Date of Award

1999

Degree Name

EdD Doctor of Education

Dissertation Committee

Susan M. Zgliczynski, PhD, Director; Ronn Johnson, PhD; Robert Mechikoff, PhD

Keywords

athlete satisfaction, California, community colleges, gender, higher education, Leadership studies, soccer coaches

Abstract

Community college coaches and athletes completed the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), to assess the leadership practices of coaches of various sports. Soccer coaches and their athletes were also surveyed to assess the impact of the congruence of leadership practices ratings upon athlete satisfaction. Two samples were taken from Spring and Fall, 1998 sports: (a) 225 full-time head coaches of team sports in which there was a male and female equivalent in California's community colleges, and (b) 280 men's and women's soccer athletes. The descriptive statistics conducted indicated that there were more similarities than differences between the male and female coaches, as well as coaches from different sports. Male soccer athletes' ratings of their coaches were lower, on all five leadership practices, than their coaches' ratings of themselves. While conversely, female soccer athletes' ratings of their coaches were higher, on all five LPI leadership practices, than their coaches' ratings of themselves. Male and female community college coaches (of the team sports surveyed) are similar in their leadership practices. However, the gender of athletes indicated the most satisfaction of female athletes with their female coaches.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Education

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