The Relationship between Perceived Coach's Competence Support, Task Orientation, Self-Efficacy and Engagement of Chinese High School Football Players

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between perceived coach’s competence support, task orientation, self-efficacy and engagement of Chinese high school football players from a competency motivation perspective. A cross-sectional survey of 385 Chinese high school football players (228 boys; 157 girls; Mage = 16.07 years; SD = 1.15; range = 14-19 years) was conducted using proportional stratified random sampling. A multivariate mediation model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) to investigate the relationships of perceived coaching competency support on athlete engagement directly, or indirectly through task orientation and self-efficacy. Perceived coach’s competence support positively predicted athlete engagement through task orientation and self-efficacy (β = .116, p < 0.01; β = .112, p < 0.01), and perceived coach’s competence support positively predicted self-efficacy through task orientation, and then positively predicted athlete engagement (β = .045, p < 0.01). Moreover, perceived coach’s competency support also directly and positively predicted athlete engagement (β = .135, p < 0.01). The results showed that task orientation and self-efficacy played a partial mediating role between competence-supportive coaching behavior and athlete engagement (β = .272, p < 0.01). This study shows that perceived coach’s competency support not only directly predicts athlete engagement, but also indirectly predicts athlete engagement through the multi-mediated chain of task orientation and self-efficacy. This speaks volumes about the need to develop competence-supportive techniques among high school football coaches in order to maximize athletes’ motivation and engagement.