Female basketball players' perception of their coach

Abstract

This study analyses the perceptions of athletes towards their respective coaches, discussing coach-athlete relationships, and understanding how a number of athletes can reach excellence through good and constant communication as well as signs from the coach showing that he cares and believes in them. These perceptions may affect the way they perform, interact, and socialize within the team. The study aims at discovering what these perceptions are, how they affect performance and attitude, and which qualities are valued in the perception of an 'ideal' coach. The most recurrent reasons for these various perceptions are lack of interest from the coach and sometimes also lack of motivation. This study consists of seventy four questionnaires handed out to female basketball athletes and an interview to two coaches selected from two teams who completed the questionnaire. Throughout this study one can see that building and maintaining a successful team is no simple task Even coaches who have taken their teams to the highest levels in their field have difficulty recreating what accounted for their successes. It could have been the strong work ethic or even the team chemistry but so many things happen throughout the season that it is difficult to know which of the occurrences had left that great impact on the team and in some cases which qualities may have been of negative influence on the team.