A067: Improving Children's Community-Based Sports Coaching Service Quality

In recent years, children’s community-based sports coaching has experienced rapid growth due to its convenience, safety, and tailored approach. However, parents’ trust in the quality of coaching services significantly impacts development. This study, grounded in the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model, examines how service quality (stimulus) influences parental trust (organism) and their intention to utilize such services (response) from the perspective of parental trust. It analyzes existing service issues and proposes measures to enhance service quality, offering practical guidance for institutions and coaches. Method: This study combined the use of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. First, questionnaires were distributed to 300 parents to collect their evaluations of service quality, including professionalism, process standardization, communication effectiveness, and service outcomes. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data, examining the impact of service quality (stimulus) on parental trust and satisfaction (organism), and how these internal states influence behavioral intentions (response). Second, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 staff members from various institutions to gain deeper insights into the operational models and existing issues of community-based sports coaching services. The questionnaire and interview results revealed several issues in current community-based sports coaching services: Lack of transparency in coach qualifications; non-standardized service processes; insufficient communication between coaches and trainees; and Absence of evaluation mechanisms for training effectiveness. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis demonstrated that service quality significantly influenced parental internal intention. Specifically, the quality of coaching services had a positive effect on parents' trust. Parental trust significantly enhances parents' intention to continue using the services (β = 0.52, p < 0.01) and their intention to recommend them (β = 0.48, p < 0.01). The findings indicate that improving the service quality of community sports coaches can significantly boost parental trust and satisfaction, thereby increasing their willingness to continue using the services. Therefore, sports training institutions should establish a coach certification system, enhance the standardization of courses, strengthen communication between coaches and children, and introduce third-party evaluation mechanisms. These measures hold significant practical importance for improving parental trust and satisfaction.