Stressors in sports coaching: a survey of South African sports coaches

Sports coaching is a highly stressful profession due to the variety of responsibilities and expectations placed on coaches. The purpose of this study was to assess the sources of this stress among sports coaches in South Africa. The sample consisted of 449 sports coaches (age: 34.6 ± 6.21 years; 274 males and 175 females) who volunteered to participate in the study by responding to the Stressors in Sports Coaching Questionnaire. The results showed that the most important environmental stressors encountered by sports coaches were “condition of playing surface” (M = 4.00, SD = 0.89), “poorly planned travelling arrangements” (M = 4.45, SD = 0.80), “distraction while training and/or competing” (M = 4.46, SD = 0.81), “job insecurity” (M = 4.49, SD = 0.81), and “unsafe competition arena” (M = 4.15, SD = 0.68). The major performance-related stressors faced by sports coaches were “being blamed for poor results” (M = 4.09, SD = 0.72) and “high expectation to win” (M = 4.23, SD = 0.87). Of the task-related stressors, “performing multiple roles (selection, scouting, etc.)” (M = 3.93, SD = 0.71) and “making an important decision which later I realised was wrong” (M = 3.95, SD = 0.78) were reported as most important. These results emphasise the need for coaches to develop psychological skills to help manage the many demands of coaching and thus reduce their stress levels.