2021 Volume 253 Issue 3 Pages 191-198
Communication between parents and their children’s coaches is important for children’s sports activities, but the relationship between parents and coaches is not well understood. It is possible that parents feel a lack of communication with coaches, which could be due to parents’ experience with sports activities or the social environment of the team. This study aimed to elucidate the characteristics of parents who feel a lack of communication with their children’s coaches of youth sports. A cross-sectional study was conducted on parents of young athletes (n = 6,641) and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess factors related to parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with their children’s coaches. Among the respondents, 29.4% of parents felt a lack of communication with their children’s coaches. The factors related to the parents’ feeling were a shorter duration of their children playing the present sport, an absence of experience playing the same sport as their children or playing in a team with high competition level, dissatisfaction with their children’s attitude towards sports activities, and an awareness of verbal and/or physical abuse by the coaches and bullying by the teammates in their children’s team. Parents’ previous sports experience and awareness of interpersonal violence in their children’s team were associated with their feeling of a lack of communication with coaches. Educating parents on the sport and their roles in youth sport is necessary to make appropriate mutual communication between parents and coaches, which could lead to better circumstances for young athletes.
Participation in sports has many positive effects on the physical and mental health of children and adolescents (Chan et al. 2012). Through sports activities, children can also improve their self-esteem, learn about cooperation, and engage in team building (Cusimano et al. 2016). However, participation in sports can become a potential source of stress for children and adolescents that can arise from an overemphasis on winning, negative relationships with coaches, parents, or teammates, and interpersonal violence (Ommundsen et al. 2006; Vertommen et al. 2016). These conditions typically lead to children dropping out from sports activities (Fraser-Thomas et al. 2008; Vitali et al. 2015; Yabe et al. 2019b). Therefore, it is important to create positive sports environments in which young athletes enjoy their experience and are motivated to continue participating, and both coaches and parents are considered to have a great influence on their experience (Chan et al. 2012).
Coaches can facilitate an enjoyable experience for young athletes and also encourage them to take up more challenging activities (Møllerløkken et al. 2017). However, coaches can also induce anxiety or stress in these athletes (Mountjoy et al. 2016). In particular, verbal or physical abuse of young athletes is a serious negative behavior seen among coaches (Vertommen et al. 2016; Yabe et al. 2018). At the same time, parents can also work to create a healthy sports environment for their children (Blom et al. 2013); parental support is related to young athletes’ enjoyment, motivation, and continuation of sports participation (Gardner et al. 2016). Further, parents are responsible for interpreting sports experience for their children and buffering negative sport-related emotions for young athletes (Kerr and Stirling 2012).
Interpersonal relationships among the parents, coaches, and athletes are considered to be important for youth sports and are referred to as the athletic triangle (Wylleman 2000). There have been some reports concerning the relations between coaches or parents and young athletes (Blom et al. 2013; Gardner et al. 2016). Communication between parents and coaches is also considered important but is not well studied. Since coaches can affect young athletes positively or negatively, parents should get associated with their children’s sports activities and especially create a positive relationship with the coaches. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to elucidate the characteristics of parents who felt a lack of communication with coaches of their children’s sports team. We hypothesized that some parents may feel a lack of communication with coaches owing to the parents’ experience or a lack of experience with sports activities or the environment of the teams to which their children belong, especially concerning interpersonal violence. Clarifying the factors associated with parent-coach communication is meaningful for creating positive sports environments for young athletes.
A cross-sectional study was conducted with parents of young athletes on youth sports teams from the Miyagi Amateur Sports Association. Various sports teams belong to this association, with 25,469 young athletes registered to these teams (ages 6-15 years). This study was one part of a comprehensive survey of young athletes, parents, and coaches to investigate their sports activities, challenges, and opinions. The coaches are usually residents of the area who instruct the young athletes on a volunteer basis. A self-reported questionnaire and informed consent form were mailed to all parents whose children were members of these sports teams in October 2014 (n = 25,469). By December 2014, 6,813 parents (response rate of 26.8%) replied to the questionnaire and provided written consent. Participants with missing data for the questionnaire section pertaining to a lack of communication with coaches were excluded (n = 172), with 6,641 parents finally included in this study (Fig. 1). The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee for Research of Human Subject at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine (approval number: 2013-564).
Flow chart of the study process.
Parents’ perception of their level of communication with their children’s coaches was assessed using the following question: “Do you think you have good communication with the coaches of the team?” The response options were “yes, strongly,” “yes, adequate,” “no, inadequate,” and “no, strongly”. If the response to the question was “no, inadequate” or “no, strongly,” the parents were regarded as having “a lack of communication with coaches.” This question was used to assess whether the parents can talk to and exchange their opinions with the coaches without any hesitation.
The following information was gathered using a self-reported questionnaire and categorized according to the previous report: sex, age, education level, working status, number of years that their children have been playing the present sport for, satisfaction with their children’s attitude toward sports activities, previous experience playing the same sports as their children, previous experience playing in a team with high competition level during junior or senior high school, experience of verbal abuse by their former coaches, and experience of physical abuse by their former coaches (Yabe et al. 2019a). In addition to the outcomes described above, awareness of verbal and/or physical abuse by the coaches and awareness of bullying by the teammates in their children’s team were also enquired by a self-reported questionnaire using the following questions: “Do you think that coaches yell at young athletes on your children’s team?,” “Do you think that coaches hit or kick young athletes on your children’s team?,” and “Do you think there is bullying by your child’s teammates?”. The response options were “yes,” “no,” and “I do not know”. Further, these were categorized into two groups, absence (response “no” or “I do not know”) or presence, (response “yes”), respectively.
Statistical analysesVariables are presented as numbers and percentages (%). Multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches. Variables included in the model were sex (female, male, or unknown), age (< 40 years, ≥ 40 years, or unknown), education level (high school or less, college or higher, or unknown), working status (unemployed, employed, or unknown), number of years that their children have been playing the present sports for (< 1 year, 1 to < 3 years, 3 to < 5 years, ≥ 5 years, or unknown), satisfaction with their children’s attitude towards sports activities (satisfied, unsatisfied, or unknown), experience playing the same sports as their children (absence, presence, or unknown), experience playing on a team with a high competition level during their junior or senior high school days (absence, presence, or unknown), experience of verbal abuse by their former coaches (absence, presence, or unknown), experience of physical abuse by their former coaches (absence, presence, or unknown), awareness of verbal abuse by the coaches of their children’s team (absence, presence, or unknown), awareness of physical abuse by the coaches of their children’s team (absence, presence, or unknown), and awareness of bullying by their children’s teammates (absence, presence, or unknown). Further, we divided the participants into two subgroups by sex (male and female) and examined the association between parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches and variables in the same manner. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 24.0 (SPSS Japan Inc., Tokyo, Japan), and a p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
The baseline characteristics of participants are presented in Table 1. Their average age was 40.1 years, and 76.3% were female. Among the respondents, 29.7%, 4.1%, and 7.2% were aware of verbal abuse by coaches, physical abuse by coaches, and bullying by their children’s teammates, respectively (Table 1). The proportion of parents who felt a lack of communication with their children’s coaches was 29.4% (1,950/6,641). Table 2 presents the associations between parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches and the other variables. The number of years that children had been playing their present sport for was significantly associated with the parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches. Using “≥ 5 years” as a reference, the adjusted ORs (95% CIs) were 1.51 (1.26-1.82) in “3 to < 5 years,” 2.16 (1.82-2.57) in “1 to < 3 years,” and 3.26 (2.64-4.01) in “< 1 year,” groups, respectively (p for trend < 0.001). Satisfaction with children’s attitude towards sports activities also had a significant association with the parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches. Using “satisfied” as a reference, the adjusted OR (95% CI) was 1.43 (1.23-1.67) for “unsatisfied”. Further, parents’ experience of playing the same sports as their children and previous experience playing on a team with a high competition level had a significant association with parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches; using “presence” as a reference, the adjusted ORs (95% CI) were 1.67 (1.46-1.92) and 1.32 (1.17-1.50) for “absence,” respectively. Finally, parents’ awareness of verbal and physical abuse by coaches and bullying by their children’s teammates were significantly associated with parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches; with “absence” as a reference, the adjusted ORs (95% CI) were 1.77 (1.57-2.00), 1.52 (1.17-1.99), and 1.75 (1.44-2.14) for “presence,” respectively (Table 2). In the subgroup analysis, the proportion of parents who felt a lack of communication with their childrens’ coaches was 24.6% (384/1,564) in male and 30.9% (1,563/5,066) in female. When comparing the difference between the results in male and female parents, age was significantly associated with the parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches in the male group, but not in the female group. Contrastingly, awareness of physical abuse by coaches was significantly associated with the parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches in the female group and not in the male group. In the other variables analyzed, similar results with the whole participants were shown (Tables 3 and 4).
Participant’s baseline characteristics.
Because each item has a limited number of respondents, the actual number is not necessarily in accordance with the total.
Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with the coaches and variables.
Because each item has a limited number of respondents, the actual number is not necessarily in accordance with the total.
Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for male parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with the coaches and variables.
Because each item has a limited number of respondents, the actual number is not necessarily in accordance with the total.
Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for female parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with the coaches and variables.
Because each item has a limited number of respondents, the actual number is not necessarily in accordance with the total.
The present study revealed that children playing their present sports for a shorter duration, parents’ absence of experience playing the same sports as their children or playing on a team with a high competition level during their junior or senior high school, parents’ dissatisfaction with their children’s attitude towards sports activities, and parents’ awareness of verbal and/or physical abuse by coaches and bullying by their children’s teammates were significantly associated with parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches.
Parents’ relationships with coaches have a significant influence on the youth sports environment (Blom et al. 2013). Parents understand their children’s perception of the sport and can share relevant information about their children with coaches (Harwood and Knight 2015). Good relationships between parents and coaches are associated with greater enjoyment and continuation of participation for young athletes (Gardner et al. 2016; Lisinskiene et al. 2019). Further, parents can also assist coaches by accepting the coaches’ authority and helping their children to resolve the occasional conflicts or frustrations with their coaches (Harwood and Knight 2015). To create a positive relationship between parents and coaches and a healthy sports environment, communication is extremely important. However, the present study demonstrated that as many as 29.4% of parents felt that they did not have good communication with coaches of their children’s sports team. Since a lack of communication between parents and coaches has the potential to negatively affect their relationships and the sports environment, it is important to understand the characteristics of parents who feel a lack of communication with coaches.
As far as we know, there are no reports on the factors related to communication between parents and coaches. Shorter duration of the child’s involvement with the sport and parents’ absence of experience playing the same sports as their children or playing on a team with high competition level during junior or senior high school were associated with their feeling of a lack of communication with coaches. Blom et al. (2013) reported that parents’ interest in their children’s sports activities was variable and depended on their degree of involvement in the sport. It is reasonable that parents who are not familiar with their children’s sport are likely to be less interested, which could result in a lack of communication with the coaches regarding the sport. Further, parents’ dissatisfaction with their children’s attitude towards sports activities was associated with their lack of communication with coaches. These parents may also lose interest in their children’s sports activities and not effectively communicate with the coaches. Parents can enjoy their children’s sports activities more if they understand the sports, including the basic rules, skills, and strategies involved (Smoll et al. 2011). Providing valuable resources on sports such as lectures or educational materials is considered to promote a parent’s interest in their children’s sports activities (Smoll et al. 2011), which also promotes better communication with coaches. Further, establishing occasions for parents and coaches to gather, such as regular meetings, is useful to promote effective communication (Blom et al. 2013).
Awareness of verbal and physical abuse by coaches in the children’s team was associated with parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches. A previous study reported that 21.5% of parents considered that abuse was necessary to improve the abilities of young athletes, while others did not accept such behaviors (Yabe et al. 2019a). The results of the present study may indicate that some parents keep themselves from establishing relationships with coaches due to the coaches’ harmful behaviors such as abuse. In particular, parents who were unsatisfied with their children’s attitude towards sports activities may not make their opinions known to coaches and will tolerate such abusive behaviors. Additionally, parents’ awareness of bullying by their children’s teammates was associated with their feeling of a lack of communication with the coaches. Such parents may also avoid establishing relationships with their children’s team and coaches.
In the stratified analysis, 30.9% of female parents had a feeling of a lack of communication with coaches, which was higher compared to 24.6% in male parents even though no significant difference was noted in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Further, although similar results with whole participants were shown in each group, higher age was significantly associated with the parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches in male parents and not in female parents. In addition, awareness of physical abuse by coaches was significantly associated with the parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches in the female group, but not in the male group. Some variables were anticipated to show these differences, and the distribution of the ages and sex of the coaches was expected to affect the results. Further, male parents had higher rates of experience of playing the same sports as their children and playing in a team with a high competition level, and a greater experience of verbal and physical abuse by their former coaches compared to female parents, which were also considered potential reasons for the difference between male and female parents.
Some coaches use controlling coaching styles and verbal and/or physical abuse to toughen athletes (Kerr and Stirling 2012). These strategies are known to be harmful for athletes (Mountjoy et al. 2016). Bullying from teammates is also a negative aspect of sports activities (Stafford et al. 2013, 2015). In this study, 29.7%, 4.1%, and 7.2% of parents were aware of the presence of verbal abuse by the coaches, physical abuse by the coaches, and bullying by the teammates in their children’s team, respectively. Parents have a role in supporting their children in resolving conflicts by giving advice and buffering negative emotions (Kerr and Stirling 2012; O’Rourke et al. 2014; Harwood and Knight 2015). However, as parents’ awareness of abuse by coaches or bullying by teammates was associated with their feeling of a lack of communication with the coaches, it is possible that parents become silent bystanders to interpersonal violence, and their non-intervention can possibly encourage such violence (Kerr and Stirling 2012). Educating parents on their role in youth sports is necessary to create a healthy sports environment and healthy relationship with coaches. Parents should recognize interpersonal violence in sports as problematic and share their concerns with the coaches.
The present study had some limitations. First, this study used self-reported questionnaires, which were answered by parents. The reliability and validity of the questionnaires were not confirmed in this study, which may have a negative implication on the accuracy of the results. Further, the recognition of communication with coaches or abuse differed among participants, which may have also affected the results and should be defined clearly in future studies. Second, the response rate was not high, probably because participants were asked to mail their questionnaires. The responders may have had a high awareness of their children’s sports activity, which would have lowered the proportion of parents having a lack of communication with coaches. Third, this study was conducted in 2014 in Miyagi Prefecture in Japan, which is an area that had been heavily damaged by a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The disaster influenced the peoples’ lives and emotions strongly and might have affected the results of this study. Further, youth sport environment is considered subject to change due to social situations and it is uncertain that the findings of this study will be applicable to the current and forthcoming environment young athletes are usually in. Finally, this study included parents of children involved in youth sports in Japan, and it is not clear whether the results of this study can be generalized to other countries in the world.
In conclusion, parents’ previous experience with sports, the number of years their children had been playing the sport, children’s attitude towards sports activities, and parents’ awareness of interpersonal violence in the team were associated with parents’ feeling of a lack of communication with coaches.
This study was performed as part of the Miyagi Sports Medical Projects and supported by Asahi Breweries. We would like to thank Editage (http://www.editage.jp) for English language editing. This study was funded by Asahi Soft Drink Co., Ltd.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
