The Youth Soccer Coaches’ Visions and Thoughts of Leader Support

Introduction Voluntary involvement in sports coaching in local communities is widespread within Europe. In the European Commission’s (2010) Eurobarometer on sport and physical activity, 7% of respondents indicated that they gave their time to these activities. In Sweden, the rate was 18% which, together with Finland, was the highest level in the European Union. Sport is an important part of many people’s lives in Sweden, and children’s and young people’s sport is a central component of youth politics in the country (Peterson, 2008). Compared to countries such as the USA, Canada and the UK, where sport is strongly connected to the school system, Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries have a culture of sport clubs based on voluntary leadership (Toftegaard Stöckel et al., 2010). In 2014, almost 70% of Swedish children aged 7-14 years report belonging to a sports club and Sweden had approximately 755,000 voluntary trainers, coaches, leaders and board members spread across The Objectives: The European Commission has highlighted the use of sports as an important venue for engaging citizens in health-enhancing activities, physical activity, volunteerism and active citizenship. Coaching is a central component of sports for children and youth, but there is little research on the promotion of sports coaches’ health. In the light of this gap, the aim of this paper was to elucidate youth soccer coaches’ visions and thoughts regarding leadership support from clubs and soccer associations. Design and method: The study was based on an online questionnaire conducted with Swedish soccer coaches who coached children and young people between 6 and 18 years of age. In total, 1514 coaches received the online questionnaire via email and 764 coaches (50.5% of the sample) answered. Three hundred and seventy-five coaches answered the open question: ‘How would you describe the support you, as a coach, would like to receive from clubs and associations?’ Responses were analysed using method. Results: Four main themes emerged from the analysis: financial and other resources support, recognition of contribution, sense of belonging to a value-based association and positive coach development. Conclusion: We discuss the factors that support soccer coaches and how these can serve as health-promoting supports for coaches working with children and youth. health promotion, coach support, sports for all, youth sports, qualitative analysis