Leveraging Sport as a Context for Character Development

Coach education and training on character development can improve young people’s sport experiences. However, less well understood is the prevalence of coaches trained on character-building strategies and whether those that participate in and value training on these topics have higher self-efficacy and success as a coach (e.g., defined by their satisfaction, likelihood to continue coaching, and career win percentages). Our study gathered cross-sectional survey data from 3,669 coaches in the state of Ohio. We first examined descriptive statistics to assess coaches’ prior training participation and current interests in two character-education training topics: (a) life-skill development through sport; and (b) morals and ethics. Next, we used MANOVA and follow-up post hoc analyses to examine associations among prior training participation and interests and coaches’ self-efficacy and indicators of success as a coach. Coaches who reported they had participated in trainings on life-skill development through sport and morals and ethics reported significantly higher levels of self-efficacy, satisfaction, and career win percentages than coaches who did not report prior participation in these training topics. Furthermore, coaches expressing greater interest and a desire for more training in these character education-related topics reported higher satisfaction levels and a greater likelihood of continuing coaching than those with no interest. Our findings have several important implications regarding coach education and advance our understanding of how character development training that focuses on more than the Xs and Os can benefit coaches.