later

sport participation (see Figure 16).

145

 

# of quotes 1“ order themes General Dimension

 

7 Built a foundation for later
sport participation
Perception of Child’s
*‘ Motivation to Continue in
Sport
4 Impacted career choice

 

.——

Figure I 6. Parent-coaches’ perception of their child’s motivation to continue in sport.
Impacted career choice. Four coaches commented that their experience in
coaching their child inﬂuenced their child to go into a sport related ﬁeld, such as
coaching or teaching. For example, one father who coached his daughter said, “I think
it’s probably quite a bit because ...you brow she went into that ﬁeld [Kinesiology], so I
think it had a lot to do with it.” Additionally, one father spoke of his son’s great desire to
coach because of the experience. He summed up his thoughts in this manner:
He has a very strong desire to be a basketball coach. And he tried to get a job
with _ and they’ve been putting him off and putting him off, as just a manager
and he’s been trying for a couple of years now and they don’t tell him no but they
don’t give him the job either. I don’t brow what’s going on there, but he has [a]
very strong desire and he actually, I think did coach a YMCA team once when he

was in high school. So yeah, I think that’s a positive experience, that he got out of
having me be his coach and just his love for the game.

146

Built a foundation for later sport participation. Many other coaChes believed that
their coaching experience impacted their child’s choice to continue participating in sport.
For example, a father-coach spoke of his daughter’s involvement in this manner:

I would like to think the positive experience that she and I had as coach and
player and father and daughter kind of ﬂowed through and expanded upon her
willingness to participate in the sport and her liking of the sport and wanting to go
continue on and play for other people and expand her skills.
Another father-coach summed up his thoughts in this manner:
She goes twice a week now just to play pick up games with friends. In college, it
was competitive plus it was a group of friends and now it’s more just a group of
friends to stay in shape. She works out regularly too so she likes to stay ﬁt. . .I
think taking care of themselves as a priority which she seems to have and I think
that her athletics contributed to that, which is a hugely positive thing. You know
you can just take that to the bank. So I would have to say that it was a very
positive thing.
Perception of Child 's Enjoyment
To determine how each parent-coach perceived coaching their child impacted the
child-athlete’s level of enjoyment, each was asked: What do you believe your child’s
level of enjoyment in sport was at the time? Why? Based on analysis of the data, six
lower order themes emerged. These included child looked forward to playing, child’s
accomplishments contributed to enjoyment, child liked sport and competition, child had
ability, child liked being on team/friends, and child enjoyed sports but had other interests

(see Figure 17).

147

 

# of quotes 1“ order themes General Dimension

 

4 Child liked sport and competition

4 Child looked fonrvard to playing

3 Child liked being on a team/

friends Perception of child's

2 Child’s accomplishments enjoyment

contributed to enjoyment

2 Child had ability

1 Child enjoyed sports but
had other interests

 

—

Figure I 7. Parent-coaches’ perception of their child’s enjoyment.

Child looked forward to playing. Several parent-coaches mentioned that they
knew their child was enjoying the experience because their child always seemed ready to
play or practice. For example, one father-coach said the following about his daughter:

I think it was very high. It was something she looked forward to. It wasn’t

something that she said, “I don’t wanna do this anymore,’ because that would be,

‘I wanna play, I wanna play and Dad I want you to coach.” So, it was a very

positive experience.

Another father spoke of how his son incorporated his hockey experiences into school
assignments. These types of behaviors made it obvious to the father-coach that his son
enjoyed his time while his father coached him. He stated:

I think it was pretty high. Well just for example, just his eagerness to play. When

they had like in school, as he’s going through grade school and they have

different things to write about which are usually about home and what they like, I

mean it was always focused around hockey. You brow playing hockey and how

it makes him feel and those sort of things, so he seemed to be really enjoying the
whole aspect of it. ..

148

Child accomplishments contributed to enjoyment. Additionally, two coaches spoke
of how their child experienced joy through their accomplishments while being coached
by the parent. One father brew his daughter was proud of her accomplishments: He
said, “I think it was extremely high. She was really proud of her accomplishments, but
yet she was never a kid to brag or you brow be a show-off or anything.” Another father
believed his daughter particularly enjoyed the time he coached her especially when she
received honors for her accomplishments. He said, “. . .she seemed to enjoy that
summer... She was about as happy as I have seen her... she played a couple all-star
games. She enjoyed those...”

Child liked sport and competition. Still other coaches brew their child enjoyed
their time together just because of sport or competition itself. Comments included the
following: “I would say it was quite high. She was very active in school and enjoyed it.”
“I think it was high, real high. . ..Well he liked the sport and he liked the competition and
stuff like that.” “. .. he was a good student and he thoroughly enjoyed the sport. . .” and
“He deﬁnitely enjoyed sports...”

Child had ability. Two coaches stated that their child enjoyed sport and their time
together just simply because their child had ability and could use sport as an arena to
display that ability. One father-coach said this about his son:

I’d say his level of enjoyment would have been high. just because of his ability

and the things he was able to do at the game. He was able to do things a lot of

other kids at his level didn’t do and you brow he was kind of the focal point,
center of attention, for the team, I think he enjoyed that.

Another coach who coached his son said, “. . .gave him conﬁdence that he was a

competent kid.”

149

Child liked being on a team/friends. Three parent-coaches believed their child
liked being on a team and with friends. For example, one mother-coach said, “. . .she
seemed to enjoy herself, being with her friends and being active.” And this father had
this to say about his son: “. . .belonging to a team and you brow feeling that they had a
success.”

Child enjoyed sports but had other interests. Finally one coach knew his daughter .
enjoyed sport, but that she enjoyed other activities as well. He said:

I think that I would have to say that it was balanced. I mean she had been doing it

for a long time and there was a lot of pressure coming up for kids in nriddle

school and high school to be a state champion or be a conference champion or
something. It’s not just the parents, it’s the coaches. I just have to say she rose to
the challenge of that. But, she’s a very intelligent person and at some point she
started realizing that she has a great deal of other interests that she wants to do
and her identity doesn’t need to be all tied up in how accomplished she is as an
athlete. So I think that [when] swimming started to wind down, she was ready for
it to end. And I think that polo she must have been enjoying it because she then
goes off to college and plays. . .So I think it was, it was a balanced part of her life
and what she wanted to do.

Summary

A research question that was addressed in the study was: How does the dual role
of the parent as coach influence the relationship between the child-athlete and parent-
coach? As with child-athletes, parent-coaches indicated many more positive outcomes to
the relationship. Similarly, parent—coaches believed that the sport experience created
closer bonds through various avenues. A minimal number of coaches believed the
relationship was strained; those parent-coaches who did, believed the relationship was
strained because of the child’s perceptions of the parent-coaches’ beliefs and behaviors.
Fathers believed their daughters perceived expectations as pressuring more so than

fathers coaching sons or the mother who coached her daughter. Finally, several parent-

coaches indicated that the dual role had no perceived impact on the relationship.

150

Additional research questions addressed in the study were: What are the positive
outcomes for parents who coach their children ?, and What are the negative outcomes for
parents who coach their own children? Parent-coaches indicated that positive outcomes
from coaching their child were having enhanced self-perceptions through success with
children, winning, and other miscellaneous personal rewards, such as their child helping
with team issues. Frustrations or negative outcomes mentioned by parents were dealing
with parent complaints, teenage child not listening, helping their child through difﬁcult
times, and participation/playing rules. Most responses from parent-coaches were
positive. Overall, negative outcomes were not the direct result of interactions with their
child, but rather issues surrounding coaching in general.

F inal research questions that were addressed included: What is the parent-
coach ’s perception of his/her feedback?, and What is the role of feedback on self-
perceptions, level of enjoyment, and motivational outcomes over time? Parent-coaches
perceived that they provided positive instructional feedback, feedback that was
encouraging, reinforcing, and praising, and goal-oriented to discussions. One coach
mentioned that he provided mistake contingent negative reinforcement. Overall, results
indicated that parent-coaches believed they provided positive feedback to their child.
Additionally, parent-coaches believed their child interpreted the feedback in various
ways, such as by putting forth more effort. Others believed their child’s personality
facilitated the response, the interpretation was inconsistent, and the child did not use the
feedback. One coach believed the child interpreted the feedback as pressuring. Finally,
coaches believed that they positively inﬂuenced their child’s motivation and enjoyment.

Parent-coaches mentioned how their experiences impacted their child’s career choice and

151

built a foundation for later sport participation. They believed also that their children had
positive outcomes to their enjoyment levels because they always looked forward to
playing, their child’s accomplishments contributed to their enjoyment, the child liked

sport and competition, the child had ability, and the child liked being with friends and on

a team.

152

CHAPTER SIX
Discussion
Introduction

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to explore how the parent-coach dual
role inﬂuences the relationship between the parent-coach and child, both positive and
negative; and (b) to explore the inﬂuence of the parent-coach’s feedback in forming the
athlete’s self-perceptions, affective responses, and motivational outcomes. In addition,
the following research questions were addressed: (a) How does the dual role of the
parent as coach inﬂuence the relationship between the child-athlete and parent-coach?;
(b) What are the positive outcomes for children who have parents as coaches and for
parents who coach their own children?; (c) What are the negative outcomes for children
who have parents as coaches and for parents who coach their own children?; and (d)
What is the role of feedback on self-perceptions, level of enjoyment, and motivational
outcomes over time?

In congruence with Weiss and Fretwell (in press) both parents and children were
interviewed to ascertain how the dual role impacted their relationship. Also in
accordance with Weiss and Fretwell, overall ﬁndings indicated that the dual role created
a relationship that could be both cordial and contentious. Additionally, a conundrum
existed at times for both parent-coach and child-athlete because both were living a dual
role. The current study, however, added much more to our understanding of the dual role
and how that dual role can impact the parent-child relationship over time. In addition,
results of this study provided insight into the mechanisms that facilitate or impede growth

in the relationship. Finally, current results lend support to Harter’s Model of Competence

153

Motivation (1978, 1981) and, more speciﬁcally, how signiﬁcant others, such as parent-
coaches, can contribute to positive developmental outcomes for their child.

Consistent with Harter’s (1978, 1981) model, children experienced heightened
perceptions of competence when provided with positive, reinforcing, and instructive
feedback contingent with their performance. These same children reported higher levels
of enjoyment as well as perceptions of control and a desire to continue participating in
sport. Also consistent with the model, were lowered perceptions of competence when
provided with inappropriate feedback from a parent. One athlete reported having a
negative experience with her father-coach. During the short period that her father
coached her, she experienced lower perceptions of competence and control as well as low
enjoyment and no desire to continue playing her sport. These perceptions were the
consequence of her father’s feedback, which was interpreted as negative, pressuring, and
controlling.

Additionally, a developmental component emerged, which is consistent with
Harter’s (1978, 1981) Model of Competence Motivation as well. Several child-athletes
reported a desire to continue having their parent as their coach, particularly if the
experience was positive during the early childhood years. This ﬁnding reﬂects the
inﬂuence of parents during the child’s early years as indicated in the model. Moreover,
both child-athletes and parent-coaches reported some conﬂict during the adolescent
years, particularly when the parent-coach attempted to provide feedback to the child.
Harter contends that children will rely less and less on their parents for information about
their competence when reaching adolescence, especially if they have developed an

internal perception of control.

154

Metlrodologically, retrospective interviews provided a quasi-longitudinal
perspective to understanding the dual role of parent as coach. Child-athletes were
interviewed as adults, thereby, allowing time, experience, and cognitive and emotional
maturity to contribute to their ability to understand and communicate their experiences in
a mature fashion. All child-athletes ended their playing experiences with their parent-
coach during the adolescent years. If interviewed during these years, their perception of
the experience may have been clouded by limitations in understanding and perspective-
taking during this time. Additionally, because the focus of this research was to glean
information about the long-term impact of their experiences on the relationship as well as
the child-athletes’ self-perceptions, the use of retrospective interviews provides a logical
methodology for extrapolating this information. Although, there are limitations to the use
of retrospective designs, such as forgetfulness, the experiences shared by the participants
were communicated clearly and openly. Consistent with the suggestions of Hardt and
Rutter (2004), it seems that all individuals were able to remember actual events and
reported how these events impacted their interactions. In fact, the currently oldest child-
atlrlete in the study had very vivid memories of her experiences with her father.
Moreover, many children and their parents reported similar events, which aids in
triangulating individual responses.

Impact of the Dual Role on the Relationship

Responses ﬁ'om child-athletes indicated that most believed having a parent in a
dual role (parent-coach) helped to strengthen the relationship between parent and child.
These results are consistent with previous research indicating that the majority of

teenagers believe they have harmonious relationships with their parents at home and in

155

the athletic arena (Rutter et al., 1976; Wylleman, 1995). Parent-coaches’ responses to the
impact of the dual role indicated that they perceived advantages to the relationship as
well. In fact, many of their responses were congruent with those of their child. For
example, most of the child-athletes and parent-coaches spoke of how the sport experience
strengthened the parent and child bond through spending time together, sharing sport
experiences, enhancing communication, learning about each other, developing mutual
respect, and working through the rough spots. The congruence in responses between
parents and children is contradictory to much of the research in sport and parent-child
relationships (e.g., Babkes & Weiss, 1999; Barnes & Olson, 1985). Because child-
athletes were interviewed as adults, their responses were reﬂective of the cognitive and
emotional development that occurs with time. As adults, they are much more in tune
with why events occurred and the resulting outcomes of these events.

The consistency in responses between parent and child may be an indication of
the bi-directional inﬂuence that each had on the other as well. This type of inﬂuence has
been found in other studies in sport examining parent and child or child and coach
reciprocal interactions (Green & Chalip, 1997; Weiss & Hayashi, 1995; Wylleman,
1995). In the case of this study, results provide insight into how the reciprocity in the
interactions is enhanced or thwarted over time.

The question that remains is what made relationships reciprocal and how did this
reciprocity positively or negatively impact relationships? Perhaps the answer to this
question can best be answered by examining how a parent-coach’s parenting style,
leadership style, and level of involvement may work in a uniﬁed fashion to facilitate the

relationship. Overwhelrningly, the literature supports an authoritative parenting style in

156

developing positive outcomes for children as well as positive relationships between
parents and their children (Steinberg, 2001). In cases where parent-coaches spoke of
developing a positive relationship with their child through sport, many comments
reﬂected behaviors descriptive of an authoritative parenting style. For example, parent-
coaches spoke of being warm, but ﬁrm in establishing rules and expectations as well as
permitting their child to express and develop his/her own opinions. Comments such as
“We could talk about things and there was a little frustration sometimes you brow he
could talk about openly,” and “I think that her [she] and I [sic] communicate very well
together, at a level higher than the average person” are indicative of parent-coaches who
encouraged their children to openly discuss any issues they may have had while the
parent was coaching. Children’s comments reﬂected an environment that allowed for
open communication as well, such as ” it gave us a lot of time to like talk about things,
which I think built our relationship up ‘cause not often did I just sit down and talk to him
about things goin’ on in my life,” and “I think it allowed us to talk to each other better. It
allowed us to communicate to each other because we went through all that.”
Additionally, the direct rather than indirect involvement of these parents in their
children’s life contributed to a positive relationship as well as positive developmental
outcomes for the child. Parental involvement has been found to mediate the impact of
authoritative parenting on adolescent achievement, competence, and prosocial behaviors
(Baumrind, 1989; Lambom, Mounts, Steinberg, & Dombusch, 1991; Steinberg,
Lamborn, Domsbusch, & Darling, 1992). It seems that parent-coaches were able to
develop and maintain the emotional context needed to make authoritative parenting work.

Perhaps the model proposed by Darling and Steinberg (1993) is appropriate for

157

explaining how parent-coaches can increase the possibility for optimistic outcomes.
These researchers propose that authoritative parenting is effective because of three
things: the child is receptive to parental inﬂuence because of parental nurturance and
involvement (taking on the coaching role and being aware of the child’s needs); the child
develops self-regulatory skills because of that support (development of emotional
management); and the bi-directional interactions (open communication) that occur enable
the child to become more socially and cognitively competent.

Furthermore, because parents were coaches, they were expected to develop a
coaching style as well. For the majority of parent-coaches, a positive relationship existed
indicating that parent-coaches were able to adapt their coaching leadership style to meet
the needs of their child. Children, particularly girls between the ages of 10 and 18 years,
prefer a democratic leadership style, such as a coach who allows them to have input into
the decision-making, as opposed to a coach with an autocratic leadership style who
makes all decisions with no input from players (Martin, Jackson, Richardson, & Weiller,
1999). Among the parent-coaches who were interviewed, most coaches were able to
develop a more democratic style, which co-existed with their authoritative parenting
style. Creating lines of communication, spending time with their child, and sharing
similar experiences all contributed to parent-coaches’ ability to balance both roles as well
as create reciprocity in the relationship. It is unclear, however, how the parent-coach’s
parenting style and coaching leadership style may have impacted other children on the
team. Future research must address this limitation as coaches must be aware of all team
members’ needs, not only their child’s interests. This need or requirement to please all

may create a further obstacle for parents who wish to coach their own child.

158

A ﬁnal consideration into how a close or distant relationship was formed is that of
the level of involvement of the parent-coach. Hellstedt (1987) contends that parental
involvement in sport exists on a continuum of under-involved to over-involved. Parents
who are under-involved typically do not support their child’s sport experience in any
way, including ﬁnancial, emotional, or functional. These parents generally do not attend
games, are not involved in any volunteer duties, and provide only minimal ﬁnancial
support for such things as equipment. Moderately-involved parents generally provide
ﬁrm direction, but have enough ﬂexibility in their parenting style that the athlete is also
involved in decision-making. These types of parents generally leave the coaching duties
to the coach, set realistic goals for their child, are interested in their child’s skill
development, provide moderate levels of ﬁnancial support, and provide volunteer
support. Conversely, parents who are over-involved have an excessive amount of
involvement in their child’s sport experience. These individuals typically are seen
attending all practice sessions, standing next to the coach, yelling at and engaging in
frequent disagreements with players, coaches and ofﬁcials, providing excessive ﬁnancial
support, and attempting to “coach” their child from the sideline.

For the current study, the level of involvement of the parent -coach did contribute
to the quality of the relationship, both at the time and over time. The parent-coach who
was viewed as overly-involved was perceived as never being able to separate the role of
parent and coach. In most instances, the negative feelings and outcomes were short-term,
but for one child-athlete the impact was long-term. In this instance, the parent “really
never stopped coaching her.” In the eyes of the child, her only relationship with her

father was, and is, through sport, perhaps due to the behavior of the parent-coach when

159

she was younger. These behaviors included the father shouting from the stands and
engaging in constant conversation about her sport (e.g., what to do at practice,
scholarship issues, and strategies). Although the parent in this dyad agreed that he never
stopped coaching his child, his interpretation of his interactions with her were
incongruent with her interpretations. He felt he was being helpful and she perceived his
actions as pressuring. The incongruence in interpretation of the parent-coach’s behaviors '
likely contributed to negative outcomes. Conversely, positive relationships were formed
between those athletes who viewed their parent-coach as being moderately-involved in
the sport experience. These are the parent-coaches who knew when the child needed role
separation or vice versa. Hence, they allowed their child to be involved in the decision
making, provided moderate levels of support, and coached when they needed to coach.
Personal Outcomes Examined Through Competence Motivation Theory

It is important to examine how child—athletes and parent-coaches impacted each
other from a theoretical perspective as well. Harter’s Model of Competence Motivation
(1978, 1981) was used as a framework for this study and addresses how socializing
agents, such as parents, coaches, and peers can impact a child’s sense of competence,
control, affect, and motivation. Based on the results of conversations with child-athletes
and parent-coaches, it is clear that each member of the dyad experienced changes in self-
perceptions, as well as affect and motivation.

Many child-athletes felt that they gained the most in these perceptions during the
time spent with their parent as coach, which is encouraging to those who wish to coach
their own child. Both child-athletes and parent-coaches overwhelmingly agreed that

positive and instructional feedback from the coach were important during this time

160

 

 

 

period. For the most part, athletes perceived the feedback as positive and used that
information to increase their effort or performance. In addition, most athletes seemed to
have an enhanced sense of control during this period perhaps due to the additional
responsibilities that they assumed, such as helping with drills and maintaining order on
the team. Most of the child-athletes indicated a heightened sense of enjoyment being
coached by their parent as well as how their parent-coach instilled values and beliefs
about sport. All of these results are consistent with previous research on positive parental
inﬂuence in the child’s sport involvement (e.g., Brustad, 1988, 1993, 1996, Eccles &
Harold, 1991; Scanlan & Lewthwaite, 1984). In addition, these results are consistent
with much of the literature examining how coaching behaviors inﬂuence a child’s self-
perceptions, affect, and motivation (Black & Weiss, 1992; Boyd & Yin, 1996; Smith,
Smoll, & Curtis, 1979; Wong & Bridges, 1995).

For those child-athletes who voiced concerns about their parent-coach’s behavior
the responses of the child-athletes during their playing days were consistent with
Competence Motivation Theory (Harter, 1978, 1981) also. During those times when
expectations were too high and the corresponding feedback was inappropriate, these
athletes experienced a heightened sense of anxiety as well as lowered perceptions of
competence and control. These results are consistent with previous research on the
potential negative inﬂuences of parents (e.g., Babkes & Weiss, 1999; Brustad, 1988; Leff
& Hoyle, 1995; Scanlan & Lewthwaite, 1986) and coaches (e.g., Black & Weiss, 1992)
on children’s self-perceptions, affect, and motivation. What is encouraging, however, is
that these periods of lowered self-perceptions and affect were short-term for most

athletes. Over time, most of these athletes developed a mutual understanding of their

161

 

parent-coach, which facilitated positive personal outcomes as well as a positive parent-
child relationship. Additionally, some child-athletes commented on how they had a
delayed understanding of how to develop. Essentially, these individuals realized over
time what their parents were trying to do for them through the use of feedback. These
child-athletes were able to take their experiences with their parent-coach and transfer
their learning to other situations. For example, some athletes spoke of how they were
able to deal with criticism from other coaches as well as how to succeed. These ﬁndings
are important contributions to the literature because so much of the current knowledge
about parent and coach inﬂuences is taken during snap shots in the child’s life. Hitting
bumps in the road during the experience of coaching one’s child appears to be the norm.
How the parent-coach deals with these situations is very important and can have positive
or negative inﬂuences on the relationship.

Hence, it is important for parents who wish to coach their children to have some
knowledge of what can assist them in understanding their child’s response to their
coaching efforts. The results of this study provide some insight into those contributing
factors to consider, such as the developmental period in which one coaches his or her
child and the gender of both the parent and child. Both of these factors mediated the
child-athlete’s response to his or her parent-coach’s feedback.

Developmentally, those times when negative events occurred between parent-
coach and child-athlete were generally during the adolescent years of the child. During
this time period, child-athletes were reluctant to listen to the feedback ﬁ'orn their parent-
coach, and in many cases believed they brew more about the sport than the parent-coach.

This is consistent with the developmental tenets of Harter’s (1978, 1981) theory and

162

subsequent research in that as children reach adolescence they rely less and less on the
feedback ﬁom parents, especially if they have developed an internal perception of control
(Horn, Glenn, & Wentzell, 1993; Horn & Hasbrook, 1986, 1987; Weiss, Bredemeier, &
Shewchuk, 1986). As these child-athletes entered adolescence, they began to rely more
on self-referenced sources (e. g., effort, enjoyment, and ability), coach feedback, and
game outcome for information about their performance and ability. This ﬁnding is
consistent with the literature also (Horn, Glenn, & Wentzell, 1993).

Because children in the early adolescent years do rely on coaches to provide
feedback about their ability, the challenge to a parent who is coaching a child is when
does the child-athlete view the parent-coach as a coach and when does the parent-child
view the parent-coach as parent? This is important for parentocoaches to understand so as
to provide feedback to the child when not only wanted, but when the feedback will be
most effective in enhancing self-perceptions as well as performance. Based on the results
of this study, as children reach adolescence they are open to coaching feedback during
those times when it is appropriate to the sport, such as practices or games. However,
outside the sport arena, these child-athletes wanted the parent-coach to assume a
parenting role. Thus, child-athletes wanted parents to be encouraging and supportive
once they left the competitive or practice arena. prarent-coaches continued in the
coaching role, they were then viewed by the child-athlete as being overly-involved or
overly-critical. There is a caveat, however, which indicates that child-athletes were open
to coaching feedback outside the sport arena only when they asked for this feedback. In
most cases, parents came to understand this, but for those that did not, and in particular

one father-coach, a long-term negative impact on the relationship occurred.

163

This predicament that parent-coaches faced in their dual role is consistent with the
ﬁndings of Wiess and Fretwell (in press) and Evans (1985). These authors found that
parent-coaches often treated their child differently from other members on the team,
which created a conundrum of when to be a coach and when to be a parent. In the current
study, both parent-coaches and athletes believed the parent was harder on his/her child,
which, at times, did create a conundrum. This ﬁnding, although consistent with Weiss
and Fretwell, is different as well. Parent-coaches did hold higher expectations for their
children; however, the long-term impact of those expectations did not appear to be
negative. Parents and children, who were able to openly communicate during conﬂicts
created by the dual role, found that they were able to work through those rough spots.
Perhaps the ability of both parties to handle conﬂict due to high expectations was
mediated by the skill level of the child. Children may have been held to higher
expectations because they were perceived by the parent-coach as being one of the best on
the team (thereby increasing the child’s sense of competence). However, the perceived
high skill level of the child may have tempered the parents’ desire to remain in their
coaching role outside the sporting arena, thereby reducing conﬂict between the two.

The gender of the child and parent seems to have mediated the child’s response to
the parent-coach’s feedback as well. Several of the female athletes as opposed to the
male athletes interpreted their father-coach’s feedback and expectations as unrealistic and
overly critical. It is not surprising that father-coaches rrright have higher expectations of
their daughters. Fathers have been found to have high expectations of their daughters
especially in their daughters’ ability to reach elite levels (Martin, Richardson, Weiller, &

Jackson, 2004). In addition, fathers tend to become overly- involved by providing extra

164

practice or feedback when they believe their child’s effort or ability is low (Averill &
Power, 1995). Daughters tend to believe that fathers provide less support than their
mothers during their sport experience (Martin, Richardson, Weiller, & Jackson, 2004).
Both boys and girls have reported greater enjoyment, perceived competence, and
motivation if they perceive less pressure to perform from their father (Babkes & Weiss,
1999). Finally, girls have been found to interpret coaching feedback in the form of
encouragement and corrective information after a mistake or poor performance as an
indication of low ability (Allen & Howe, 1998). In the case of this study, those
daughters who faced obstacles with their father-coach may have interpreted their father-
coach’s feedback as an indication of low ability. A parent occupying a dual role as coach
further compounded the interpretation. The fathers’ behavior, although well intentioned,
must be taken into consideration. It seems that fathers who coach their daughters face an
additional hurdle and must take time to understand the needs of their daughters and how
their behaviors and coaching decisions can impact their daughter as well as their
relationship with their daughter. It should not be expected that daughters respond and act
like sons!

Thus, fathers who coach their own children are provided with an opportunity to
remain positively involved in their child’s life. This opportunity is especially true for
fathers and daughters. Daughters perceive their father to be an authority ﬁgure, whereas
sons see their fathers as someone to share common interests, such as recreation and work
(Y ouniss & Ketterlinus, 1987; Youniss & Smollar, 1985). Fathers who coach daughters

are provided with an opportrmity to share something with their daughter outside the norm

165

and sons are offered an opportunity to continue to share those common interests beyond
throwing the ball around in the backyard.

Consequently, the impact of the father in a parent-coaching role can be
particularly facilitative or debilitative to the relationship as well as to the child. All
fathers coached their child at some point during the child’s adolescent years. Because
adolescent children tend to perceive fathers as distant and difﬁcult to communicate with
(Y ouniss & Ketterlinus, 1987; Youniss & Smollar, 1985), having a father as a coach may
positively inﬂuence interactions. Sport may offer an opportunity for children to interact
with their father outside the father’s authority role in the home. For instance, children get
the opportunity to see how their father interacts with other children and the “playful” side
of their father. These opportunities seemed evident in responses from child-athletes as
they mentioned learning about their father, spending time talking with their father, and
learning responsibility from their father. However, for those fathers who remain distant
and do not encourage open communication and opportunities for their child to learn about
them or to learn more about their child, a greater distance in the relationship can emerge.

Mothers are important to the child’s sporting experience as well. Generally,
fathers are perceived as the sport socializers, whereas mothers are viewed in a supportive
role (Greendorfer & Lewko, 1978). In the one case in which a mother was coaching her
daughter, a positive relationship was forged between the two. It seems this daughter
perceived that sport offered an opportunity for equality in the relationship. This child-
athlete spoke of how she felt free in speaking or even arguing with her mother about
issues in practice or games and how this carried over into adult life. These comments are

consistent with research indicating that daughters are more comfortable conﬁding with,

166

disobeying with, and arguing with mothers (Y ouniss & Smollar, 1985). Not brown ﬁ'om
this research is how sons would respond to having a mother as a coach and how a mother
in a coaching role might impact their relationship. Further research is warranted in this
area, as many more women are involved in coaching both boys and girls at the youth
sport level, especially on co-recreational teams

Both mothers and fathers, therefore, can impact their child’s experience in sport,
but the dual role impacts parents’ self-perceptions as well. All parent-coaches verbalized
how they experienced enhanced self-perceptions as well during this time period. Each
was able to demonstrate competence in teaching their child as well as experiencing
increased self-worth, motivation (enhancing coaching browledge), and aﬂect (feeling of
winning and watching child excel). In addition, several coaches mentioned how they
altered their behavior based on the feedback ﬁom their child, such as how to treat others
on the team or when the best time to provide performance feedback to their child might
be. Parent-coaches who were unable to adjust to the feedback from their child often
experienced personal frustration, which led to frustration in dealing with their child.
Most of the turmoil occurred during the child-athlete’s adolescent years, which is
consistent with ﬁndings indicating that the adolescent years may be more difﬁcult for
parents rather than children (Silverberg & Steinberg, 1990; Steinberg, 2001). Thus,
parents who coach their own adolescent children may experience more ﬁ'ustration
because they are faced with the behaviors of their child who is occupying two roles as
well.

The reciprocal nature of the interactions between parent-coaches and child-

athletes and the subsequent impact on their behaviors, feelings, self-perceptions, and

167

ultimately their relationship highlight the need to evaluate current theoretical models
commonly used in developmental sport psychology research. Competence Motivation
Theory (Harter, 197 8, 1981) certainly is an appropriate model for examining the impact
of socializing agents on children’s developmental outcomes, but in the case of parents
who coach their own children, it seems that children socialize their parents as well. The
impact of interactions between parent, coaches, and children is not addressed within the
model, but requires consideration, as relationships do not operate within a vacuum and in
only one direction (e. g., parent to child or coach to child). In addition, there seemed to be
mediating factors, such as the gender of the parent and child that impacted the child’s
perceptions as well as the parent-coach’s perceptions. Perhaps a more multidimensional
approach is warranted in which other models, such as Eccles’ Expectancy-Value Model
(Eccles & Harold, 1991), and Darling and Steinberg’s (1993) theory of authoritative
parenting might be integrated with Competence Motivation Theory to explain the parent-
coach and child-athlete phenomenon.
Implications

Weiss and Fretwell (in press) recently posed the question “Should parents coach
their own children?” Their conclusion was that “it depends”. Weiss and Fretwell
speculated that when parents are unable to separate their roles, less than amiable
relationships would develop between the parent and child over time. Although it is
indeed true that when parents do not separate their roles, relationships can be strained, the
answer resides in the child’s ability to separate the dual role as well. Furthermore, this
study offers suggestions for parent-coaches on how to maintain appropriate roles based

on the needs of the child.

168

First, parents must consider not only if they should coach their child, but also
when they should coach their child. Comments from both members of the dyad indicate
that adolescence can be a difﬁcult time for both. Parents who wish to coach their own
child may need to consider the quality of the relationship prior to adolescence. Research
indicates that the conﬂict that occurs between family members during adolescence
generally precedes the child’s entry into adolescence (Rutter, Graham, Chadwick, &
Yule, 1976). Therefore, if conﬂict has occurred prior to adolescence, taking on a dual role
may be contraindicated as the parent is now occupying two roles of authority. Those
parents who coached their child from early/middle childhood through early adolescence
were able to prevent long-term negative outcomes in the relationship. However, those
parents who began coaching their child during early adolescence experienced the most
difﬁculty in communicating with their child. Nevertheless, if parents do decide to take
on this role during the adolescent time period, assuming an authoritative parenting style
in conjunction with a democratic leadership style may buffer against conﬂict.

Second, fathers who take on the dual role are provided with an opportunity to
remain engaged in their child’s life. Fathers must, therefore, understand how sons and
daughters will respond to their involvement. Both sons and daughters perceived that their
father placed higher expectations on them, but the interpretations of these expectations
were different. Sons seemed to welcome expectations, such as being a role model for the
team or helping set-up practice, but daughters were more reluctant to take on extra
responsibilities and be used as a role model. Therefore, fathers must understand
differences in the interpretation of the messages they send their sons and daughters. Both

sons and daughters expressed a desire to have open communication with their fathers, but

169

daughters needed role separation more so than sons. Spending time in the sport
environment offers opportunities for daughters to talk with parents about interpersonal
issues as well. This need is consistent with research ((Larson et al., 1996). '

Third, mothers are offered an opportunity to remain engaged in their child’s life
as well. Although, both sons and daughters tend to be closer to mothers and reciprocate
caring and emotional support (Barnes & Olson, 1985; Youniss & Ketterlinus, 1987;
Youniss & Smollar, 1985) being a coach can only help facilitate relationships. This study
provided insight into a mother-daughter relationship and how it grew, but sons may be
able to grow in their relationships also. Seeing their mother in a role outside of the home
can create more appreciation of the mother and her abilities other than being a mother.

Fourth, parents who coach must understand the impact of their feedback and
behaviors on their child’s self-perceptions, motivation, and enjoyment. As found in this
study and other studies (e. g., Babkes & Weiss, 1999; Black & Weiss, 1992), positive and
instructional feedback was overwhelmingly preferred by both child-athletes and parent-
coaches. In addition, some daughters interpreted feedback negatively. Parents must
understand their child prior to assuming the coaching role and be aware of the feedback
they provide their child. In addition, parents must understand that as children mature,
their child may prefer the feedback remain in the playing arena unless speciﬁcally
requested outside of the sport context. Essentially, child-athletes prefer to be treated
similarly to their teammates. Being overcritical or overly-involved in the child’s sporting
experience can create disharmony in the relationship as well as negative self-perceptions.

Finally, parents need to understand that the experience of coaching their own

child can impact their self-perceptions as well. As found in previous studies (Evans,

170

1985; Weiss & Fretwell, in press), parent-coaches experienced positive and negative
outcomes from the experience and altered their behavior toward their child and others
due to the experience. Additionally, parent-coaches will likely experience frustration
with their competence, but will experience increases in self-worth as well. Lastly, it is
highly likely parent-coaches will learn something from their child as well as something
about their child.

Coaching education programs can help facilitate the dissemination of knowledge
needed to assist parents who wish to coach their own children. Many parents, including
the parents in this study, are asked to coach a team because no other person has come
forward. In most cases, parents do not have the necessary tools to teach sport skills let
alone the tools to keep or enhance positive relationships with children as well as enhance
children’s levels of self-esteem, competence, enjoyment, and motivation. Training
should discuss methods for maximizing positive outcomes for all children, but speciﬁc
training should be developed for parent-coaches as outlined in the preceding paragraphs.

Recommendations for Future Research

Although ﬁndings from the current study help bring into focus a clearer picture of
the parent-coach dual role phenomenon, limitations to this study and questions raised
from this study require additional research. First, this study had a limited sample size of
only 22 participants who possessed similar demographic characteristics. For example,
the majority of the participants indicated they were white and shared similar
socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, all child-athletes were undergraduate or

graduate students. Therefore, results and experiences cannot be generalized to other

171

populations. Therefore, a larger sample of participants with varying socioeconomic
backgrounds, ethnicities, and experiences should be included in future research.

Additionally, the methodology in which the data were analyzed must be
considered. Participants were grouped into parent-coaches and child-athletes and
responses were aggregated. Consideration must be taken into account of analyzing dyads
separately. Analysis in this manner may provide a true indication of how relationships
can be enhanced or thwarted through the experience. Methods have been forwarded in
quantitative designs for studying dyads (e.g., Kashy & Boldry, 2005), but little is known
about standard methodologies in qualitative designs. Perhaps dyads should be considered
as individual case studies.

Third, the skill level of the child as well as the parent must be considered in future
research. All participants indicated that the child-athletes were highly skilled, but it is
unbrown what may occur if one were to coach an unskilled child. Moreover, all parents
in the study had a sporting background either as a coach or a player or both. Some of the
parents were teachers as well, which may have contributed to their understanding of
teaching children in general. The skill level of the parent-coaches and their competencies
in coaching may impact the interactions between parent and child as well as self-
perceptions. These issues should be considered in future research.

Fourth, most of the participants of this study indicated that their experiences were
positive. Only one child-athlete indicated that the experience had a long-term negative
impact on the relationship. The experiences of this individual cannot be generalized to
other athletes who may experience negative outcomes ﬁom being coached by a parent.

For example, it is not brown what may contribute to a relationship that becomes severed

172

because of the dual role. Hence, it is important to gather information ﬁ'om child-athletes
and parent-coaches about the processes that contribute to a severed parent-child
relationship.

Fifth, future research must incorporate mother-daughter and mother-son dyads.
Because 11 of 12 parents were fathers, the results cannot be fully generalized to mothers
who coach. There is some indication that mothers can become closer with their
daughters, but there is no indication the same would be true for sons coached by mothers.
How sons view their mothers in a coaching role may likely depend on the sons’
socialization prior to the experience, particularly sons’ views about masculinity and
femininity.

Sixth, research must examine how having a parent in a coaching role impacts
other members of the family as well as other members on a team. Previous research
indicates that a parent’s level of involvement with their child’s sport participation may
create negative feelings ﬁom other children in the family (Ewing, Hedstrom, Wiesner, &
Gano-Overway, 2004). Additionally, previous research has indicated that other team
members become dissatisﬁed with a parent-coach who is perceived to show favoritism
toward his/her own child (Weiss & F retwell, in press).

Finally, future research must examine how changing family structures may impact
the dual role. For example, many children are living in blended families, with
grandparents, or are children to same-sex couples. How might occupying a dual role in

each of these examples impact the child, the adult, and the relationship?

173

Conclusion

Overall, both child-athletes and parent-coaches indicated that they were able to
develop a positive and strong relationship as a result of being in dual roles. In addition,
both indicated that they were able to experience personal positive rewards and outcomes
because of their experience. Although some of the participants did indicate that negative
events did occur, the long-term impact was insigniﬁcant. From the perception of one
child-athlete, there was a long-term negative impact on the relationship, but there is still a
connection through sport. Results of the study are encouraging to those who wish to
coach their own children by providing insight into methods for keeping or strengthening
the relationship. Additionally, the study provides insight into how to enhance the self-
perceptions of children who are coached by a parent. Limitations were evident, however,
and recommendations for future research included a larger more diverse sample, more
mothers who have coached their children, participants who have experienced a severed
relationship, the teammates and other immediate family members, and children who may

be coached by a stepparent, grandparent, or partner in a same-sex relationship.

174

APPENDIX A

Child-Athlete Demographic Survey

175

Child-Athlete Demographic Survey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name
Phone
Email:
Age category Sex (please check): Race/Ethnicity(please check):
(please check) '
18-20
20-22 Male African/American
23-25 Female Mexican (Chicano/a)
26-28 Hispanic (Lation/a)
29-30 Asian/American
31 or older White/Caucasian
Native American/
Alaskan Native
_Other
(Please Specify)
1. What was your age when your parent began coaching you?
What sport(s)?
2. What was your age when your parent stopped coaching you ?
What sport(s)?
3. Which parent coached you? (please circle all that apply)

Mom Dad Stepmom Stepdad Other (M or F)

(please indicate)

How many seasons did your parent coach you?
(For example, if you were coached by your parent in both fall soccer and basketball during the
same year, count that as 2 seasons).

Please indicate the sport, number of seasons coached, and the parent who coached
you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sport Seasons Parent
Sport Seasons Parent
Sport Seasons Parent

176

6. Please indicate the sport(s) in which your parent coached you, the competitive
level (Scale of 1-10 with 1 being a very low competitive level and 10 being a
very high competitive level), and your level of enjoyment with your parent as
coach for each (Scale of 1-10 with 1 being a very low level of enjoyment and
10 being a very high level of enjoyment).

 

 

 

Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (1 to 10)
Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (1 to 10)
Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (1 to 10)

 

7. In what sports or types of physical activity are you currently involved, what is
the competitive level of each (Scale of 1-10 with 1 being a very low level and 10
a very high level), and your level of enjoyment in each? (Scale of 1-10 with 1
being a very low level of enjoyment and 10 being a very high level of

 

 

 

enjoyment).
Sport Competitive level (1 tolO)___ Enjoyment (I to 10)
Sport Competitive level (1 to 10)__ Enjoyment (1 to 10)___
Sport Competitive level (I to IO)__ Enjoyment (l to 10)—

 

8. Are you a parent? Yes No (please circle)

177

APPENDIX B

Parent-Coach Demographic Survey

' 178

Parent-Coach Demographic Survey

 

 

 

 

Name:
Phone
Email:
Age category Sex (please check): Race/Ethnicity(please check):
(please check):
_35-40
_41-45 ___Male _African/American
_46-50 _Female _Mexican (Chicano/a)
_51-55 _Hispanic (Lation/a)
_56-60 _Asian/American
_61 or older _White/Caucasian
_Native American!
Alaskan Native
_Other
(Please Specify)

I. What is your current occupation?

 

l9

 

What was your occupation when you coached your child?

3. Did you play sports when you were a child? Yes No (circle one)
How many years?

 

4. If yes, what sports did you play? What was the competitive level of each ((Scale
of 1-10 with 1 being a very low competitive level and 10 being a very high
competitive level) and what was your level of enjoyment for each?

 

 

 

Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (1 to 10)
Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (l to 10)
Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (1 to 10)

 

5. What was your child’s age when you began coaching him/her?

What sport(s)?

 

 

6. What was your child’s age when you stopped coaching him/her ?

What sport(s)?

 

179

7. How many seasons did you coach your child?
(For example, if you coached your child in both fall soccer and basketball during the same year,
count that as 2 seasons).

8. Please indicate the sport(s) in which you coached your child, the competitive level
(Scale of 1-10 with 1 being a very low competitive level and 10 being a very high
competitive level), and your level of enjoyment in coaching your child for each
(Scale of 1-10 with 1 being a very low level of enjoyment and 10 being a very
high level of enjoyment).

 

 

Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (I to 10)
Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (1 to 10)
Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (l to 10)

 

9. Were you a volunteer or paid coach? (Please indicate for each sport coached)

 

 

Sport Paid Unpaid (circle one)
Sport Paid Unpaid (circle one)
Sport Paid Unpaid (circle one)

 

10. In what sports or types of physical activity are you currently involved, what is the
competitive level of each (Scale of 1-10 with 1 being a very low level and 10 a very
high level), and your level of enjoyment in each? (Scale of 1-10 with 1 being a very
low level of enjoyment and 10 being a very high level of enjoyment).

 

 

 

 

Sport Competitive level (1 tolO) Enjoyment (l to 10)
Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (l to 10)
Sport Competitive level (1 to 10) Enjoyment (1 to 10)

180

APPENDIX C

Child-Athlete Interview Guide

181

Child-Athlete Interview Protocol

Thank you very much for taking time to talk with me today. Before we get started, I
would like to tell you about what I am doing and why I wanted to talk with you. I am
interested in ﬁnding out more about your experiences in sport and your experiences with
having a parent as a coach.

This interview will last approximately one hour. The interview will be audio taped and
transcribed. You can ask to have the audiotape turned off at any point during the
interview. Only researchers from Michigan State University will have access to
individual interviews. You will be given a code name in the transcripts and nothing you
say will be attributed directly to you. Do you have any questions?

I would like to begin by asking you a few questions about the sports or physical
activities you are currently involved in and were involved in as a child.

1. Who taught you sport skills? How did this person teach you? How much time
was spent with you teaching you? How did you interpret the time spent with you?

2. When did your parent begin formally coaching you?

3. Why did your mom/dad/guardian coach you? How did you feel about having
your mom/dad! guardian as your coach?

4. Why did your mom/dad/guardian stop coaching you? How did you feel about
that?

5. Did your parent-coach treat you differently from others on the team? If so, how?
In what ways?

Thank you for your patience. Now I would like to ask you some questions about
your specific experiences with having your parent as your coach.

1. On a scale of 1-100 how important was sport to you?

2. On a scale of 1-100 how much did sport mean to your parent/coach?

3. Think of those situations when you had what you would consider to be
positive experiences in sport with your parent as your coach. Describe those
incidents to me. What happened? When did these incidents occur? Why do
you believe they were positive experiences? How did it make you feel at the
time? What did your parent-coach do or say that made you believe you were
a good athlete? What did you say or do in response? How did your parent
respond to you? How do you feel about that situation now as you think about
it? How do you think your parent/coach felt about these experiences? Why?
How do you think those experiences impacted your relationship with your
parent/coach? What did it mean for the way you thought about your athletic
ability then? As you think back on it, how did these experiences affect your
perceptions of your athletic ability now?

4. Now think of those situations that you would consider to be negative
experiences with your parent/coach. What happened? What did your parent

182

10.

11.

say or do during these situations? What did you say or do in response? How
did your parent respond to you? When did these incidents occur? Why do
you believe they were negative experiences? How did it make you feel at the
time? How do you feel about that situation now as you think about it? How do
you think your parent/coach felt about these experiences? Why? How do you
think those experiences impacted your relationship with your parent/coach at
the time? What did it mean for the way you thought about your athletic
ability then? As you think back on it, how did these experiences affect your
perceptions of your athletic ability now?

. When you were a child, how did having your parent as your coach impact

your behaviors and experiences toward each other outside of sport?

In what ways did your parent provide feedback to you about your sporting
ability? How did you interpret this feedback? Why do you think your parent
provided feedback in such a manner? Were there times outside of practice or
games that your parent provided feedback to you? Can you describe those
incidents to me? Were there times when this feedback impacted your
thoughts and behaviors more than others? If so, when? How did the feedback
provided by your parent compare to the feedback given to others on the team?
Explain.

How would you describe your level of enjoyment in sport at the time? What
do you believe your parent-coach’s level of enjoyment was at the time? How
would you sum up your experiences with having your parent as your coach?

As an adult, how have your experiences being coached by your parent
impacted your behavior toward your parent today? Think of 'a recent time(s)
when you believe that having your parent as your coach impacted your
interaction with each other. Explain it to me? What did each of you say and
do and what was the response to the other?

How did your experiences affect your continued participation in sport? As an
adult, how do you know if you perform well in sport?

If you were to coach your own child, what would you take from your previous
experiences with your parent/coach into your coaching role?

Having become a parent (if a parent), has this caused you to look at your
parent-coach’s behavior differently? If so, in what ways?

Those are all the questions I have. I would like to thank you again for participating in the
interview.
about playing for your mom/dad that you would like to share with me to help us
understand how your previous experiences in sport and/or physical activity have affected
you? As a reminder, if needed, I may contact you to help clarify your responses to '

Your comments will be very useful. Do you have any thoughts or feelings

183

questions. Do you have any questions about this procedure or anything we have
discussed?

184

APPENDD( D

Parent-Coach Interview Guide

185

Parent/Coach Interview Protocol

Thank you very much for taking time to talk with me today. Before we get started, I
would like to tell you about what I am doing and why I wanted to talk with you. I am
interested in ﬁnding out more about your experiences in coaching your own child in

sport.

This interview will last approximately one hour. The interview will be audio taped and
transcribed. You can ask to have the audiotape turned off at any point during the
interview. Only researchers from Michigan State University will have access to
individual interviews. You will be given a code name in the transcripts and nothing you
say will be attributed directly to you. Do you have any questions?

I would like to begin by asking you a few questions about your experiences in sport
and your experiences with coaching your child.

What were your personal experiences in sport? What was good? What was bad?
Were you ever coached by one of your parents? Tell me about those experiences.
Had you coached before coaching your own child? Tell me about those
experiences.

Why did you begin coaching your child?

Why did you stop coaching your child?

What coaching experiences did you have after coaching your child?

Were you successful as a coach? If not, why? If yes, why?

How do you deﬁne success?

How did you distinguish between your role as a parent and coach?

Pig!"

PWHP‘S"?

Thank you for your patience. Now I would like to ask you some questions about
your specific experiences with coaching your child.

1. On a scale of 1-100 how much did sport mean to you?
2. On a scale of 1-100 how much did sport mean to (child’s name)?

3. Think of those situations when you had what you would consider to be positive
experiences in sport coaching your child. Describe those incidents to me. What
happened? When did these incidents occur? What did you say or do during these
situations? What did your child say or do? How did you respond to your child?
Why do you believe they were positive experiences? How did it make you feel at
the time? How do you think your child felt about these experiences? Why? How
do you think those experiences impacted your relationship with your child in sport
and away from sport?

186

4. Now think of those situations that you would consider to be negative
experiences with coaching your child? What happened? When did these
incidents occur? What did you say or do during these incidents? What did
your child say or do? How did you respond to your child? Why do you
believe they were negative experiences? How did it make you feel at the
time? How do you think your child felt about these experiences? Why? How
do you think those experiences impacted your relationship with your child in
sport and away from sport?

5. How did you provide feedback to your child about his/her sporting ability?
Why did you provide feedback in this manner? How do you think your child
interpreted this feedback? Did you feel it was effective? What were his/her
reactions to this feedback? How did the feedback you provided to your child
compare to feedback given to other children on the team? Were there
situations other than practice or games that you provided feedback to your
child about his her athletic performance or ability? Can you describe those
situations and your child’s response?

6. What do you believe your child’s level of enjoyment in sport was at the time?
What was your level of enjoyment in coaching at the time? How would you
sum up your experiences with coaching your child?

7. How did your experiences impact your behavior toward your child today?
Think of a recent time(s) when you believe that having your parent as your
coach impacted your interaction with each other. Explain it to me? What did
each of you say and do and what was the response to the other?

8. How do you think your shared experiences impacted your child’s involvement
in sport today?

9. If someone asked for your advice about coaching his/her own child, what
would you tell that person?

Those are all the questions I have. I would like to thank you again for participating
in the interview. Your comments will be very useful. Do you have any thoughts or
feelings about coaching your child that you would like to share with me to help us
understand how your previous experiences in coaching have impacted you?

As a reminder, if needed, I may contact you to help clarify your responses to

questions. Do you have any questions about this procedure or anything we have
discussed?

187

APPENDD( E

Child-Athlete Informed Consent Form

188

The dual role of parent as coach and its impact on the parent and child dyadic
relationship
Informed Consent Form
Athlete
You are being asked to participate in a study being conducted by Peggy McCann, a doctoral
student, under the supervision of Dr. Martha Ewing from Michigan State University. The
purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the parent-coach and his/her child.
The roles of parents and coaches in the development of young athletes have been researched, but
not the dual role of parent-coach.

As a part of this study, you will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire (approximately 5
minutes) and possibly partake in an interview. The interview should take approximately 1 hour.
The questions will be speciﬁc to your experiences being coached by your parent. The interview
will be audio taped and transcribed. If you so wish, you can refuse to have the interview
audio taped or to have the audiotape turned off at any point during the interview. Audio
tapes will be erased at the completion of the study. In addition, you may be contacted after
the interview to clarify your responses to questions.

Your responses to the questionnaire and interview will remain conﬁdential; no one except the
primary investigators will have access to these responses. Results will be based on the answers
given by all participants as a group insuring confidentiality of individual responses. Group-based
findings will be made available to those who are interested. Your privacy will be protected to the
maximum extent allowable by law.

Your participation in this study would be greatly appreciated. However, please know that you
may withdraw from participation at any time without penalty. Furthermore, you may refuse to
answer specific questions on the questionnaire and/or interview that you feel uncomfortable
answering and can still be a part of the study. if you have any questions concerning your
participation in this study, please contact the principal investigator Dr. Martha Ewing at (517)
353-4652 or Peggy McCann at (5 l7) 353-9 l 96 or mccannpe@msu.edu. If you have any
questions or concerns regarding your rights as a study participant, or are dissatisfied at any time
with any aspect of this study, you may contact-anonymously, if you wish-Peter Vasilenko, Ph.D.,
Chair of the University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRlHS) by phone:
(517) 355-2180, fax: (517) 432-4503, e-mail: ucrihs@msu.edu. or regular mail: 202 Olds Hall,
East Lansing, MI 48824.

Thank you for your time and cooperation, UCR'HS APPROVAL FOR

3 a 2 ~ THIS project EXPIRES: $33 of 9
Dr. Martha Ewing, Pri ' allnvestigator MAY 1 8 2005 Date
SUB lT R

eggy nn. Graduate Student ABOVE DATE To CONTINUE ale
Your signature below indicates your voluntary agreement to participate in this study.

 

 

Participant Signature Date

189

APPENDIX F

Parent-Coach Informed Consent Form

190

The dual role of parent as coach and its impact on the parent and child dyadic relationship
Informed Consent Form
Parent/Coach

You are being asked to participate in a study being conducted by Peggy McCann, a doctoral
student, under the supervision of Dr. Martha Ewing from Michigan State University. The
purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the parent-coach and his/her child.
The roles of parents and coaches in the development of young athletes have been researched, but
not the dual role of parent-coach.

As a part of this study, you will be asked to participate in an interview and complete a brief
questionnaire (approximately 5 minutes). The interview should take approximately 1 hour. The
questions will be speciﬁc to your experiences as a parent-coach. The interview will be audio
taped and transcribed. If you wish you can refuse to have the interview audio taped or
can ask to have the audiotape turned off at any point during the interview. Audio tapes
will be erased at the completion of the study. in addition, you may be contacted after the
interview to clarify your responses to questions.

Your responses to interview will remain conﬁdential; no one except the primary investigators will
have access to these responses. Results will be based on the answers given by all participants as a
group insuring conﬁdentiality of individual responses. Group-based ﬁndings will be made
available to those who are interested. Your privacy will be protected to the maximum extent
allowable by law.

Your participation in this study would be greatly appreciated. However, please know that you
may withdraw from participation at any time without penalty. Furthermore, you may refuse to
answer speciﬁc questions on the questionnaire and/or interview that you feel uncomfortable
answering and can still be a part of the study. If you have any questions concerning your
participation in this study, please contact the principal investigator Dr. Martha Ewing at (5 l 7)
353-4652 or Peggy McCann at (5 I 7) 353-9196 or mccannpe@msu.edu. If you have any
questions or concerns regarding your rights as a study participant, or are dissatisﬁed at any time
with any aspect of this study, you may contact-anonymously, if you wish-Peter Vasilenko, Ph.D.,
Chair of the University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRlHS) by phone:
(5 l 7) 355-2180, fax: (517) 432-4503, e-mail: ucrihs@msu.edu, or regular mail: 202 Olds Hall,
East'Lansing, Ml 48824.

Thank you for your time and cooperation, UCR|HS APPROVAL FOR

 

{7 ‘ THIS protect EXPIRES:
air-cm #25 3 7
Dr. Mart Ewing, Princiﬂal Investigator MAY 1 8 2005 Date

 
      

swag; RENEWAL APPUCATION M
E MONTH PRIOR TO Date
ABOVE DATE TO CONTINUE

Your signature below indicates your voluntary agreement to participate in this study.

Peggy ann, Graduate Student

 

Participant Signature Date

191

APPENDIX G

Themes and Quotes of All Participants

192

Child-Athlete Themes and Responses

Codes following each individual response indicate ﬁrst, the identiﬁcation number assigned to the
participant, and second and third, the line(s) and page number“) in the individual transcript where the

quote can be located.

General Dimension: Dual Role Inﬂuence

O 3” order: POSITIVFJSTRENGTHEN RELATIONSHIP

0 2"d order: Sport Experience Created Closer Bonds

0 Time together

0

1.

It was like our time just to get away from the house. You know just to not think
about anything just to play the game and to enjoy ourselves. (091, ln 16-41, p.8)

...it made us stronger, being able to talk to one another a little bit more and
having that kind of fun and car rides and stuff together just talking about other
things. I think it probably made us stronger overall. It gave us time to talk even
it we were just talking about sports, it gave us a lot of time to you know talk to
one another where you know if he hadn’t of been my coach I probably wouldn’t
of shared as much with him about sports as I had, as I did during that time. . .it
gave us a lot of time to like talk about things, which 'I think built our relationship
up ‘cause not often did I just sit down and talk to him about things goin’ on in
my life so it gave us a lot of time to talk about sports, and the game and other
things going on. (021, In 33-8, p. 7-8, In 44-2, p. 10-1 1)

...ﬁrst when it all started it was great and it made my relationship with my dad
great ...... we actually spent time together and we chatted about things...
probably the most involved my father has ever been in my life was that period of
time when I was very competitive in sport and he was involved with that...

(011, In 44-16, p.11-12, In 33-8, p. 7-8)

I think it made us grow very very close together because we were traveling so
much... (031,1n 28-30, p.6)

...he had just always made the time to be there and to be a coach and to a take
that time and when there are lots of parents who didn’t come to every game or
didn’t take the time to coach ...... this was deﬁnitely a way that could kinda
bridge this and you know really get us involved. He did any kind of sport I
wanted to. He didn’t know anything about ﬂoor hockey, but he coached it just
because I wanted to do it and they needed a coach and so just to do that. He
would encourage me in whatever ifI wanted. I liked playing football. He
encouraged me and played catch and things like that so I think it deﬁnitely
added a lot to our relationship. . .. (041, In 36-46, p.11, ln 26—31, p. ll,ln 5-16,
p.6,1n 44-8, p. 4-5)

I think it probably bettered it and again just the fact that he could relate more
and be a part of my life rather than just you know the father ﬁgure in the house,
at home because he could be away from that. Our time spent was away from the
home type thing where he and I away from my brothers and my mom so we
spend that together. So we gained something as far as the relationship between
the two of us. (1001, 1n 32-36, p.7)

Sharing sport experiences

193

I think it helped us more than anything... You know I think my dad thought that
we’d go out and play hard for him so it was positive just all around. I think of it as
something that we always can have to talk about. You know especially when I have
kids you know [telling] them kinda what he did you know. It’s just something that
we’ll always have in common where a lot of kids don’t have that with their dad.
(081, In 24-33, p.5, 1n 37-43, p. 5)

I think again that’s kinda a positive impact on my relationship in fact deﬁnitely
bumped it up to a new gear. It allowed us to share something and so that could carry
through. And obviously outside of sport we still had things to talk about things in
common. Just developing something that he and I could share together which then
continue to more better relationship in-depth relationship. . . .we share a lot of sports
things now we go to [college] football games together and so it’s something we can
continue to share now. I just think it’s something that we can share and it was
something that we had in common and still talk about sports now and share what I’m
doing with him. Now it's just a way to keep us still connected particularly as I get
older and move away towards this and my mom and I go back to doing more things
together. It’s a way that we can still be connected. It’s a way that he remembers
being a part of my life. Something we still can talk about we now. . .he always jokes
when I have kids he’s going to teach them how to play sports too. That he’s going to
teach them, especially with my husband being foreign... I think to me that’s
indicated of how much he valued that time with us and saw our relationship grow so
I think that in a way impacts our interaction now. He has to deal with me getting
married and the next ﬁve years having children. . .Him and I are changing, but him
and I can still have this connection of working with someone younger with sports.
(041, In 36-46, p.11, ln 26-31, p. ll,ln 5-16, p.6,ln 35-39, p.8))

I think it probably made us closer than had he not... Maybe it helped a little bit and
because he could share those moments with me rather. My team he could maybe
relate to us as you know twelve year olds, thirteen, fourteen, which isn’t easy. He
could relate more to a thirteen, fourteen year olds. (1001, In 29-34, p.5)

If we’re sitting there watching a basketball game or something, we’ll start analyzing
it or if we go to one of my high school’s basketball games. Watch my old coach play,
my old teammates play. . .analyze what they could’ve done and just sit there talking
about the game. And then my, like the college basketball tournaments or something
were on TV we could sit down and watch those together and do a lot more stuff
together. (061, In 45-5, p. 4-5, In 41-45, p. 8)

, we had a kid that we played with and he got drafted by the White Sox and so
we, we kinda sat there and you know reminisced about well we always knew he had
good stuff you know I could tell when I ﬁrst got him to start pitching then, he was
going to be a good pitcher, but never this far and you know and when we watch
baseball together we’re kinda like we’re both the coach now you know, we
understand the game. (081,1n 9-17, p. 12, In 23-35, p. 12)

Some of the passion that both of us might have, but never display until we talk about
a sporting incident or something. ...So I mean a lot of our commonality flows around
positive sports experiences. (051, In 26-8, p. ll-12, In 13-20, p. 11)

just maybe like going to a game. Like a [minor league baseball] game or .
something like that. Maybe him pointing out similar things saying you know you
used to do that or see what he’s doing wrong and you know just like little things like
that. (091, In 9-12, p. 12)

194

I guess the conversations sometimes we have when I’ll go, I’ll be at the gym and I’ll
see a kid I used to play hockey with whose now playing for a college or NHL even.
And I’ll run into them and talk to him for a while and I’ll come home and the ﬁrst
person I’ll call is my dad. So yeah you know we’ll talk about where certain people
are. So in that way we can share that. but we don’t really reminisce about the days he
used to coach as much, but it’s more about you know who and who you ran into,
about whose dad he ran into blah, blah, blah. (1001, In 5-12, p. 10, In 4043, p. 9)

...we have that little experience that we did together and we have we still have sport
as a common thing and so when my dad and I wanna spend time together that’s what
we do. We go to a Reds game or we go to a Bengals game or we watch you know
TU basketball like it’s usually some kind of activity revolving around sport and so in
some ways it’s that early experience and that kinda early bonding we did with sport
kind of is the link that you know we still have. . .. I think well even to this day well
my father is probably less interested kind of on a personal level, ifI want to have a
good chat with my dad we talk about sports. That’s still kind of that common ground
for us. (011, In 44-16, p.11-12, In 43-20, p. 25-26)

Learned about each other

1.

I think it only made us, our relationship stronger. It could’ve only, have helped us.
You know only have led to better things. . .that maybe he could trust me or believe
me and you know because he learned throughout these years how much of a
competitor I am... I think it allowed us to talk to each other better. It allowed us _to
communicate to each other you know ‘cause we went through all that. I think later
on it was a lot more difﬁcult to come to me to give me advice on, on stuff on the
baseball ﬁeld, but like in general I think it only helped us out... (091, In 3-4, p.6. ln
31-37, P.7, In 23-36, p. 12)

I think it’s positive just to have that experience together that you grow together and
you know a little more about each other and trust each other and it’s really a different
than your daily living at home. (1101, In 42-44, p. 3)

You know maybe if anything it’s maybe improved the way our relationship... the
way I act towards him because again I appreciate it more now and see the time
dedication and different things and so yeah in that way I would say either improved
our relationship or increases my respect for him as a father I guess. . ..(1001, In 5-12,

p. 10)

Closer bonds developed within whole family

I.

I think that even with my mom. It helped my relationship with my mom. Because
we always had something in common. We can watch a game together and be like
that’s what you should do or your dad tries to do this and you know kinda gives you
an understanding of what your dad’s trying to do for you and what you try to do for
your dad. (081, In 37—43, p. 5)

I think almost even though they were negative, I think it almost made our whole
family stronger because it got me to talk to my mom about things and my brother
about things and in return that brought our whole family closer because then my dad
and my brother reciprocated the same thing during a different sport and my mom and
I were on the other side, so I think it brought all of us together in a different way at a
different time. (021, In 16-2l, p.10)

Created differential relationship from other family members

195

Like my sisters don’t talk to him about sport. Like they could care less about sport. I
don’t know what they talk to him about, but it’s not sport and so for me with him you
know when he’s in one of those moods where he’s not very chatty, but I wanna talk
like that’s always a good way for me to kinda reel him back in and remind him that
we have this little common thing. (011, In 14-37, p. 25)

o Parent-coach became aware of child’s needs

1.

If anything we were just really close and we got to know each other so well. Like
today we joke around that we’re practically telepathic because we know it’s like
ESP. We know what the other one’s thinking almost all times. We’re so connected
inter-personally. I guess we’re somewhat dependent on each another because we had
to learn to rely on each other with not just running stuff but dealing with all the
travel issues and everything. But you know overall it positively affected my
behaviors and experiences later on when I went through some major difﬁculties and I
think both of us again collaborated to think of different life skills to use to get
through that just like I would for the running stuff.(03l, In 15-17, p.13 ,ln 8-10, p.

13, In 18-26, p.9)

He was involved in more that he was attuned to me and what I wanted to do or
wanted to play. So I think it was all positive, . . . like he was never like that, you
know, it was never wait or we’ll do it tomorrow, it was you want it now? We’ll do it
now. So it was a very positive experience. (051,ln 18-27, p.8)

0 2"d order: Created Positive Coping in the Relationship

0 Taught responsibility

I. I probably behaved better than I would have just ‘cause he was like my coach
and I tried to impress him and act not as childish. (07I,In 15-16, p.7)

2. I liked helping out my dad ‘cause I knew it was kinda hard for him, but I knew
he wanted to do coaching. That he wanted to coach us. So, I felt like it was
almost our duty as his sons to do that kind of stuff for him. (081,1n 27-44, p. 9)

0 Made relationship more resilient

l.

...he kind of got upset with me for a little bit. I was probably not concentrating as
much as I should and I went in the hall and was crying and just upset and did not
want to play anymore and was angry, angry at him. I thought that he was against me,
putting too much pressure on me. . .That they needed to happen and that it helped
them over time. You know we needed to have a few bumpy rides but it just made us
stronger. (071, In 45-46, p. 6)

o Emotional management

I.

I think it was just the fact that the game got heated and more or less he felt like he
needed to raise me a little bit better I think and how to control my temper. Other
than that I don’t think it had too much of an impact... We just kinda had a face to
face conversation and he said you know you can’t be doing these things. You see
what happens to other people and I don’t want to see, I want you to play. You know
you’re a big part of the team and if you get kicked out you’re going to hurt our
chances of winning and kinda put things in perspective as to why I can’t be doing
those kind of things. (081, In 27-32, p.8)

196

. 3" order: NEGATIVE/STRAIN
o Over-involved/overemphasis on sport

1. ...the further along it went and the more competitive it got I think it had a very
negative impact on my relationship with my father because I did feel so negative
and angry about the whole experience, like I just felt like he was too involved
and there was no separation of like well the basketball player and

the daughter and I wanted that separation and like to him I think it was
just kind of all like that’s what he was interested in. (011, In 44-16, p.11-12)

 

2. he was thinking about it and talking about it so frequently that it, he would
bring it home from practice and we’d have discussions at home and you know I
think I got a little bit tired of that. (1101, In 32-37, p.6)

0 Overcritical

I. Probably him critiquing me in other areas in sports. Probably like thinking he’s
coaching me in academics. . ..Not good sometimes like daddy trying to critique
me too much. . (071, In 24-38, p.9)

3. .. .speciﬁcally I can think of the car ride home type thing when that’s when we
would reﬂect and when I got into my later years maybe the last year he coached,
the more speciﬁcally into the later years of the elite more hockey, which he
would give me pointers why didn’t you do this and if I took it negative I would
take it defensive you know and I would start battling. . .(1001, In 9-12, p.7)

0 Coaching decisions/actions strained relationship

1. ...it weakened it when during the hard times when we did lose or when I was upset
about playing time... like a bad indication would be you know there was times when
I would come home crying because I didn’t think that I got to play enough. . .(021, In
33-8, p. 7-8)

2. Oh there was the time she kicked me out of practice, but I don’t really remember that
other than I was told to leave the gym that I had a bad attitude and that I needed to
adjust it. . .It strained it a little bit... (061, In 34-35, p.6)

3. ...especially the whole like screaming in front of the crowd and things like that. Like
it made me angry at him, but I don’t think I was at a stage where I could kind of
verbalize that anger to him and so it really strained our relationship a lot, in my
mind. Again I don’t know that he would be cognizant enough to have felt that. I
don’t know that he would perceive it in that way, but that’s how I felt. (011, In 4-26,

p.16)
. 3rd order: NO IMPACT
0 Dual role not a concern
I. ...for me it wasn’t like oh he’s my coach and oh this is great or this is bad, it was just
he’s involved, which I thought was good... I guess I didn’t look at him as oh it’s my

dad as a coach, it’s my dad, it’s my coach, where it seemed separate to me. (051, In
22-27, p.2, In ll-l7, p.6)

197

2.

I guess, to tell you the truth he was so involved it really didn’t make a difference to
my either way. And there was certain times... when maybe I wish he wasn’t, and
there were certain times when I was glad he was, but overall it didn’t make a
difference to me because he was so involved with that you know my hockey anyhow.
(1001, In 37-42, p. 2)

o No lasting effects of negative events

I.

I don’t know if that was just adolescent rebelling thing or what but yeah we had a
few disagreements, but it was never anything more than you know short arguments
and than that was the end of it... I think they were so insigniﬁcant they didn’t really
anything Imean we both always been close. (031, In 32-33, p.8)

...those seem to be moments in our family you had to deal with them, the moment
and than they go away. You don’t necessarily have lasting negative impact well
nothing had any negative experiences don’t have any lasting negative effects. . .(041,
In ll-l4, p. 8)

At the time I think it was probably just a one day thing you know kinda ‘God you
know I can’t believe he did that’ or it was a one day thing. I don’t think it had any
lingering effects whatsoever and know it’s more of a humorous thing reﬂecting back
on it. (051, In 1-4, p.8)

General Dimension: Positive Outcomes for Child-Athlete

o 2"d order: PERKS

0 Playing time

0

l.

...in the beginning I was pretty excited because I thought that since he was the coach
I would have more of an opportunity to play more and practice more and stuff like
that . I was excited about it in the beginning. I was happy to have him around you
know be able to like have fun and go through practices with him there. (021, In 43-
40, p.2-3)

The biggest difference was the playing time. I mean, but in that kind of league you
had to play everybody so many innings per game. So, he even sat me a couple of
times, but usually he would keep me out there a little bit longer than the other
players. And I don’t know if that had to do with actually being good at the sport or
him being my dad ‘cause he kept my brother in there just as long. It may have
something to do with me being his son that I would play longer. . .. I enjoyed the
playing time. I liked getting in there more often. (081, In 6-33, In 3)

I was the coach’s kid and I was playing. I mean that’s why you coach as a parent.
That’s one reason people coach, so that their kids get playing time, so in some ways
it was to my beneﬁt because I did get to play every game, all game, and you know I
learned a tremendous amount from that. (011, In l-3l, p.6)

Reliable Transportation

198

I. I always had a ride and I didn't have to worry about that stuff and but as like a father
aspect I. I enjoyed it. . .I enjoyed it more, I was never late to practice.. .(091, In l7-29,

P2)

0 Assistant coach duties/extra responsibilities

1. I was kind of like a helper on the team too. I helped set up practices and do a lot
of other things and I’d call a lot of the players when we’d get rained out. So I
think it gave me some kind of responsibility to move on with and it was
probably the best time I could be getting that, going through maturity and all
that, so I think of it as very helpful. (081, In 2-7, p.6)

2. He wanted to make sure everyone was dressed, everyone was clothed, he wasn’t
interrupting anything. And so he’d always send me in with the team and then I
was supposed to come back out when everyone had ﬁnished going to the
bathroom and doing what they needed to do so he could come and give his half-
time pep talk. In some ways it was quite to my advantage to be the coach’s
daughter. . .(01 l, l-l6, p.29)

3. Sometimes I liked it ‘cause like I said I liked to be a leader. I liked to be in
control. (021, In 25-2, p. 4-5)

0 Advocacy

l. I do remember one incident from ﬂoor hockey and I don’t think that it was
necessarily about me particularly. We have two elementary schools in my town. It’s
real small, but so they had ﬂoor hockey and we just played each other so my dad
coached one and there was some younger guy who coached the other and I was only
like one of two girls who played. And the other team had no girls, the other coach
when lining up, he started putting the bigger boys on that side and so my dad told
him that that’s not what this is about, it’s about fun and that he needs to stop doing
it. I don’t know if he treated me differently then or if he would have done it for
anyone, but because I was one of few girls (041,1n 16-24, p. 4)

2. One big thing is my third grade year, playing softball, the township decided it was
alright to let the boys playing baseball pitch to each other and the girls still had to
have the coaches pitch. And my softball team. . .most of us wanted to be able to
pitch, so my mom tried to change the rules. Ended up actually changing it and just
like showing that she would just stick up for us that we deserved equal
treatment. . .061,ln 2642, p. 3)

. 2“d order: LEARNING FROM PARENT
0 Improving sport skills
1. ...my dad’s helping me so I can go to nationals which is the whole objective you
know... it was just you know let’s work on this for the next race this is how you can
do better don’t worry about it... (031, In 39-40, p.3)
2. ...its always about developing and getting better and having fun and learning rather

than winning at such a young age 0 he was always smiling and it was just a lot of
fun... (041,ln 16-22, p.5, In 24-29, p.3)

I99

It was fun and I learned a lot. . .. I started to learn how to think like her. Like her
coaching style... We would go and play like the sport she was coaching me at a lot
more. Mainly ‘cause I just wanted to go play and then she’d come outside and play
with me. (061, In 41, pl, In lI-l4, p.7)

You know thinking back, I wouldn’t want to learn the game from anybody else
besides my father... I just remember learning things from him and I’m glad things
worked out the way they did. You know I wouldn’t want it any other way. (091, In
33-37, p.5, In l7-29, p.2)

I mean at some level there was an awareness even at that time that my father had
coached for years and knew a tremendous amount about basketball and could teach
me a lot and so at some level I guess I understood that he was helping me by
pointing out things that I could do better... I think again it was probably more the
one-on-one time. Like I can remember especially things like, I can remember going
to my dad and saying like you know I want to learn to shoot a hook shot or I want I
want to improve my left handed jump shot or you know this or that or like I’m
having trouble with my free-throws. And then him taking the time to go to the gym
with me or the playground and just spend two hours and just work on something
until it was perfect again. Those are the experiences that I think of as positive.

(01 l,ln l-IS, p.9, In 1-31, p.6)

...you know playing catch in the backyard or front yard and working with me and
they bought me my own bat that I had my own glove so he had his own glove and
had his own balls so we could work on new things together. (041, In 44-8, p. 4-5)

So I think part of the good learning experience for me was just watching, more
watching him than actual skill development that he might of taught me at that age
frame. I think his skill development probably came even younger before he was
coaching me when he might help out with a tee ball practice or he might play catch
with me. (051, In 17-31, p.5)

Inspired to work harder

I.

I think it also inspired me to you know work harder and be better ‘cause that’s what
he told me to do. (021, In 5-10, p. 7)

Life skills

I.

Also the way she helped me prioritize things or my stuff and school related stuff
came before sports and like even just prioritizing sports like games even if they were
a sport I wasn’t quite as good at or something, came for practices or type stuff.
(06l,ln 13-20, p.3)

It deﬁnitely came more like his demeanor of how to handle things I think. I
deﬁnitely reﬂect upon what my father did for me. I guess that’s one thing I look
at my son, he’s so young right now (laughing), but you know he loves to ride his
bike and stuff but I sit there and I deﬁnitely go you know I want, I want to be able to
come home from work and kick a soccer ball or throw a baseball with him when he
starts asking me to do that ‘cause I think it was just good quality time. (051, In 41-9,
p. 3-4)

I think it’s perseverance taught me, sometimes when the people that are maybe
coming down on you or trying to be hard on you they’re not really being hard on
you, they’re telling you the truth and giving you some drive to and encouragement to
keep going and put more into what you’re doing ‘cause they can see some real talent

200

or value in you, so reciprocating that into real life just you know sometimes when I
felt like I got a bad grade or something it made me think that maybe they’re not
being hard on me, I mean that maybe they know that there’s more to me or more to
the work I did and that I coulda done a better job and just to give a little more the
next time. (021, In 15-23, p.9)

...leamed from those and I feel that I did learn and was able to develop this
understanding of multiple roles and deal with it more effectively. (041,1n 42-46, p.7)

I think it helped me control my temper even out of sport. I think it had an impact in
the way I kinda treated people... Well like how I would treat them, treat them fairly
or you know kinda let them have their say or you know whatever. I felt like I was
representing my family in a way, so I guess I learned how to you know represent
myself a little bit better. How to have more responsibility and kinda not let the sport
kinda get to me and be upset about it and certain things. (081,ln 35-2, p.7-8)

. 2nd order: SHARING WITH PARENT

o Feelings of success

1.

I would say just the feeling of being, of winning and our school and our team being
known as the team to be on. It was always exciting just ‘cause my dad was always a
part of it with me. (02I,ln I 1-17, p.6)

I used to play on three on three tournaments for basketball and she would just keep
encouraging us even though, we, double elimination we’d usually play about two
every year, but most of my experiences with her were positive. Oh and then when I
was in probably eighth grade she coached us again through another rec teams,
through the Y we used to play and we were a bunch of white girls from the suburbs
playing all the inner city black girls and she just kept telling us just go out there and
have fun and low and behold we were kicking everybody’s butt. (061,ln 26-42, p. 3)

I know when we played like when he coached us we were very successful. We
competed like all over the Midwest and we were very successful. . .(Ol l,ln l-lS, p.9)

I think positive situations are when our teams that he coached succeeded. You know
either when we were winning games or winning championships. There were a lot of
championships won when we were player coach but I think those were the biggest
situations like that stand out that were good. So just like the overall winning. 1 don’t
remember particular situations but I think that like winning games and like overall
like having winning teams. (091,1n 25-30, p.4)

Well I guess positive would be just him being a part of winning. You know we won,
winning tournaments, him being a part of that where he gets to walk out on the ice
and get a trophy type thing. . .(1001, In 24-32, p.4)

0 Sharing Emotions

l.

I guess I have to say broad and basically that I enjoyed sharing you know he wasn’t
in the stands, but could be on the ice and he took part in you know the feeling when
we won because he had a part to do with that being that he coached us. So we could
share it more. The feeling of win, but also we could you know on the negative we
could share the feeling of lose a little bit more too. (1001, In 24-32, p.4)

201

The best time, we won championships every year we played that he coached. And
all I can remember him crying after each one. And I’d never seen my dad cry at
home. You know even if one of us got in a ﬁght. If me or one of my brothers with
him, he still wouldn’t cry, but id we’d win then he would cry. So, it was kinda
touching to see that and you know and realized that my dad cared about how well
our team did and you know we didn’t really talk much about how Dad could cry and
I can’t believe he cried. But other than that he showed little emotion as a parent and
pretty much as a coach. He would get angry you know there were bad calls and
whatever, but everybody else would too, so it was pretty much expected for him to
do that, but to see him cry was like you know interesting. When I was little we had
like two teams that would always win. The year before he was a parent he watched
us lose and they were playing We are the Champions on the ﬁeld, which my dad
took it personally. He made it a mission to go out there and beat those guys, which
we ended up doing. I think that had something to do with his emotions as well.
(081, In 33-5, p. 4-5)

I think positive experiences were just general excitement of hey we got a game
tomorrow do you think we can beat this team or you know hey lost to this team by
ﬁfteen last time, think we can beat em this time? The building of excitement to some
of the games and knowing that he was involved with potentially involved with the
outcome that he was coaching, that he was inﬂuencing who was playing or our
strategy. (051,1n 13-29, p.4)

...it was a lot different at home, you know with my dad. ‘Cause it was kind of like
fun time. You know he may have still been my father but it was our time to like
enjoy ourselves you know. . .(091, In 1641, p.8)

0 2nd order: MISCELLANEOUS POSITIVE OUTCOMES

O

O

O

Expectations of being a leader

I.

...it was a brand new program and I’d sort of gotten some help from other programs
and other coaches so I think I was one of the more experience players on the team
and so I don’t know if other coaches might have treated me differently as well. Ssort
of being more of a leader on the team and then because it’s your'dad I guess that he
has expectations as well. (1101, In 9-13, p.3)

Maybe he had higher expectations for me. I was the shortstop on the team, batting in
the clean -up spot. I mean there’s just like the certain thing around the coach’s kid.
You know he’s usually one of the best out there. He wanted to not only coach me,
but to have me on this team and I think that’s one way to get the other kids on the
team to learn stuff is to, if somebody already knows it on the team, to show the kids
that this kid’s doing it, then they could also learn from that too. Also he could use
me as a like an example. (091, In 21-34, p.3)

Sharing parent with teammates

l.

like team outings or pizza parties that my dad put together that maybe the other
team didn’t get. It always felt good when the girls were saying you know positive
things about their experience on that team and how nice my dad was, just feeling like
you know he was playing a part of everyone’s life and they were all having a good
time. (021,ln ll-I7, p.6)

No preferential treatment

202

There really wasn’t a team there were times when we had other people
traveling with us but we were still competing as individuals but no we
were all treated the same in my opinion I think. (03l,ln 16-18, p. 4)

I think that he, to kind of pat myself on the back, I was pretty good
(laughing) and so I think that to a certain extent made it easy for him. I
don’t think he, in terms of the baseball I don’t think he kinda had that
borderline of like well my son’s eighth, ninth, tenth bestplayer on the
team do I play em, do I play favorites or what? I was pretty good so that I
think that it made some of that easy, I was a logical choice to play that
high in the order of pitched games that type of stuff. In basketball I
wasn’t a great player you know I started in high school and I was
anywhere from probably the third to sixth, seventh best guy on our team, ‘
basketball wise. But the league we were in was a league that we joined as
a team just ‘cause we needed more playing experience, so I think that was
part of it so that kinda made it easy too. Also being a small town you
knew everybody. I knew everybody so it was yeah you could have the
parental pressure but everybody you know we might have a game where
we’d only have eight guys there, so everybody was gonna play it wasn’t,
it wasn’t like a youth sport where you’re trying not to cut people. It was
like 0k are we going to have six guys so we can have one guy foul out
this game, kinda thing sometimes, so I don’t think that pressure was
there. (051,1n 3-18, p.3)

We were treated the same and so when I would get a bratty attitude when

I got closer to being a teenager and stuff. At one point she did kick me out
of practice because I was being a brat and talking back to her and none of
the other kids could get away with it, so I couldn’t either. (061,1n 31-38,

p.2)

basically we didn’t want to have that as far as him treating me
differently and I think I would have reacted badly, so I would say no he
didn’t treat me any differently than any of the other players. (1001, In 21-
29. p.3)

0 Delayed understanding of parent-coach behavior

1.

Another aspect that even when he wasn’t coaching me I don’t think he
ever missed a game. He was able to work his work schedule so that he
made every game, didn’t matter whether I was in sixth grade, high school,
even college, in college I think he made every game I played except for
going to Florida type of deal. He really traveled and was just a positive
inﬂuence you know to have him there, to know that he cared that much
and was always willing to spend the time. (051, In I7-3I, p.5)

I think I appreciate it more and I see, what a time commitment and that
meaning he really I guess wanted to be in his kids lives so I appreciate

that and see that he was you know a good father and it might of took a

couple more years to see that. (1001, p. 15-17, p.5)

I’m kind of angry about it that I didn’t listen to him more or believe in
myself more. I mean I realized as a father he’s saying stuff you know to
motivate me and that’s all he was trying to do. I should have listened to
him more and be kinder to him I guess. (071, In 29-31, p.5)

203

General Dimension: Negative Outcomes for Child-Athlete

0 2"d order: INAPPROPRIATE EXPECTATIONS AS PERCEIVED BY CHILD

o Forced leadership

1. He expected me to be a leader you know if he had to walk out of the gym for a
minute “ , lead the girls in this or do that” you know. So I think it put a lot
more expectations on me. (021, In 25-2, p. 4-5)

0 Used as example

1.

Well when I was younger I didn’t like it so much. I felt that he was kinda singling
me out and I remember that kindergarten year crying a lot and not enjoying it so
much and feeling like it was a chore to go to practice and not having so much fun
‘cause I was not to the abilities of the other guys... He might of if anything put more
higher standards on myself, but I think he did a pretty good job actually of keeping
everyone equal... I mean so they’re all kinda gooﬁng around and stuff, so I had to be
the straight one there and keep all the other kids in order. Make sure they listened.
(071, In 31-43, p.3,ln 30-44, p.2)

I do remember there was a time where we were warming up for a game and there
were three of us and we were running like lay-up drills and we were giggling about
something... I remember my dad pulled me off the court and he’s just like ‘do not be
laughing out there.’ And I’m like “What!” He’s like if you’re laughing your not
focused on the game. . .Now nobody else on the team got reprimanded for laughing
before the game and so on the one hand it’s like ‘Geez thank god he didn’t say
anything to anybody else ‘cause they’re going to think he’s a whack job, but on the
other hand it’s like come on why are you like yelling at me for laughing before the
game, you know I’m just dissipating a little energy here . .. I was aware that there
was a difference and some days I was ‘Ahh come on dad.’ (01 I, In 41-18, p. 21-22)

0 Pressuring with very high expectations

I.

I remember being up at the YMCA and we were doing spin drills or left handed lay-
ups and I remember I just couldn’t get it done and partially because I just didn’t have
the ability and probably my focus wasn’t there, but he kind of got upset with me for
a little bit. I was probably not concentrating as much as I should and I went in the
hall and was crying and just upset and did not want to play anymore and was angry
at him. I thought that he was against me, putting too much pressure on me. I
remember that, I was in kindergarten so like six years old then, but it was probably
was like that until I was like eight, nine years old. (071, In 24-35, p.6)

...there was constant feeling of, you know even if I scored 30 points, I didn’t score
35. I missed those two shots and the free throw. You know so it was this constant
feeling of never being quite good enough or never being able to quite live up to the
expectation or the potential. so it was, it was really hard (01 I, In 1-1, p.6-7)

I think I was fourteen years old and I was pitching at the time and my shoulder was
injured, oh it was hurt, I knew it was hurt, but we were playing and I was pitching
and just couldn’t throw. My arm was hurting me and I had to pull myself out of the
game and my father being such a big competitor that he is, wanted me to stick it out
or do whatever and I just couldn’t do it and he was upset about that and I think
maybe he didn’t believe me. He thought maybe I didn‘t want to pitch or there was
something else involved, but it was really my arm, so I had to go to the doctor and I
had to do some rehab for it just to strengthen it up again. I had tendonitis but I think

204

my father knew something was wrong, but I didn’t think he thought it was like my
actual body. He was just so competitive that he wanted me to go out there and just
like stick it out. (091, In 36-2, p.6-7)

Much more hard on me... ifI was havin a bad game I would get pulled before other
people. Just that he expected more out of me. (021, In 25-2, p. 4-5)

I don’t know what happened, we probably lost I'm guessing, but I do remember him
kind of being very upset with me and putting a lot of the, at least what I perceived at
that time, blame on me for the performance as a team and I was pretty upset about
that. (1101, In 2026, p.5)

0 2nd order: TEAMMATES EXPRESSED DISPLEASURE TO COACH’S CHILD

o Concerns about playing time

I.

....at other times I just wanted to have fun and I didn’t want the girls to get mad at
me about things because some girls were like, you know they would get upset if they
weren’t getting playing time, but they wouldn’t get mad at my dad, they’d get mad at
me. So it kinda led into like social life and school life of people being upset with me
or people being my friends ‘cause they were getting more playing time, so there was
kinda like a good feeling for it and a bad feeling for it too. It was mostly just girls
who weren’t getting playing time, you know talking bad about me and my dad. Just
not being my friends and causing controversy between different groups of girls.
(021, In 25-2, p. 4-5)

Well I just remember that a lot of kids would come up to me and be always like your
dad has got to play me more. Kinda like I was the assistant coach and that they
wanted more playing time so that kinda bothered me because it’s like you know I
know he’s my dad, but you know I’m not going to go home and say you need to play
so and so more because he came up to me and he was crying and . . .That was the
only thing that really bothered me. (081, In 6—33, In 3)

o Concerns about playing Favorites

I.

. .. there was two teams, people saying that they wanted to be on our team and that
we were playing favorites and stuff like that. Just like friend issues... all the girls
were talking bad about him you know I’d get upset at him and tell him you know he
was ruining my life because the girls were mad at him and they took it out on me and
stuff like that. (021, In 33-8, p. 7-8)

. 2"d order: CONFLICT WITH PARENT—COACH

0 Understanding coaching decisions

I.

We could have disagreements every once in a while about the type of workout that
day because I would think ‘oh I need to be doing a hill workout today, ten repeats,
400 meter,’ what not and he made me think I need more speed stuff and that came
about kinda when I was a little older I want to say when I was 14 or 15 and up until
17 or something. I don’t know if that just adolescent rebelling thing or what but yeah
we had a few disagreements but it was never anything more than you know short
arguments and than that was the end of it. (031, In 15-7, p.7-8)

Strategy wise might have been the biggest negative and some of it might have been
baseball, you know ‘why you playing, I can’t even remember the girl’s name, why

205

you playing her you know, she stinks and why you starting her’ and he’d just be you
know I have to and that was about it. You know I might be upset with it ‘cause it was
going to be a big game and I thought he was making a bad move and his, he just that
was always his reply I have to and we’re going to live with it and that was about as
negative as it ever really got with him (laughing). (051, In ll-33, p.7)

I almost acted like the assistant coach you know, and that’s not how it worked. I
wasn’t able to pick who played with me and how often I got playing time and stuff
like that. Well, we had two teams, an A team and a B team and so tryouts and stuff
like that. It wasn’t really tryouts. but they split up the girls trying to make ‘em even
teams. And so since my dad was the coach I was trying to be like “Dad no this girl
should be on my team and that girl should be over here you know and that’s not how
it worked out. It was like you know “you’re not going to be with all your friends and '
you’re not going to have all the good players on your team.” You know like the
coaches split em up, but you know since he was my dad I thought I had more of a
privilege to pick em Well I think that it was like me trying to gain control and you
know like really I didn’t have any, but I felt like since my dad had it I could have it
too, type thing. (021, In 4340, p.2-3)

o Needing attention from parent-coach

1.

...negative times arrived a lot around attention when he would pay attention to the
other kids sometimes. That was always hard for me because I just wanted him to
focus on me. [It happened] less so with my dad than my mom, but it still became an
issue sometimes with my dad that I wanted him. This was like our time even though
he was coaching the whole group and so some of the issues around negative
experiences came with just wanting him to be there more for me and not for
everyone. (041, In 9-20, p.7)

0 Over-involved parent-coach

I. ...I was knew how he’d always been with me as far as being overly involved in
my sport. Kind of being overbearing about it. Giving me like more feedback
that I could ever want or need or use and it wasn’t always positive. . ..You know,
so it was never like, I could never step away from the sport experience because
my dad was with me (laughing). So, I wouldn’t say it was a great experience.
(011, In 21-41, p.4)

2. ...there were some type of arguments and type of thing in the car on the way
home about what I did or didn’t do that game and that was deﬁnitely the most
negative thing I can think of off the top of my head. (1001, In 21-33, p. 6)

3. I think sometimes it was difﬁcult because it was in a new arena. I wasn’t used
to sort of having that, having his presence kind of there all the time and things
like that. (1101, In 9-14, p.6)

0 Parent-coach was more critical of own child

I.

...my father was very, critical of my playing and I’m sure he thought he was. . .by
pointing out everything I had done wrong (laughing). I’m sure he thought he was
developing me. But sometimes that was hard as a kid to hear all the time you know,
rather than hearing the good things than the bad things. And he didn’t do that with
the other players. (01 I, In l-l, p.6-7)

206

2. . . .he was trying to encourage me and inspire me, but at the same time I felt like he
was coming down on me and being too critical, ‘cause he didn’t express his views to
the girls as much, like try harder or whatever. He pushed all those on to me. (021, In
41-2, p.8-9)

General Dimension: Perception of Feedback Type

0 2nd order: VERBAL

0 Instructional

l.

2.

I mean I guess again just mostly kinda directly telling me good job or you need
to work on this or he would take me to the gym and we would work on that
.. .(01 I, In 28, p. 18)

A lot of it was verbal. A lot of it was just trying to teach me. (051, In 33, p.8)

0 Encouraging/Positive Reinforcement

1.

...positive, verbal feedback a lot... Basically he always told me You know
you’re one of best athletes out here (021, In 22-28, p.6,ln 7-10, p. 11)

 

It was little things you know things he said after the race. . .(031, In 32-34, p.9)

Oh you know a pat good job way to go you know positive comments
encouragement.(041,l n 44-13, p. 8-9) '

...he just constantly reminded me you just got to keep at it if you want to
succeed. Obviously he saw something in me if he worked with me so much, but
I think he just helped me out maybe just like motivated me mentally just to get
my mind set that I was good and that there was like a future . .. I think my father
told me there’s thousands of athletes out there with the ability that I have but it’s
the people that are going to succeed are the ones that like work at it and practice
at it. I think little things like just like kept me motivated to keep on working to
be better. (091, In l4-20, p. 5, In 45-3, p.8-9)

when we got into high school a lot of times we would play the boys’ teams
that was that age and how just the practice against a better team and he would
say things like ‘oh you know you did a great job, you hung in there with those
guys. They were bigger and they’re more physical, but you know you held your
ground’ that kind of thing. So he was pretty good about verbalizing positive
feedback that made me feel like that I was doing well ...... he would actually
spend a lot of time you know giving me positive feedback about you know he
would just say little things ‘you’ve got the best jump shot of any girl I’ve seen
play in the state this year’ or just different things like that (01 I, In 44-18, p.9-10)

...he would just compliment me... the ride home after hockey was always when
he would tell me what I did good or bad and that was like our little time when
we would reﬂect and back then when he would compliment a certain area you
know skating or a goal I made and he always went out of his way to do that.
(1001, In 40-46, p.4)

207

7.

9.

He had told me you’re good and you can field the ball, you’re trust me
(laughing) you’re as good as the twelve year olds out there for the most part. So
he gave me a lot of positive reinforcement, a lot of reinsurance of my abilities,
particularly in baseball... he always was positive, always encouraging me to
challenge myself. (051, In 33-13, p. 4-5)

As I got older he always told me shake and bake and take it to the hole ‘cause he
felt that I could do that. (071, In 3-6, p. 5)

Just always telling me good game afterwards...(061. In 3-7, p.4)

0 Constructive criticism plus positive reinforcement

l.

...he would talk about things that I can improve on and things that I did well
they were he was always very positive. Pointing out things that I’ve have done
well... he might talk about what I might have done like what have you done?
What could you have done better? So trying to help me to learn to understand
what I had done to and how to make it better .(041,ln 44-13, p. 8-9)

She would give me constructive criticism. What I needed to improve on and
then she’d tell me that I was doing, what areas I was doing well in. Or just
outside playing like needed to improve my shot or something or she’d tell me
that my shot looked bad on that one that I needed to go back to using a good
form. (O6l,ln 18-2l,p. 7)

...when we were at home he’d talk about little things. Just staying on your feet,
like from the defense playing defense on the guy, don't jump to block the shot
all the time on the pump fake, stay on your feet and little things like that, keep
your head up you know when you’re dribbling. When we were at home. It was
never at practice, just singling me out. (071, ln 25-39, p. 7)

He could see ifI was swinging up on a ball. He would tell me you got to swing
more level or you gotta keep your feet planted, you gotta turn this way so. A lot
of the feedback would be if I got to third base he would let me know in between
or a timeout whatever was going on or when I got back to the bench or at home
so there wasn’t, it wasn’t real in-depth, but it was kinda next time up try to do
this. So that’s where most of it came from. (081, In 2-10, p.9)

I would say almost entirely verbal feedback, both positive and negative. I think
if I did something good he would compliment me on that or say that that was
good and likewise if I did something not right he would tell me how to improve
that or do it differently. (I 101, ln 4-11, p.7)

. 2“d order: VISUAL

0 Video with verbal feedback

1.

A lot of times even we would watch games together or watch tapes of games and he
would say you know oh see how that person is blocking out, you do it like that, that’s
good or you should do it like that, that would be better. So, kind of giving me
feedback within the context maybe of teaching me by watching other like video
tapes...(Ol 1, ln 28-20, p. 18-19)

He would have my brother tape a lot of games and he would talk about what we did
on tape and he would always, he’d probably give me more when I was younger,
more negative criticism than positive. . .(071, In 25-39, p. 7)

208

o Demonstration

l.

...baseball wise it was a lot of just getting out and throwing the ball and hey
how do we get the backhanded grounder and he would show me how to turn the
glove and which way to turn it and how to hold the ball, throw a curve ball, but
how to hold the ball being a lefty I could do different things even just holding it
just different, hold the ball differently. He would show me some of that type of
stuff. That was fun, like wow you know he’s right like ifI hold it with the
seams I can get it to tail and don’t even throw a curve ball or so it was, it was a
lot of demonstration and doing. (051, In 3345, p.8)

. 2ml order: ACTIONS OF PARENT-COACH

o Indirectly reinforced through actions

1.

...and then the other thing he would do that I think sent a clear signal to me,
again I told you he was really involved in the recruitment process in putting
together the flyers and the tapes and kinda the packets that got mailed to
colleges and so that sent a very clear signal to me that he felt I had a lot of
athletic ability that he was contacting coaches and coaches were contacting him,
rather than you know, yes at the time he was coaching me, but then later on
when my high school coach was me, they would contact my father because he
you know he had already established that he was the one (laughing) so I felt like
he sent me a signal that he felt really good about my ability. (011, In 28-20, p.
18-19)

0 Extra practice

1.

usually it was like a lot of mentoring. He did a lot of taking us into the gym
Saturdays or Sundays when the gyms were closed, then kind of work with us on
whatever we were struggling with and just give us that extra time you know
around the gymnasium that we needed. (021,1n 7-10, p. 11)

...practicing things that we need to work on you if it was ﬂy balls then we
would go out in the backyard he would throw me some fly balls. I would
practice catching them so that we would continue to kinda develop these skills
that might I need more work on. .(041,ln 44-13, p. 89

...he just kept on working with me, just that itself, just like we kept on
practicing and we tried to ﬁnd good leagues to be in just so that we could get
better . (091, ln 14-20, p. 5)

o Reinforced ability with coaching decisions

1.

And when he coached me just little things. Like I told you I played every game
all game. Well I figured at some level too my dad was competitive enough that
he wanted to win and he thought having me in there would increase his chances
of winning. 80 that sent a signal to me that you know ok you’re good, I want
you in there kinda thing... You know if it was more like even when he was '
coaching kind of building the team around me rather than putting together kind
of a cohesive group, which always obviously made me feel really good and
positive about kind of where I was with my skill development... (011, ln 44-18,
p.9-10, ln 28-20, p. 18-19)

209

2.

...he helped me, he kind of shifted around certain positions depending on what
was needed. (1101, In IO-lS, p. 4)

...putting me into different positions and showing me that I could play
everywhere and I don’t know it was mainly just the good game and allowing me
to kind of like compare myself to the other people on the team. (061, In 3-7, p.4)

...he would put me on their best offensive player so I could play defense on him.
(07 I In 3-6, p. 5)

o Motivating

l.

to get me all psyched up, leave me notes in my lunch box. Different things
like that ah it was little things along the way like that. (031, In 32-34, p.9)

0 Took to tryouts

1.

He would take me to all different types of tryouts. Take me to different skates
and I kind of knew I was somewhat good ( 1001, In 4046, p.4)

General Dimension: General Interpretation of Feedback

0 Pressuring/Comparing self to others

1.

I remember the emphasis being very much on as a team it was important to win
when he was coaching us, but the way we’re gonna win is to make a
good player, and so I was always in this role of comparing myself to others. He
always created this kind of environment with me where, ok you’re not doing it
as good as her or that person scored 45 points, you need to score that next time.
So for me there was a lot of social comparison... down to me as the only way
this team is going to be competitive and win is if you’re good. So then I felt
more of the pressure on me than on us as a team. (01 I, In 264, p. 19-20)

 

0 Positive and Instructional

l.

2.

Usually, positively. If it was positive feedback on my skills or what I needed to
do to change usually I took it to heart and worked on it and you know tried to
improve. (021, In 14-16, p. 11)

...like most of it was him trying to make me better. It wasn’t like you stupid
idiot you know you’re letting every ground ball through you. It was like ok
here’s how you’re going to ﬁeld a ground ball or here’s how you ﬁeld a ground
ball in the open ﬁeld and here’s why.... It was more of trying to show me the
game and the skill and making me realize this is why you do it this way and not
this way. Let me put the effort in, he never belittled the effort or anything, it
was constructive criticism. (051,ln 3-11, p.9)

0 Encouragement

1.

It just increased the whole positive cycle. I’ve accomplished this. Cool, I can get
this goal even though it seems far out of reach you know. I know you can get it.
(03l,ln 38-39, p. 9)

It was only good. When things weren’t working out and he got down on me I

think as I look back on it, it was only for the best. If I couldn’t do something he
just not yell at me but tell me just keep on doing it and keep on doing it. You’re

210

going to keep on failing until your start making changes and if he just kept on
harping at me and that changed than I got better. (091, In 7-37, p. 9)

o Reinforcing of one’s beliefs

1.

It was I don’t know kinda like a reiteration of what I was thinking to
myself...(081,ln 14-16, p.10)

0 High Expectations

1.

...he would just, if like probably on the ﬁeld if, I did something wrong he’d
make me do it over and over again. If I kept on missing ground balls, he’d hit
more. Just so I could get the repetitions. If I did something wrong maybe he
would yell at me because he had such high expectations for me. Like particular
things that he said... Maybe just he knew that my level of competition was so
high that he would just maybe tell me to stop being lazy or stop gooﬁng around
and get focused so maybe little things like that. (091, In 7-37, p. 9)

o Disregarded negative feedback

1.

...depending on what type of feedback. If it was positive I appreciated it. I
believed it every time. If it was negative I guess compared to a coach that’s not
my father I’m probably more likely to shrug off the negative less likely to
believe him I guess and say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I think
you respect your parents as coaches in a different way than you respect a
different coach and also since he was learning too and had less experience I
think sometimes I would kind of maybe listen to his feedback a little bit less.
(1101, In 15-21, p.7)

0 Well-intentioned feedback perceived negatively

1.

I’ve always been a little sensitive to negative feedback from constructive
criticism [with] things that I’ve done wrong. I’ve always been very... I don’t
like to make mistakes. that’s always been a thing but no matter who was giving
it, but especially parents, so I sometimes interpreted not always the best way
when I was younger and ‘ oh their picking on me.’ But as I got older realizing
that that’s part of life that he’s meant to help rather than to put anybody down.
(041, In 17-23, p. 9)

Sometimes I didn’t take the constructive criticism too well. I thought it was a
little bit of an attack, but that was just me overreacting to what she was saying
and being a little too sensitive. (061,ln 25-27, p. 7)

Well when I was younger I probably listened more than when I was older. When
I was older I felt that I knew what was best for me and I didn’t even listen to
him much. (071, In 5-11, p.8)

Originally when I was younger I probably took it and it was probably more
positive, but as I got older maybe he started being a little more critical ‘cause he
wanted to improve me more and sometimes I’d take it negatively and get
defensive, which didn’t come too well and then leads into arguments. (1001, In
14—16, p. 10)

General Dimension: Impact on Conﬁdence in Ability

2"d order: INSTILLED CONFIDENCE

211

Instilled conﬁdence

I. It gave me more conﬁdence I think to move on and keep playing and to help
others. . .(081, In 2-7, p.6)

0 Through positive reinforcement/verbal persuasion

l. I think I was always made to feel like I was a really good athlete and again]
think while there was a lot of criticism and critiquing that went into that, I
always did kind of have the sense that my dad was doing that because he saw the
potential and he knew that I could really be good. And so I would say I always
felt like I was a good player and that I had the potential to be really, really good,
and that interaction with him always left me feeling like yeah I’m the best
person, the best basketball player that this town has ever seen or ever will see
and now I just do what I need to do to kinda develop that. So the interaction did
make me feel like I had a lot of skill and a lot of potential. (011, In 22-33. p.12)

2. I think it brought it up. I think my dad encouraged me a lot and made me realize
that I was a good player... (021, In 13-16, p.8)

0 Through Goal achievement

I. Like you know I can achieve the goals I set and to set high goals because he
encouraged me to go after things that people said I could never do. (031, In 42-
42, p.6)

0 Through practice

I. I think I never really thought about ability. It wasn’t until I was in high school
when I could think I really don’t have a lot of natural athletic ability, but I am
willing to work harder than anybody else and he helped instill that a lot in me
that it’s just how much you work. You have to work hard so I think more than
ability he made me reﬂect on the value of hard work in sports. . .(041, In 33-2,
p.6-7,ln 22-28, p.6)

2. I didn’t have much conﬁdence about my abilities. But as he continued to
coach me my conﬁdence grew and probably gained more conﬁdence while he
was coaching me than I could of with someone else just ‘cause he probably did
give me that. He did give me that extra attention outside of the organized aspect
of the sport you know at home and stuff. So, it boosted my conﬁdence about my
abilities. (071, In 4045, p.5)

3. ...all the practice that I had put into playing sports had taken me places and that
I had really proved that I had the ability to be a good player and it inspired me to
keep going. (021, In 13-16, p.8)

4. ...showed me that if I actually put my mind to something that I could improve it
and then so that even if I’m not as good at one particular aspect of the sport, if I
actually practice then I might be able to do better at it. (061,ln 4-6, p.7)
0 Through coach’s belief/support
I. It made me more conﬁdent and when she suggested that I try out for the travel

team ‘cause she’s the one that told me about it and suggested that I do it, it kind
of shocked me a little bit, but because I guess I hadn’t thought of myself as that

212

 

good, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make the team or not, but she seemed pretty
conﬁdent that I’d be good enough to make it. (061, In 9-16, p. 5)

I had a lot of faith in my athletic ability. Not only of the things that my father
told me, but how he showed me. How he showed his support. How he offered to
work with me. How he thought he wanted me to get better. You know all those
things just made me feel real strong about my athletic ability... I think I only
grew stronger and grew better from those. Like not only the little situations then
but as an overall aspect, as in the whole situation in general. You know it
wouldn’t make me as strong a person as I am or as good an athlete. (091, In 25-
29, p.6. ln 17-20, p.6)

0 Through reduced pressure

I.

It was good... He was not high pressure because I was a good soccer player, I
played goalie in high school soccer and I was good. I ended up playing goalie in
college. I was a good pitcher in high school baseball and junior high baseball.
About the time he started coaching me was when I started becoming a better
pitcher and he was never high pressure but he was very reassuring that you’re
good... so in terms of the positive inﬂuence was just he was very low pressure,
didn’t force me to do anything and let me make my own decisions at that age...
And ability wise I mean, it makes me feel good about my ability... then making
a college soccer team as a walk-on and playing four years and becoming a senior
captain and the whole nine yards, 1 think, though he didn’t push me was
probably his positive reinforcement. It deﬁnitely helped me make that decision
you know to give it a try and it was a worthwhile decision. (05], In 41-4, p.6-7,
In 21-36, p.6)

0 2nd order: REINFORCED SELF-PERCEPTION

l.

I can’t say I had negative experiences. I think both my father and I are very
grounded. down to earth people and recognize where our talents lie and don’t
lie, so anything negative was not a great revelation (laughing), it was pretty
much known to me...(051, In 8-13, p.8)

Well it made me feel good about them [perceptions of ability] because ...I was
always an elite player on my team, one of the better ones, so in that way I
never got the ‘it’s just the coach’s son.’ I never did because I was always, not to
be vain, but I really was one of the better players on my team, one of the best, so
it did make a difference and I knew I was good and my dad let me know I was
good and other people, so I guess it made me feel good about my athletic ability
and knew where I was at and what I could possibly do. (1001, In 38-44, p.5)

I think that it was a positive inﬂuence in that it just, it did help me realize that]
did have talent and that I was a good athlete and that I was always built to be an
athlete. (021, In 21-28, p. 8)

e 2"d order: DELAYED UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO DEVELOP

0 Preparation

1.

Once I got to high school, it had made me stronger taking criticism from other
coaches ‘cause I had heard it from him before. And I think that it just made me
stronger when I heard it from them, that I didn’t get upset about it, but I realized that
there may be some truth if he had said it before and now they were saying it. And I

213

 

 

took it to heart and did or practiced what they said and it made me not so angry.
(021,1n 33-38, p. 10)

0 Experience

I.

I’m glad that happened you know ‘cause it put me through something that I’ve never
been through before. I was so young and- now maybe since I’ve been through that,
like if it happened now or a few years ago I you know, I would know what was going
on because I’ve been through it. (091, In 7-11, p.8)

Like I feel like in some ways I just know a lot more about playing basketball, um
intellectually I think... I think I understand the game better and so I think compared
to yeah other women who are 35, I’m still up there. (01], In 38-35, p. 12-13)

2ND order: LATENT REALIZATION OF ABILITY

1.

As an adult I can understand what he was doing, why he was doing it and again
when I look back now and think ‘yeah well I’m much better than I thought] was’
part of the reason I know that is because of the way my dad interacted with me. I
look back and think I was really good and he knew it and he saw it and that’s why he
did that and so yeah I mean other than the constant you know ‘Oh I could have done
this better, I could have done that better’. I look back and think yeah he did that
because he knew I was good and so that gives me the perception now that I was
really good... and I look back now and I look at how my skill level was compared to
the other girls I was competing against I was better than I thought or better than]
knew, so it’s weird. Like on one hand at the time I felt like yeah you know I’m good
and I’ve room for improvement and that’s why my dad’s riding me but now I look
back and I think I was really, really good, but I didn’t know that because my dad was
always riding me. I always kind of felt I was good and you know had potential and
my dad made me feel like that, I think I also probably lacked conﬁdence or felt like
oh it’s never going enough. I’m never scoring quite enough points, like there’s
always something he wants to work on... because there was always something more
to improve UpOn...( (011, In 38-35, p. 12-13, In 1-12, p.17)

Just that I improved and it was something I had to go through and back then I
realized that I wasn’t that good. I just really didn’t have the ability. Like I had to get
better, but I realized back then that I wasn’t that good. (071, In 8-10, p.7)

I don’t try and compare myself to the people that aren’t as good as me and then like I
realized that there are always going to be people better than me. That’s something
she said a lot, ‘there’s always going to be people better than you’ but that also means
that I can be one of the people that’s better than someone else. (061, In 21-24, p. S)

I didn’t use it as much as I should have when I grew up. I kind of left my dad behind
more than I should’ve. and the things that he taught, when he stopped coaching
me I kind of like just started off fresh. I shouldn’t have, I should’ve carried on the
experiences that he had taught me. So I guess today as an athlete I don’t know how I
could say it, use what he taught me, when he was coaching me. (071, In 9-17, p.6)

0 Self-Serving Bias

1.

I think I could’ve been a better baseball player because I was, I was so good at that
age that my dad was reluctant to teach me more than I you know teach me more and
I probably could’ve been a better hitter because when I got to be older I kind of lost a
lot of my what, standing. I wasn’t as good as everybody else. I think that had an
impact from my dad not coaching me as much as he would coach everybody else... I
think that impacted on how I went on to play in the future... so I think it was kinda

214

anw_

 

detrimental not to be taught as much as the other players. I think it affected me.
(081, In 22-31, p.6)

- 2"d order: NO IMPACT ON CONFIDENCE IN ABILITY
o No impact

1. I don’t see them having a big effect on my athletic ability more just my general
growth and perception of roles. I don’t remember it having a lot of impact on my
athletic ability, the way I thought about my athletic ability... I don’t recall a lot of
things that negatively impacted my athletic ability than not any incidents of yelling
or heavy amounts of criticism that might constitute negative instances. (041, In 19-
24, p.9,ln 29-30, p. 8)

2. I don’t think about them relating to my athletic ability now or even looking back,
so no it really had no impact on what I thought about my athletic ability was kinda
more the ‘I know more than you’ type attitude rather than him saying you didn’t do
this and me feeling bad about it. So it basically did nothing to what I thought my
athletic ability. (1001, In 26-27, p.7)

 

3. You know I wouldn’t sayanything about my athletic ability ‘cause I knew I could
play. I knew you know it was just pitching. You know there’s a lot of other things to
do on the baseball ﬁeld, but I you know I think, I don’t think it affected my athletic
ability in my head. (091, In 41-2, p.7-8)

0 Created emotional response

I. I think it made me more of an emotional player and a fan I get real emotional when I
watch games or even when I play recreational sports I get emotional, so I think that
kinda carried over throughout my life. More or less it had an impact that way. (081,
In 1922, p.9)

_—

2. I don’t think that I ever let it really get to me thinking that] wasn’t a good athlete. I
think I just usually, I was just more upset at my dad about the comments than letting
it play into my perception of my own talent. (021, In 26—28, p.10)

3. I don’t think it had any impact on how well I could hit a baseball or ﬁeld. I mean]

would go back catching if I was called out on strikes or something like that. I mean

I’d be upset, I’d be throwing the ball back a little bit harder, but other than that]

don’t think it had much impact on my athletic ability. (081, In 4-14, p.9)

General Dimension: Motivational Orientation
. 2“d order: EXTERNALLY REFERENCED
0 Feedback from others

1. ...actually it’s more when other people tell me that I play well. Kind of like they
have to take the role of my mom and tell me that wow you played well. I still
think I play well, but it feels more real when someone else tells me too. (061, In

10-17, p.9)

2. Praise from friends...(081, In 13-16, p. 13)

215

 

O

3.

...other things you know, coach’s feedback. . .(l 101, In 32-36, p.9)

Based on performance

1.

It’s funny it’s still a kind of social referenced. You know how am I competing
others and how much of my own agenda am I accomplishing? Like it's terrible,
but it’s most of the time when I play on leagues it’s not for me about winning or
losing. That doesn’t do much for me. It’s more about you know did I get the
rebounds (laughing) and the score that I wanted this time and how was I
compared to the other center on the other team? (011, In 5-30, p. 27)

just the actual outcome of what you performed or whatever. (1101, In 32-36,
M)

Like with basketball have like I’ll do well rebounding or passing and I’ll stop
people on defense. (061, In 10-17, p.9)

I think it depends on the skill. Like I was saying I was a goalie so if you block it,
that’s a positive outcome (laughing). If you don’t then it’s not necessarily all
your fault, may have to look at sort of some of the contributing things. . .(1 101,
In 32-36, p.9)

...didn’t make any mistakes and that’s when I know did well and had a good
time out there. (021, In 25—27, p. 13)

You know I’ve learned that in baseball if you’re not the one that’s just to hit
home runs, if you’re just up there getting base hits then you’re doing your job.
Just little things like that. I know when I’m doing good. Or I know when I’m
doing what I’m supposed to be doing. (091, In 402, p. 12-13)

You just know if you made good plays or not. If you’re letting the puck go and
people are getting by you, that’s a bad game. If you’re scoring and making your
plays, that’s a good game. So that’s how I gauge it... (1001, In 36—40, p. 10)

. 2nd order: INTERNALLY REFERENCED

O

O

Affective

l.

Effort

1.

Just out of my level of enjoyment now days. It’s more you know if] had fun
and everyone enjoyed themselves, that’s when I know did well and had a good
time out there. (021, In 25-27, p. 13)

I know that I perform well ifI feel, I guess it’s this feeling that I get inside me,
like I worked hard. I really like to win. I’m very competitive and I really like to
win, but it’s not so much winning as if] played well and I played hard... So. I
think that’s how I know if I perform well. I’ve given everything I have. I’ve
given a hundred and ten percent, then I’ve performed well. (041, In 1220, p. 12)

kind of a feeling within myself with saying that was a good job, self esteem
you know, just knowing if I have a pretty big sweat than I know that I ran hard
and I tried hard, so just kind of a physical sweating, out of breath, that kind of
thing. (081, In 13-16, p. 13)

216

0 Knowledge

1.
0 Fitness

1.
0 Ability

I.

Just the knowledge of the game that I’ve gained. I feel like I may not have the
greatest ability of everyone that I play with, but I think I have a great
knowledge of the game and I know that I can play.(071, In 3-5, p.10)

I run still off and on and do yoga, biking, those things. It’s more a mixture of
stuff. It’s more like health ﬁtness related stuff. If my average resting heart rate
is still the same as when I was competing, and it’s not (laughing) I’d probably
know that I’m doing well in my training. Different variables like that. (031, In 1-
15, p. 14)

golf is probably my biggest one as an adult now that I play and I know what I
can shoot, I know what I should shoot (laughing) and I know what I do shoot
and they’re three different things and I can ﬁnd happiness in being like ‘hey you
know I’ve only played once this year and I shot bogey golf, I’m happy with
that’. So I guess I’m grounded, realistic. (051, In 20-27, p. 12)

General Dimension: Impact on Enjoyment

0 Fun because good at sport

I.

For one I was good at it. Traveling everywhere and going to all these elite
competitions. It was just something I was very good at and it came naturally. It
didn’t take much effort and my personality ﬁt the sport really well, so. (031,1n
20, p.12)

I enjoyed the personal success. I felt like I could, deﬁnitely see my
improvement, my skill development and as I progressed and played
progressively better players in more competitive leagues I enjoyed that. I was
mastering this sport and I was doing really well in it. (01 1, In 5-45, p. 23)

0 Fun because of winning

1.

I liked all those kind of sports. I really enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun. I really
enjoyed having him there too. (041, In 33-34, p. 10)

...it was fun to be doing. Winning (laughing). You know to a certain extent
winning was deﬁnitely fun. (051,In 17-24, p. 10)

It was probably the most fun I had anytime playing baseball. It was really
enjoyable. You know when we’d win too, we’d go out for ice cream and so
that was kinda like positive reinforcement to keep doing well. Well we won a
lot and winning is always fun. (081, In 18-28, p.11)

Absolutely loved playing. I mean at one point I was playing like two or three
sports in a season and I really liked playing. (061, In l7-18, p. 8)

Like I said it was my life. I loved it. (03l,ln 20, p. 12)

217

 

0 Positive memories about the experience

I.

I just remembered clearly being on the softball diamond down there and you
know all different levels and I remember my shirt colors and I remember just
being out there and I remember them letting me you know playing second
base, which is what I always wanted to play I don’t know remember why I did
but just smiling a lot in pictures, I’m always smiling. It’s actually something I
can connect with some of my friends today as we’ve grown apart friends from
childhood we still have this connection. We didn’t talk in high school but we
can still connect through this one activity so I think that always brings up
positive memories. I have very fond memories of softball. (041, In 33-2, p.
10-1 1)

0 Fun being with friends/being on a team

0

O

O

l.

The camaraderie especially the basketball team was ﬁve or six of my closest
friends. It was the same people that we went over to somebody’s house on
Friday night that type, it was the same group of people. (051,ln 17-24, p.10)

Probably a number of things, my friends were all in sports and my brother was
six years older than me and he was good at sports and I used look up to him
. . .(071, In 39-46, p.8)

I really enjoyed the team,. The interaction with the other girls on the team.
That was good, I did like that part of it. We always had a really good group of
girls. (011, In 5-45, p. 23)

For the most part I had a good time with it. I had a lot of friends on the
team...(1101, In 19-28, p.8)

Fun to create a bond with parent

1.

...probably the bond that we created by him coaching me made me appreciate
it more. (071, In 39-46, p.8)

Being able to like to share that with my dad, he was family. Just by
succeeding and having your dad as your coach really makes it better. (091, In
1 1-21, p.1 1)

it was enjoyable and he deﬁnitely didn’t make it any less enjoyable. If not
more enjoyable. (1001, In 6-11, p.9)

Fun to be a part of competition

1.

I liked the physical nature of basketball. I liked being able to come and throw
my body around and bang into other people and I hadn’t really played any
other sports that were like that ‘cause I had just played volleyball and softball
which you don’t get a whole lot of contact and it’s not kinda physical in the
same way, so I did like the training and the time we spent training to play
basketball. So there were a lot of things about it I liked. (011, In 5-45, p. 23)

I think it was just new and exciting. Swimming is pretty dull sometimes and
water polo kind of had this whole new dynamic to it with you know a team
that was here and scoring goals and not just swimming back and forth so I
enjoyed that. (1101, In 19-28, p.8)

Created stress due to lack of fun

218

 

I would say that it was stressful, a lot of stress then, my dad and I didn’t talk
very much. It was hard, it was hard to have him as a coach ‘cause I didn’t
understand him that well you know and some of his decisions I felt, I wanted to

understand why he’d make cm. In terms of games, who he’d played in the game

or why he was doing it or some practices what we did, I didn’t understand and
since we didn’t have a very good relationship like talking wise I didn’t
understand what his decisions, what thoughts were behind his decisions. (021,In
22-28, p. 8)

General Dimension: Instilled beliefs and values about sport

0 Value trying new activities

I.

I think experiences like that are fun to share experiences like that... So I mean a
lot of our commonality ﬂows around positive sports experiences. . .I think you
know subconsciously they [sharing common experiences] helped. More than
anything I think that his experiences, him being able to tell me a little bit about
his experience and saying hey you know just give it a try, don’t have any regrets
about not trying out for a team. Probably more I can remember a few like three
or four comments from coaches and that one is in the top three, just give it a try.
(051, In 12-16, p. 12)

o Enjoyment of the game

I.

I mean I continued to participate in softball, ﬂoor hockey was nothing past
elementary school, but I continued to participate in softball all throughout high
school and I did intramurals in college and stuff like that so I think that it helped
to you know instill an enjoyment of the game and I enjoyed it and I enjoyed him
traveling with us at that time and I continued to participate. (041, In 4-8, p. 12)

....basketball I wanted nothing to do with for a long time and it probably wasn’t
until the end of my junior year in college that I started playing again, and then]
started playing on intramural teams and summer leagues and things like that.

And so that experience back then kind of had that short term immediate impact
where I didn’t want to be involved, but at the same time that experience showed
me hey you’re really good at this and you should be doing this cuz it is fun. I

think now I can ﬁnd it fun and I can ﬁnd it competitive without the pressure. So

. yeah I guess I took away from it, after I got past that little period, that I didn’t

want to play that oh I’m pretty good. I can compete with these people. So I have
felt like very conﬁdent about wherever I’ve been kind of joining leagues and
continuing to play.(011, In 26-1, p. 26-27)

If] quit then we both would. But again not that I would have, it was just kinda
we were both playing type thing. I played for Michigan State club hockey
which was somewhat intense, that he had nothing to do with, and then now I just
play in I guess I call it beer leagues, but you’d probably call it men leagues. It’s
like a game a week type thing, so yeah I’ll always play but it’s nothing like it
used to be. (1001, In 16-32, p.10)

0 lnstilled a sense of advocacy

I.

And that whole thing in third grade with the pitching issue, I’ve become more of
a equal rights person. I don’t like it when things aren’t equal when they could be
or should be. (061, In 3-6, p.9)

219

Wilmer-m

 

 

o Instilled a love for the game

1. I don’t know I still really love basketball and I want to be a basketball coach
when I get older (061, In 3-4, p.9)'

1. I grew more in love with basketball and continued it throughout school and now
at Michigan State I play intramurals, I play at least three times a week and like I
said I just played in a basketball tournament this weekend and I think I enjoy it
more than I would if he wouldn’t have got me into it. (071, In 4245, p. 9)

2. I think it only made me want to compete more in other sports. I just wanted go
out cuz it was so fun for me that I just wanted to go out and keep on
participating. . .We didn’t have like a falling out or, a bad relationship where I
just wouldn’t want to pick up a baseball again, but you know it only wanted me
to play sports more. (091, In 30-36, p. 12)

o lnstilled the value of effort

 

3. I carry that with me, that it’s the hard work and he helped instill it’s not about
you, it’s about the team and I carried that attitude with me at the high school and
I carry that attitude with me now when I do things in an athletic manner. It’s not
about me and it’s not about winning, it’s about what’s good for the team and it’s
about how hard everybody works. (041, In 3540, p.6)

0 Conﬂicted motivation

I. When he stopped coaching I think I was relieved, almost happy to have a new
coach, but I think then there’s always times that I wanted him back just to be
able to talk like logistics of the game and strategies where I might have had a
harder time with a coach because I was so used to talking things out with my
dad as the coach. (021, In 12-16, p.13)

0 Other coaches impacted motivation I

 

1. It’s kinda hard to answer because he didn’t affect why I’m not running at all
today. That had to do with a lot of coaches I had at the other university, but I
don’t think the way or manner that he coached me has affected my choice not to
continue this any longer. There was kind of a push to go back to it. It’s a very
long story, what has to do with an appeal to the NCAA, but he hasn’t affected
really why I made that choice I guess. (031, In

2. I think having my dad as my coach and having fun all those years even not just
my dad, but you know my federation coaches and even my junior varsity coach
and freshman coach were just all good coaches. You know they enjoyed the
game, but when I got to the up you know the highest level to where I was going
to make a decision whether playing college ball or doing something with
baseball and I think, high school coach kinda had a huge impact on that and as I
look back I think it had to do with having so much fun before I got to that point.
(081, In 408, p. 12-13)

 

Parent-Coach Themes and Quotes

General Dimension: Dual Role Inﬂuence (parent)

220

2"d Order: SPORT EXPERIENCE STRENGTHENED BONDS

0 Time together

1.

. . .spending time and experiencing that whatever activity it is together. . . there’s
only a short period really when the kids are young and everybody’s busy with
work and family and other things and it was, it was just a way that helped to
ensure that we’d always take out time to be together. So I thought it was time
well spent. (1002, In 6-10, In 2-5, p.6)

I’m getting kind of old for it, but I still try to play basketball once a week and I
play with him and his older brother and a lot of twenty year olds and I’m ﬁfty-
one and so I’m not as quick or as fast as they are but I still hold my own pretty
good, but he is just phenomenal and it’s just so much fun for me to watch him
play and try to guard him and things like that and so you know we play against
each other right now and we play hard and so I enjoy it immensely seeing how
good he is. . . just spending time together. (072,ln 7, p.6. ln 22-19, p.8-9))

0 Sharing sport experiences

0

1.

.. .it gave us a common ground of things to talk about. We could, talk about the
game. We could talk about her performance. We had those common
experiences that we could share and relate to with each other... (042, In 23-31,

M)

We could just hang out together in the gym doing something we both enjoyed.
(062, In 1-2, p. 6)

When we watch softball on TV, talk coaching strategies and what would you do
what would I do that kind of thing maybe it opened up another line of dialog.
(062,ln 1-2, p. 6)

I’m getting kind of old for it, but I still try to play basketball once a week and I
play with him and his older brother and a lot of twenty year olds and I’m ﬁfty-
one and so I’m not as quick or as fast as they are but I still hold my own pretty
good, but he is just phenomenal and it’s just so much fun for me to watch him

play and try to guard him and things like that and so you know we play against
each other right now and we play hard and so I enjoy it immensely seeing how
good he is.. .just spending time together. (072, In 7, p. 6, In 22- 19, p. 8- 9))

Created lines of communication that still exist

1.

I think that her and I communicate very well together, at a level higher than the
average person. (1102, In 42-16, p.3-4)

When we watch softball on TV, talk coaching strategies and what would you do
what would I do that kind of thing maybe it opened up another line of dialog.
(O62,ln 1-2, p. 6)

...sometimes if you drift apart from your kid and you don’t have those common
experiences, you don’t have a communication base to deal with. Well I think
having those common experiences allowed us to have a communication base
and be able to talk about that speciﬁcally and then use that as an up-bridge to
talk about other things in life that related to that. (042, In 23-31, p.5)

221

 

4. Again I felt we had good lines of communication. We could talk about things
and there was a little frustration sometimes you know he could talk about
openly. (052, In 43-10, p. 5-6)

5. I just think we’ve always been pretty comfortable in talking about things, sol
just think that that helped to establish the base for communication, rapport
between us, so that we still have that as to talk about as just kind of a point of
reference kind of thing, but it’s less and less than as each year goes on, it’s less
important, it’s more focused on school and career and going forward with his
life. So I think, it’s been beneficial. (1002, In 14-20,

6. We communicate well together and about things that give and take, this and that
and trying to understand each other and I think that we had mutual respect for
each other. . .(l 102, In 44-33, p. 5-6)

0 Made closer

O

O

O

1. Well on the sport of course it made us very close together and outside I think
there’s a bond there that’s permanent. She knew what I was thinking. I’d know
what she was thinking. (032, In 35—36, p.5)

2. Well as a father and a son I would say that it probably made us closer... I guess
today you’re more on the level of a father and a son, you’re friends where before
you’re kind of separated I would say a little bit. You’re a coach and a player
instead of a father and a son as much or a friend. (092, In 10-12, p. 8,ln 44-

45 ,p.4)
Ad vocated/supported
1. ...all my intent was ever to do was to help her as long as she remained interested

in it... Well, she has problems and her difﬁculties and she tries to struggle
through them on her own, but in the end she’ll always let me help her.
Sometimes she waits too long but, and I have complete faith in that child.
(032,ln 33-35, p. 8, In 5-7, p.2)

2. ...on the positive side, she understood that I was there for her and that I was
going to stand up her whenever I could. (012, In 4-8 p. 10)

Developed a mutual respect

1. I think probably him seeing me interact with other kids and he probably
looked up to and respected me because I was a parent doing that and so I
think that may have gave him more self-worth because of that. (072,ln 7-10,

p.6)

2. Well I just think that we have a mutual respect for each other. That is
building for twenty three years and working together on the team was just
another piece of that coming together you know. We communicate well
together and about things that give and take, this and that and trying to
understand each other and I think that we had mutual respect for each
other...(1102, ln 44-33, p. 5-6)

Learned about each other

222

 

It has given me a better understanding of her frustration level and knowing
what they are and knowing how to deal with them and you know I think that
that’s the biggest impact it gave me. (042, In 27-29, p.8)

I think we had a better understanding of each other by being around each
other more. Whereas, you know I don’t know if I would’ve had that same
relationship if I hadn’t been involved with her in it. (022, In 41-13, p. 5-6)

0 Worked through the rough spots which created closer bonds

1.

...It probably made us stronger ‘cause we figured out a way to get through
it. (032. In 19-20, p.6)

I think us working and communicating to try to get over the rough spots and ’
allowed us to become closer and to bond more. (042, In 3941, p.6)

Well I think that I’m sure we talked about it, cleared the air. [apologized
and we discussed it. We don’t like to hold a lot of stuff in around here. We
like to get it out and talk about it and move on, so I know that we talked
about it. She was comfortable with how it was resolved and I was too.
(1102, 1.11 38-41, p.7)

0 Good relationship

I.

2.

I think it helped. I think we had a good relationship. (052, In 43, p. 5)

I think it was a good relationship. We always had a good relationship...
(082. In 25-25, p.4)

2Ind order: NEGATIVE/STRAINED RELATIONSHIP

0 Child viewed parent-coach’s expectations as pushing

1.

Well, I really didn’t stop coaching her. All the way up through high school,
, I went to all the games and I had input in it and then we, I guess our
biggest period of conﬂict probably came over the year She was a senior
about which scholarship she was going to take and so forth and we had a lot
of disagreement about that. She ended up not playing in college... I didn’t
think she spend enough time working on her game and she said well course
couldn’t, well girls didn’t do that and she was right on that girls don’t just
pick up basketball, not in this state anyway, boys do, but girls don’t. They .
play basketball when it’s structured and I didn’t think she spent enough
time on her game and so we had some conﬂicts, nothing, nothing bad you
understand what I’m saying? I thought that she could be a whole lot better
than she was so she wasn’t terribly interested... I’m sure she felt at that
time I was pushin her a little too hard. But that’s, you know I guess that’s
true for probably everybody. (012, In 4-8 p.10, In 6-19 p. 7)

I probably told him if you’regonna want to play in high school, if you want
playing time, you’ve got to drive to the basket. If you don’t drive to the
basket, if you don’t do it now when it’s time that you’ll need to do it, you
won’t feel comfortable to do it, so you got to fall down now. . .and so I’d say
that to him and he would hear it but (laughing) it never really happened. I
was telling him for his own good but, I couldn’t make him do it, as strongly
as I encouraged him to so I’m sure he probably got a little tired of hearing
it. (72, In 3040, p.6)

223

3. . . .my kids were pretty good athletes therefore, I expected a little bit more
out of em. I think every parent does and believe me there was many a quiet
ride home after practice where we didn’t speak to each other you know or
whatever “you expect me to do this or that”. .. And so, it was I guess kinda
difﬁcult... (022, In 403, p. 4)

o Disappointment with child’s motivation

1.

2nd order: NO PERCEIVED IMPACT

was not the kind of person who would come and say dad I need

help. She just didn’t come and ask for help and I guess it was the same
feeling I had, I was a history teacher and they would take a history test
and they’d come back in and not do real well on it and everybody
would ask, you know what I’m sayin? When you think you’re pretty
good at something, you have a specialty in something and your kids
don’t seem to recognize your ability, that’s always a little bit I don’t
know, it isn’t irritating as much as it’s just that you don’t understand
why...(012, In 22-21, p.4-5)

r1 .3. ‘— Wail:

 

o Treated all team members the same

I.

I don’t even know that I did distinguish between the two, I mean I just,
I kind of treated the other young ladies that I was coaching as well as

the same you know. I mean I just kind of let my, my parenting
skills and my coaching skills kind of co-exist and just kind of ﬂowed
through. (042, In 8-11, p.4)

 

Well I tried to treat as any other player. I didn’t, I don’t know
if nepotism is the right word or not. Yeah I purposely tried to not. . .if
he wasn’t doing something right I wouldn’t spare him, I would correct
him in front of anybody else just like] would any other player. If I
needed to make an example of the right way or the wrong way of doing
something. I didn’t show favoritism I guess and I didn’t hold him back
either so. I wanted to be fair with him ‘casue I wanted to be treated fair
so that’s just the way am I guess. (072, In 406, p. 4-5)

I guess the way that I did was just kept it generic on the ice or on the
ﬁeld and then would just trust or my other son just as I would
any other player and then afterwards would explain to them why or
why or why I didn’t do something or the, little more explanation behind
you know certain actions that may have stuck out. ( 1002, In 7-15, p.4)

 

...I tried as I recall just to treat him no different than the other eleven
kids on the team. . .(052, In 4146, p.3)

0 Did not separate roles

1.

That’s really hard to say. I mean I treated him the same, I treated him
the same on the baseball ﬁeld as I did at home. (082, In 31-32, p.3)

I think when he was younger I wouldn’t say I was able to distinguish
between either one. As he got older it was a little easier to, to be more
of a coach than a parent. Probably because he understood the game a
little better and if] told him something it wasn’t like I was being a
parent and saying this is, you have to do this. I kind of would try to

224

teach him something about the game and let him go with it from there.
(092, In 11-19, p.3)

0 Did separate roles

I. I don’t think with that we ever took it home. If he wanted to play
ball or something away from the organized sports we did, but I tried as I
recall just to treat him no different than the other eleven kids on the team.
Not try to over-coach, which is something that also you know disturbs me
when I see parents that just over-coach. (052, In 41-46, p.3)

 

2. We had talked about it beforehand that when we were in the gym or on the

ﬁeld whatever that I was the coach and not mom and um just kinda left it at '

that and I it was difﬁcult at times to separate the two. (062, In 23-32, p.4)

3. I saw myself as a coach. And she, she was helpful and that she’s grown up
with me and we have a [good] relationship. . .(l 102, In 42-16, p.3-4)

o No impact on relationship outside of sport

1. I can remember times where I tried to reinforce positive things for him
to maybe understand what I’m trying to tell him. Away from sports]
don’t think there was any impact. And I don’t you know if I look back I
don’t think that it carried beyond that game if there was, you know if he
had an issue with something. (092,1n 23-32, p.5)

General Dimension: Positive Outcomes/Personal Rewards for Parent—Coach

0 2“d order: ENHANCED SELF-PERCEPTIONS THROUGH SUCCESS WITH CHILDREN

0 Demonstrated competence in teaching sport skills

1.

She’s used a lot of the skills that she learned in later life and she came in and she was
telling me that up there at one of the intramural games that the guys accused her of
playing like a boy, which I took for her as a compliment... so in later life I think that
she kinda liked some of the skills she had learned. . .(012, In 3545, p. 12)

I thought that I was very capable of teaching her about stuff that you know little
things, little moves that I thought that she oughta learn. . .(012,In 19-25, p.6)

I Would like to think that I helped her, yes. Well she became stronger and more
motivated and, of course, in track and cross country everything is measured by time
and her times were improving consistently. (032,ln 32-33, p.2)

I saw myself as kind of a teaching coach... I didn’t want anyone to be left behind. So
I wanted to teach them... I wanted the kids to Ieam the right way to play the game
and the right skills and learn proper habits and not bad habits. (072,ln 44-20, p. 3-4)

Probably if I hadn’t coached him I probably wouldn’t have felt as good about his
performance when he went and played high school basketball. He was prepared as
much as he could be prepared and it was up to him at that point. If I hadn’t done that,
then I always would have second guessed. You know did I do everything I could
have done? So I guess for that reason I you know I feel satisﬁed that I gave him
every opportunity for him to excel that I could. (072, In 9-15, p.8)

225

'Inran— -tw
. I

 

 

0 Demonstrated competence in teaching life skills

I.

I thought I taught him a lot: self-conﬁdence and winning and losing and
that. (082, In 30-33, p.2))

I always kept ﬁrst and foremost in my net, you know they’re kids ﬁrst and
those were the coaches that I aligned with and I wouldn’t have my sons play
on a team where that wasn’t their philosophy. Because my expectation was
that that was never going to be their livelihood and it was an activity for
physical and social development. (1002, In 34-39, p.3)

...something happens where they learn that they’re part of a team and
there’s certain people out there behind you and that they’re accountable to
each other instead of ‘it’s me up on the block, I’ll go swim my one event
and I’m done.’ Six of us have to play quality defense together and so we
were successful in getting kids to appreciate that. The team aspect of it.
Team water polo or team basketball or team football or many team, team
volleyball it’s much different sports than swimming or golf or bowling or
something, the concern is the team and that’s what we were focused on was
getting them to appreciate that. (1102, In 42-13, p.2-3)

0 Increased self-worth of parent-coach

I. It kind of built me up and kind of built him up too with praise
and stuff like that. (082, In 34, p.7)

2. ...a lot of the kids that I had went on to do very well in
basketball so I take a little pride in that. (072,ln 44-20, p. 3-4)

3. I think he was proud of me being his father and his coach so I
felt good about that. He always wanted me to be his coach. I
tried to encourage him, I suggested to him you know maybe you
should have somebody else for a coach and learn from someone
else and not just from me and he never wanted that. He always
wanted me to be his coach, so I felt real good about that. (072, In
35-2, p. 5-6)

0 Former players appreciated coach

I. I get kids, high school kids that come back and see me now
you know, they’re thirty, thirty-ﬁve, forty years old and they
tell me Mr. we had a great time with you, we were
successful, and we learned a lot from you, so I look at that
as being successful also. (042, In 2637, p.3)

2. The kids always respected me and when I see them later on,
after I was done coaching they come over to the house there
and they’d say hey number one coach so they respected me.
They thought a lot of me because I gave ‘em a little
incentive on winning and that you know. All my kids
thought a lot of me because I treated them like kids you
know like human beings actually. You know I treated em
well. I never, never jumped on any particular one of my
kids. (082,ln 44-8, p.3-4, In 7-18, p.3)

226

. 2"“ order: ENHANCED COACHING KNOWLEDGE

o Learned from other coaches

I.

Not having a lot of experience myself I had to learn from other coaches about
strategies, a little bit of the game ...(072,ln 44-20, p. 3-4)

0 Parent-coach was a self study

1.

I did a little bit of reading and when I went to track meets, I did a whole lot of
watching and a lot of the strategies that we came up with were just between her
and I as far as training and the workouts and watching what other successful
people did. Because just like everything else you know if the ﬁsh are biting a
certain lure, the guy that’s catching ‘em all isn’t going to tell you. You know
not really, you gotta ﬁgure it out yourself. (032, In 3025, p.4)

0 Learned from daughter how to coach girls

I. ...because she’d tell me what the girls were upset about and so forth. I
found for instance the boys you can scream at. You can use a little
profanity. Girls you can’t do that. You just look at the girls cross-eyed and
they’d start boo-hooin, so she’d tell me dad you’re hurtin so and so’s
feelings, you know you can’t do that and she knew more about that than]
did. I was not used to working with girls. It is different. (012,ln 25-15, p. 5-
6)

2. And if I was to say something to one of her friends or something that
particular girl, not knowing me, wouldn’t know how to react and have her
feelings hurt, whereas she knew I didn’t mean anything by it, but
yet this other girl may have taken it the wrong way. Some of the time I
didn’t even know I was doin it and it wasn’t until that ride home or
something that she brought it out, “well dad you shouldn’t be doin this or
that.” ...so there were some tears there a few times. Most deﬁnitely it
(child’s comments about his behavior toward other girls on team) did. You
know I was aware of it from there on out, otherwise I would’ve never
known about it. (022, In 41-13, p. 5-6, In 13-30, p.5)

 

. 2"d order: WINNING

0 Winning

I.

...if you want to look at success as wins and losses, 1, I probably had a winning
percentage of about seventy percent. (042, In 26-37, p.3)

We won more games than we lost and I think you know the kids enjoyed it.
Again coming from a smaller community you tend to know all the kids you
know even away from the baseball ﬁeld. (052, In 5-9, p.3, In 35—42, p.2)

I think I did that and the kids all seemed to like me and we did reasonably
well. . .I guess the beginning years of the YMCA they did keep score and they
you know kept track of who won so we had success winning We were
successful... (072,ln 44-20, p. 3-4)

our team always ﬁnished ﬁrst. We had three out of four championships...
(082, In 7-18, p.3)

227

Miscellaneous Personal Rewards

0 Being a role model

1. I would say it was a good experience for both her and I. I’m hoping that’s one of the
reasons why she’s thought about going into coaching... (062,ln 10-16. p. 9)

2. I think most boys want to spend time with their fathers. You know especially when
they’re young up until maybe twelve. I mean they pretty much idolize their dads so
that’s always something that] had kept in my mind in that I was being a role model
and my actions and what I did and what I said would pretty much be watching all the
time so it’s just kind of a developmental stage that I expected and worked my best to
try to do it as well as I could. (1002, In 20—43, p.5) ‘

Child helped with team issues

1. When I was trying to communicate to the team she picked up and really
handled it. She was helpful in keeping the others following along. (1102, In
42-16, p.3-4)

2. I would of felt very nervous about going into the dressing room with the
girls. And when she was on the team that made it all better. . .. She’d tell me
what the girls were upset about and so forth... She helped me a lot. I
enjoyed it because as I said it kinda took all the pressure off because she
was on the team and she helped me out on that (012,In 25-15, p. 5-6)

Associated with sport professionals
1. because of ’s ability being able to associate with scouts and

professional scouts and college coaches and just getting to know a lot of
people at different levels of baseball programs. (092,ln 24-31, p.2)

 

Provided opportunity to better understand child

1. It has given me a better understanding of her frustration level and knowing
what they are and knowing how to deal with them and I think that that’s the
biggest impact it gave me.(042, In 27-29, p.8)

Opportunity to develop athletes

l. I would say just the opportunity to be able to coach a talented group of kids.
It seemed like for the most part we always had a good group of kids that we
were able to coach and just being able to I guess as far as for the age group
being on top of the sport and do really well... (092, In ll-l4, p.4)

Seeing child excel

1. ...it was very rewarding when you see them all together jumping up and
down with smiles on their faces and they’re happier than a lark, you know
you did something right... it was nice for me to see her out there excel [ing]
too... (022, In 40-3, p. 3—4.ln 8-15, p.4) .

2. I think just the enjoyment as a parent and a coach that he enjoyed doing

what he was doing. You know he just very even-keeled disposition and he
picked things up relatively easily. Not a gifted athlete. athletic-wise, but just

228

kind of a sound understanding of sports and you asked him to pitch, he
wasn’t going to be the hardest thrower, but he threw strikes and he always
made the game enjoyable and it was just fun watching him mature and just
having an understanding of the games and learning patience with kids who
weren’t good athletes. That’s part of being at little league you know I think
that was probably one thing we discussed sometimes is you know
everybody’s got to have a chance at that age. This is where you learn and
you have to be a little bit patient. . .. I never saw him get real frustrated at
losing either. . .it’s not that important and you know there’s another game
the next day or whatever and you know that was you know one thing with
just watching him handle those situations.(052,ln 1-10, p.5,ln 35-44,

 

P-4)

3. ..just to watch her be able to relax and focus on the enjoyment of it instead
of the pressure situation and just the difference in her attitude when you
could just go for it all and not worry about getting yelled at by someone
else... Well it made me feel good that she was comfortable enough to
attempt it and she just proved to herself that I knew she could do it and I
just had to see that she could do it. (062,ln 40-41, p.5,ln 23-36, p.5)

General Dimension: Frustrations of Parent-Coach

0 Dealing with parent complaints

I.

I really got worn out by dealing with the parents. . .the majority of parents thought
they had a better idea of how things should be done. (1102,ln 28-30. p.2)

Well just putting up with some of the parents was my personal experience you know.
Trying to satisfy the parents as well as the kids. Trying to get em all playing, that
my experience. I tried to satisfy the parents and get their kids playing time too, you
know equal playing time. It was hard to give em equal playing time.There were a lot
of hostile parents like that and I told em I said ‘hey I just volunteered for this job.
I’m just you know, I’m not getting paid for this, so I said next year you can do it...’
They were mad because their kid wasn’t playing in the game. I had played a kid
maybe an inning or two. I was playing the kid what I was required to play him. I
did give em, tried to give em as equal playing time as I could. But I did play favors
where I you know I would play the kids that would help me win rather than help me
lose you know. I just put em in the best positions I thought they could play and stuff
like that. I had to run the games. (082, In 45-31, p.4-5)

0 Teenage child not listening to parent while coaching

l. I would say probably early on maybe when he was about eleven or twelve
that age up to fourteen, I think there were times where he probably thought
he knew enough about the game that if] went to the mound and he was
pitching and had some advice to him for him I think he had a hard time with
it at times. It was just like you know you’re my dad not my coach. (092,ln
7-13, p.5)

2. ...just from more the character side. you want to build some humility and
respect for opponents and things like that. That can be kind of a negative
when for example if you’re going to play a team and you win, you know it’s
very easy. it’s not competitive, you win twenty to nothing. I mean that’s not
really a good thing. I don’t think it’s good for anybody, certainly not for the
team that suffers the lose, but even from the team that delivers it, it’s just,

229

the sportsmanship and it starts to get lost sometimes when things are that
easy so those were some of the negative things. I would be trying to
continue to teach that respect of an opponent is important. That you don’t
try to belittle someone just because I mean you happen to be in another
class as far as maybe your skill is. But it’s not a reason to demean another
person or player or team. (1002. In ll-25, p.6)

3. One of the practices would have been for a different year and a different
league all the girls were snipping at each other and I tried to lay down the
law while snipped at me so I snipped back at her and “oh you
wouldn’t do that to any other kid” kinda thing so than it became the mom
and daughter battling and I couldn’t remove myself from the situation. I
just kept right at her eventually made her leave practice. And I still feel so
horrible about it. At the time that was not pleasant. (062, In 13-34, p.6)

 

0 Helping child through difﬁcult times

I. ...if there were a negative aspects about me coaching with _ there was
trying to deal with her frustration. When things weren’t going the way she
wanted them to go personally for her . she would get very, very frustrated
and her getting frustrated could at times frustrate me too because there were
sometimes I wasn’t able to communicate with her well enough or be
speciﬁc with her enough to get her over the hump about what she was
frustrated about. I think that was probably, if there were negative aspects it
was just dealing with her frustration and me not being able to get her over
that as quickly as she wanted to... because nobody wants to see their kids
hurting. And I use the term hurting loosely, but nobody wants to see them
frustrated. Nobody wants to see them aggravated or disconcerted about
anything, but if there were on occasions things didn’t go the way she
wanted to then she would become aggravated and frustrated. You know
you want the best for your kids, you want your kids to be happy all the time
and you work real hard to make that happen and when it doesn’t happen, it
frustrates you as a parent. (042, In l6-22, p. 6, In 4-12, p.6)

2. I was very upset about the coaches at Cincinnati. They' called her every
Monday night for oh at least three months. Promised her a scholarship and
then they didn’t call the night of the signing date, so I called them the next
night and they said they decided to give it to a 6’5” transfer from Florida.
Well that was a little, that was devastating. She bought a Cincinnati
sweatshirt and the whole bit and planned on going over there and then when
I tried to arrange for her to go to a junior college, she was havin none of
that, so we just said go on to. So, that was the most negative experience we
had. It really devastated her when they backed out on her. (012, In 22-45, p.
9)

3. he was kind of awkward when he was young and not real, not as
aggressive as he should have been playing the game. I mean he would have
done better if he would have been more aggressive and I tried to get him to
do that and it just wasn’t in him I guess. When he got into the game
situations with other kids he would may be a little more timid or passive. It
was something that I would encourage him to do and told him that he
needed to do it but he you know he just couldn’t bring himself to do it, so it
wasn’t a real big negative thing but it was something that I tried to make
him understand. (072, In I7-25, p.6)

0 Participation/playing time rules

230

l. . . .everybody was supposed to receive equal playing time and that was mind-
boggling to have twelve, ﬁfteen girls on the team and then have to provide a
rotation into a twenty-four. thirty-two minute game to where they all had equal
playing time regardless of their skill level. And I was trying in the back of my
mind, the bottom line was all of them wanted to be winners, so how do I go
about this? You know you can’t save your ﬁve best players for the very end and
expect to come back and but yet some of the kids had to play with some of these
kids that you know they were star-gazing out there half the time. (022, In l3-30,

P5)

2. kinda recall a situation that he and I did discuss ‘cause it bothered him a little
bit. When I was coaching the senior league, there were only three teams in town ‘
and we played teams from other towns and basically everybody who tried out
made the team. Well we had a thirteen year old girl tryout and she had never
even played baseball at the little league level. It made it a difﬁcult situation. We
couldn’t cut her. I selected her, interesting part of it is I knew her father, her
father was the athletic director at a private school. It wasn’t his idea, it was the
daughter and the mother’s idea and you know the part that bothered me is that
physically and athletically she didn’t belong at that level because you’re at the
ninety-foot base-paths, the full pitching etcetera, but you know she tried out.
(052, In 21-28. p. 5)

General Dimension: Parent-Coaches’ Perception of Their Feedback

0 Positive Instructional

l.

...we’d talk about what we were going to do that afternoon or evening as far as
training... Well I would tell her this is your time ‘cause we’d always kind of have a goal

.to shoot for and as far as time would go, ﬁnishing time or a strategy of where she might

be in a long distance race at what point in time and then of course in the longer distance
races I’d go to certain points and we’d yell back and forth like just part of instructions I
guess and at the end of the race you know if she cooled down, she’d tell me all about the
race even though I just watched it. especially on the track.. (032, In 24-33, p.6)

...be able to be open and honest with her about the things that may not be going so well
and trying to communicate what we would do to raise that level of performance to
another level. (042, In 1-2, p.7)

I think pretty honestly. . .With baseball he was good and we could talk about things he
had to do a little better and not do a little better. . .(052, In 29-46, p.7)

More and likely probably in the car on the way home or if it was something that needed
to be worked on maybe if she was doing something out in the yard it would get brought
up ‘you know remember when this situation happened maybe if would have done this’
but the majority of the time it was I we really discuss speciﬁc situations. (062, In 4-16.

P-7)

...a lot of feedback that on what he thought I would ask him about his performance or
particular plays and give him feedback either afterwards or a lot of times on the bench. I
would just come over and just say a couple of words right at the time. So that it was just
kind of taking mental note of what the situation was and then we could discuss it in-depth
later. But those were really the the times that we would. As close as possible to the
situation to go through it. And then it was just more on the way home in the car or once
we got home or maybe that night, maybe we would talk about if there was a particular
point that e should, should address. Usually I didn’t try to like make it some big ordeal.

231

It would be like maybe ﬁve minutes in the car, that’s it it’s done ok. Let’s just forget
about it and you know move on and you know talk about other things. (1002, In 1 1-25,

p.7)

Mostly after a game or a practice driving with him one on one, letting him know what he
needed to do or how he did and. . .so I didn’t give him a lot of negative or if it was
criticism it was constructive criticism and not berating in any way but I always told him
what he could do to improve. (072, In 44-2. p.6-7)

I always tried to be upbeat about it, but yet I always came across maybe too hard. Well, I
guess I’d pick out her ﬂaws instead of what do you call it, maybe giving her praise for
something else that she did well. I’d always pick out the negative of things I guess and
say well ok you did a great job out there, but yet you still did these two things wrong. So ‘
even though I was trying to be positive it didn’t come across the right way. (022, In 17-
26, p.6)

0 Encouraging/reinforcing/praise

i.

Just sitting down and talking with her. Just being able to communicate verbally with her
and. and praise her for the things that went well. . .(042, In l-2, p.7)

at that level it was still just more encouraging than really doing a lot of hard coaching.
And just encouraging the good part of it, subtle changes but not harping on it
continuously. At that age I don’t think it works. ‘Just try this or try that or you know just
keep doing it that way.’ Just more subtle reminders, more encouraging rather than
sarcasm [it] just doesn’t work at that age and that’s where I think I would say it works.
(052, In 29-46. p.7)

1 just told him that he was a good catcher and keep up what he was doing... I told him he
was a heck of a catcher. Usually watching a baseball game or something like that I’d say
you’re just as good as that guy is or that person is you know. (082, In 5-l 1, p.7, In 40—4,
p.5-6)

Well, we usually talked a little bit after the game, but she just didn’t want to talk. I tired
to be more positive than negative on her feedback. For instance, she was not a very good
free throw shooter and I never talked to her about her free throw shooting at all. She was
a very, very good shooter and scored a lot of points. You know we always encouraged
her to talk about it and so forth. (012, In 12-18, p. 10)

o Goal-oriented to discussions

I.

She’ (I tell me how it felt at two hundred meters, she’d tell how she could hold back or
how she got boxed in and we discussed, we’d just critique the whole race and we’d do
that a dozen times on the way home I think. (032, In 24-33. p.6)

Well after the game or whatever we would all talk as a team and then if she were to bring
something up later we would discuss it, but basically it was you know left at the ﬁeld. . .I
basically waited for her to bring it up. (062, In 4-16, p.7)

You know it’s like I praise my kids sometimes and I know they like that but they also get
a fair amount of analysis you know. I’m not like a perfectionist. but once I’ve
accomplished something then I’m already eager to accomplish the next thing. . ., so my
kids get tired of me always teaching so like I think they do something good and then
they’re quickly going to hear about the next thing that they can do. They mastered that so
that was a good shot next time, now that you’ve done that you can try doing this shot.

(I 102, In 45-6, p.7-8)

232

o Mistake-contingent negative reinforcement

I.

I would say just verbally expressed it to him. I would say probably more on the order of
trying to be reinforcing, but stern I guess. I think a lot of times if he made a mistake he
knew what he did that... I would state something to him like you know hey you made a
mistake we can’t afford that and left it at that. (092,ln 44-11, p. 5-6)

General Dimension: Interpretation of child’s response to feedback

0 Child put forth more effort

I. I think she interpreted it very well. I say when she was very, very young and me
being the coach as well as dad it was, it came to her in a more positive light. She
would always take it positively, but work very, very hard to implement the strategies
and suggestions that we were talking about. (042, In 13-20, p:7)

2. I think he appreciated it. He understood and knew what he had to do but I tried to
give him positive encouragement about the things he did do well and hoping that that
would make him go out and excel at it. More feeling good that he did do things well
and then I’d let him know what else he needed to do... He would tend to do that
when I’d tell him about it he would. . .if we played out here by ourselves he would do
it when he was playing with me ‘cause he felt comfortable... He’d say I know dad
(laughing), but he’d agree. He knew, I felt like I was right. (072, In l4,p.7, In 6-9,
p.7, In 18-28. p.7)

3. Oh, I think he took it alright. He’s a big boy... He just tried a little harder. You
know if he wasn’t hitting, he’d just tried his best to get back into the groove again.
(082, In 33-34, p.6. In 25, p.6)

0 Child’s personality facilitated response

1.

Well I hope that they were good. I said she was a person of extremes. She was much
harder on herself than anybody else could’ve been. (032,In 27-28, p.7)

Good. I mean he enjoyed sports... I would say so because I just don’t ever remember any
say rebellious attitudes or any ‘what are you talking about? What do you know? You
know you don’t understand.’ I just don’t remember any of that type of thing from

. And sometimes I’m not so sure it was that I was doing the right thing, a lot of it
has to do with his personality. (052,In 7-1 I, p. 8, In 16, p.8)

 

She would be pretty open to listen... If she would question it or ask me to show her a
speciﬁc move in basketball or she would question things you did in softball. At one point
she told me don’t just tell me I did good just to say I did good ‘cause that doesn’t mean
anything to me. She wanted speciﬁc examples. (062,1n 20-25, p.7, In 44-17, p.7-8, In 29-
40, p. 7)

0 Child interpreted as pressuring

1. She was kinda one of those people when the game was over it was over with, either
good or bad. She just really did not like to talk about the game that much. . .Well at
the time I think she got a little irritated by it. . .At the time she probably felt I was
pressuring her a little too much. (012, In 12-l8, In 22-30, p.10)

0 Child interpretation was inconsistent

She would probably say I was too critical... There again I think it was probably both
ways. Days where she accepted it and then there’s other days when she didn’t
wanna even talk to me about it. (022.ln 38-39, p.6)

Well I think that when I was ofﬁcially coaching her, she responded really, really
well. Other times it was sometimes you know she was irritated by it, sometimes she
wasn’t. (012, In 23-45, p. 11)

0 Child did not use feedback

I. I mean at least he heard the message. Could, the results been better?
You know maybe. Not sure how that would have been done. but not
saying that after the feedback that everything was just you know totally ‘
one hundred percent corrected, going forward. (1002, In 3942, p.7)

2. I’m sure that he probably just at times in one ear and out the other
(laughing). Yeah I would say that depending on what, he listens
maybe try to gain something from me talking to him or telling him
something. I would say by if] knew he was looking at me I could tell
he was listening. If he was had his head down or looking in a different
direction I probably wasn’t getting through to him. (092.ln 20-33, p.6)

General Dimension: Perception of Child’s Enjoyment

0 Child looked forward to playing

I.

I think it was very high. It was something she looked forward to. It wasn’t
something that she said I don’t wanna do this anymore because that would be I
wanna play, I wanna play and Dad I want you to coach and you know so it was a
very positive experience. (042, In 5-8, p.8)

She was pretty high and into it. She was always ready to go when it was time to go..
(O62,In 37-42, p.8)

He enjoyed it a lot. He always wanted to do it. (072, In 42, p.7)

I think it was pretty high. Well just for example just his eagerness to play and when
they had like in school as he’s going through grade school and they have different
things to write about which are usually about home and what they like I mean it was
always focused around hockey. You know playing hockey and how it makes him
feel and those sort of things, so he seemed to be you know really you know enjoying
the whole aspect of it... (1002, In 18—28, p.8)

0 Child accomplishments contributed to enjoyment

I.

I think it was extremely high. She was really proud of her accomplishments, but yet
she was never a kid to brag or you know be a show-off or anything. (032, In 5-11.

133)

...she seemed to enjoy that summer... She was about as happy as I have seen her...
she played a couple all-star games. She enjoyed those. . .(012, In 4-22, p.12)

0 Child liked sport and competition

I.

I would say it was quite high. She was very active in school and enjoyed it. (022, In
30-35. p.8

234

2. I think it was high, real high. . ..Well he liked the sport and he liked the competition
and stuff like that. (082.1n I621, p.7)

3. he was a good student and be thoroughly enjoyed the sport... (052, In 27-37, p.9)
4. He deﬁnitely enjoyed sports. . .(092,ln 30-36, p.7)
0 Child had ability

1. I’d say his level of enjoyment would have been high. just because of his ability
and the things he was able to do at the game. He was able to do things a lot of other
kids at his level didn’t do and you know he was kind of the focal point, center of
attention for the team I think he enjoyed that. (092,ln 3036, p.7)

2. ...gave him conﬁdence that he was a competent kid. (1002, In 18-28, p.8)
0 Child liked being on a team/friends

l. . . .she seemed to enjoy herself, being with her friends and being active. (O62,In 37-
42, p.8)

2. ...A lot of his friends they played three sports. . .. many of his friends they played
soccer then basketball, then baseball. (052, In 27-37, p.9)

3. ...belonging to a team and you know feeling that they had a success (1002, In 18-28.
M)

0 Child enjoyed sports but had other interests

1. I think that I would have to say that it was balanced. I mean she had been doing it for
a long time and there was a lot of pressure coming up for kids in middle school and
high school to be a state champion or be a conference champion or something and
it’s not just the parents it’s the coaches, you know what I’m saying everywhere and I
just have to say she rose to the challenge of that and but she’s a very intelligent
person and at some point she started realizing that she has a great deal of other
interests that she wants to do and her identity doesn’t need to be all tied up in how
accomplished she is an athlete. So I think that you know swimming started to wind
down, she was ready for it to end. And I think that polo she must have been
enjoying it because she then goes off to college and plays. . .So I think it was. it was a
balanced part of her life and what she wanted to do. (1102, In 24-42, p.9)

General Dimension: Perceptions of child’s motivation to continue in sport
0 Impacted career choice
1. Well as I said, she went and got her degree in Sport Psychology and then she went up to

Michigan State and got her degree in oh what do you call it? Kinesiology. And I don’t
think if we hadn’t gotten her in sports she would’ve gone in that direction. (012, In 24-35,

p. 13)

2. I think it’s probably quite a bit because, ...you know she went into that ﬁeld. so I think it
had a lot to do with it. (022,ln 28-33, p.8)

3. He has a very strong desire to be a basketball coach. And he tried to get a job with __
and they’ve been putting him off and putting him off, as just a manager and he’s been

235

trying for a couple of years now and they don’t tell him no but they don’t give him the
job either. I don’t know what’s going on there, but he has very strong desire and he
actually I think did coach a YMCA team once when he was in high school. So yeah he
has I think that’s a positive experience that he got out of you know having me be his
coach and just his love for the game. (072. In 10-19, p. 9)

Well I just I think it gave him an appreciation for sports baseball in particular and just his
outlook towards the game. I and I’ve seen him work with his brothers and other people
and I just think you know I look at him and I just see a lot of positive things that I think
have come from you know our shared experiences. He would like to do some coaching.
(092,In 3943, p.8)

0 Built a foundation for later sport participation

1.

You know today she isn’t involved in it,so. . ..it built the foundation for the whole thing.
You know her and I, that was something that we did together. It’s like you know you
might compare it to building a sand castle, you know it was just something that was very
tangible and she you know you read in the newspapers and in the books Daith and
Ritzenheimer and Marion Jones and you always read that they worked and they sacriﬁced
and they worked, well so did this child, but not everybody gets there. And she struggles
with the fact that’s she’s not I think.(032, In 40-7, p. 8-9)

I would like to think the positive experience that she and I had as coach and player and
father and daughter kind of ﬂowed through and, and expanded upon her willingness to
participate in the sport and her liking of the sport and wanting to go continue on and play
for other people and expand her skills.(042, In 35-38, p.8)

...you know we supported him in what he wanted to do and again you know the majority
of his friends were also in sport and then when he went on to college and you know he
wanted to try to play soccer and you know we encouraged him but you know also let him
know that you know studies came ﬁrst and if he didn’t succeed you know hey he gave it
a try but he wouldn’t know if he didn’t try. Fortunately things went well for him and he
played four years in college but again there’s just that happy medium you know support
without pushing too hard. (052, In 39-45, p.10)

Well I think you know he’s one that I’ve always told even when he was young that he
would be a good coach someday because you know he had you know a good
understanding of the game, a real strength in being able to you know access abilities and
you know be able to communicate what needs to be done and demonstrated so you know
I think you know at some point he would like to you know coach, maybe not, he doesn’t
have any kids or anything, but you know at some point just to coach some kids and give
back to you know the community a little bit, which I think would be good and probably if
he ever does have kids, I’m sure that will be something that if his son is interested in
hockey or whatever the situation is. he’ll want to be involved. (1002. In 25-33, p.9)

...um she’s involved in sports so it couldn’t be anything negative. (062, In 28-33, p.9)

It must of carried over because they all like sports. Yeah he continued to play sports in
baseball and football, but like I told you about his football experience when he broke his
ankle. He was the leading running at the time. I was kinda hoping he would go to the
university there and try out for the football team, but he didn’t. He wanted to deliver
pizzas, so (laughing) (082, In 21-31, p.8)

She goes twice a week now and just to play pick up games with friends so now it, in

college it was competitive plus it was a group of friends and now it’s more just a group of
friends to stay in shape. She works out regularly too so she likes to stay ﬁt and so

236

 

athletics you know we all grow old you know and it’s easy for us to fall apart ...I think
taking care of themselves as a priority which she seems to have and I drink that her
athletics contributed to which is a hugely positive thing. You know you can just take that
to the bank. So I would have to say that it was a very positive thing. (1102, In 24-42, p.9)

237

APPENDDC H

UCRIHS Approval Letter

238

 

 

OFFICE or
RESEARCH
ETHICS AND
STANDARDS

rsltv Committee on
Research involving
Human Settled:

higan State University
202 Olds Hall

East Lansing, MI
48824

517/355-2180
FAX; 517/432-4503

Web:
manresearchmsuedu
nail. ucrins@msu.edu

I Is an allimetrve-aclron.
rl-opoonunrty Institution.

Renewal
Application
Approval

MICHIGAN STATE

UNIVERSITY

 

April 8, 2005

T01 Martha E. Ewing
138 lm Sports Circle
Msu

Re: IRB # 04-347
Renewal Approval Date:
Project Expiration Date:

Category: EXPEDITED 2-6
April a, 2005
April 7, 2006

Title: PARENT-COACH AND CHILD—ATHLETE RETROSPECTIVE PERCEPTIONS OF THE DUAL
ROLE IN YOUTH SPORT

The University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) has completed their review of
your project. I am pleased to advise you that the renewal has been approved.

Revision to include a change to the project title.

The review by the committee has found that your renewal is consistent with the continued protection of the
rights and welfare of human subjects. and meets the requirements of MSU‘s Federal Wide Assurance and the
Federal Guidelines (45 CFR 46 and 21 CFR Part 50). The protection of human subjects in research is a
partnership between the RB and the investigators. We look forward to working with you as we both fulﬁll our
responsibilities.

Renewals: UCRIHS approval is valid until the expiration date listed above. If you are continuing your project.
you must submit an Application for Renewal application at least one month before expiration. if the project is
completed. please submit an Application for Permanent Closure.

Revisions: UCRIHS must review any changes in the project. prior to initiation of the change. Please submit an
Application for Revision to have your changes reviewed. if changes are made at the time of renewal. please
include an Application for Revision with the renewal application.

Problems: it issues should arise during the conduct of the research. such as unanticipated problems. adverse
events. or any problem that may increase the risk to the human subjects, notify UCRIHS promptly. Forms are
available to report these issues.

Please use the RB number listed above on any forms submitted which relate to this project. or on any
correspondence with UCRIHS.

Good luck in your research. if we can be of further assistance, please contact us at 517-355-2180 or via email
at UCRIHS@msu.ﬁu. Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely.

e/zz

Peter Vasilenko, PhD.

UCRIHS Chair
0: Peggy McCann
205 N Circle

239

 

OFFICE OF
RESEARCH
ETHICS AND
STANDARDS

rersity Committee on
Research involving
Roman Subjects

licnrgan State University
202 Olds Hall

East Lansmg, MI

48824

517/355-2180
FAX; 517/4324503

vwmsuedu/user/ucrins
-Marl: ucnns©msu edu

S U 15 an affirmative-action,
uair opportunity institution.

MICHIGAN STATE

UNIVERSITY

May 18. 2004

TO: Martha E. EWING
138 M Sports Circle
MSU

RE: IRB# 04-347 CATEGORY: EXPEDITED 2-6

APPROVAL DATE: May 18, 2004
EXPIRATION DATE May 18, 2005

TITLE: The dual role of parent as coach and its impact on the parent and child dyadic
relationship

The University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects' (UCRIHS) review of this

project is complete and i am pleased to advise that the rights and welfare of the human

subjects appear to be adequately protected and methods to obtain informed consent are

appropriate. Therefore. the UCRIHS approved this project.

RENEWALS: UCRIHS approval is valid until the expiration date listed above. Projects
continuing beyond this date must be renewed with the renewal form. A maximum of four such
expedited renewals are possible. Investigators wishing to continue a project beyond that time
need to submit a 5-year application for a complete review.

REVISIONS: UCRIHS must review any changes in procedures involving human subjects, prior
to initiation of the change. If this is done at the time of renewal, please include a revision form
with the renewal. To revise an approved protocol at any other time during the year. send your
written request with an attached revision cover sheet to the UCRIHS Chair, requesting revised
approval and referencing the project's IRB# and title. Include in your request a description of
the change and any revised instruments, consent forms or advertisements that are applicable.
PROBLEMS/CHANGES: Should either of the following arise during the course of the work,
notify UCRIHS promptly: 1) problems (unexpected side effects, complaints, etc.) involving
human subjects or 2) changes in the research environment or new information indicating
greater risk to the human subjects than existed when the protocol was previously reviewed and
approved.

If we can be of further assistance. please contact us at (517) 355-2180 or via email:
UCRIHS@msu.edu. Please note that all UCRIHS forms are located on the web:
http://www.humanresearch.msu.edu

Sincerely,

M.

Peter Vasilenko, PhD.

UCRIHS Chair

PV: jm

cc: Peggy McCann
205 IM Circle

240

 

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