Comparing Sport Coaches’ and Administrators’ Perceptions of the National Standards for Sport Coaches

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of sport coaches and administrators regarding the eight domains and 40 stan- dards contained in the National Standards for Sport Coaches (NSSC). Data were primarily obtained from junior high school, high school, and college-level sport coaches (n = 308) and sport administrators (n = 99) in the United States. The results indicated that sport coaches and administrators believe the 40 standards are important to effective coaches. The results also showed that sport coaches and administrators rank the importance of the eight domains with a high degree of simi- larity. These results represent a timely, multisample examination of the NSSC, and the results of this research help to ensure that coaching education is aligned with the current perceptions and needs of sport coaches and administrators. The results of this research also can be used as a starting point for upcoming revisions to the NSSC.