Social support networks and resources among South African sports coaches

Abstract

Although few studies have investigated the structure and forms of social support among sports coaches in other countries, such information is sparse within the South African context. The aim of this study was two-fold: (i) to develop and validate a Social Support Scale for Coaches (SSSC) and (ii) to investigate coaches’ perceptions of social networks and available relevant social support resources. Data were collected from a sample of 449 sports coaches using the SSSC. The Principal Component Analysis showed that the data were suitable, with all factor loadings greater than 0.30 and a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value higher than 0.60. Furthermore, the factorability of the correlation matrix was supported by the statistical significance of Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity. The overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the SSSC was above 0.70, demonstrating the questionnaire’s internal consistency reliability. The findings indicate that coaches most frequently sought support for the following issues: tactics (M = 4.09, SD = 0.94), team selection (M = 4.04, SD = 0.99), lack of recognition (M = 4.03, SD = 1.00), preparation for competitions (M = 4.01, SD = 0.88), planning training sessions (M = 3.98, SD = 0.94), and handling injured players (M = 3.97, SD = 0.94). The findings underscore the importance of strengthening social support systems to enhance coaches’ well-being and the overall success of sporting activities. Sports federations can play a pivotal role by implementing strategies that foster strong social support networks to improve coaches’ wellbeing and productivity.