Competencies That Japanese Collegiate Sports Coaches Require for Dual-Career Support for Student Athletes

Goichi Hagiwara; Kayoko Kurita; Shinichi Warisawa; Satori Hachisuka; Jim Ueda; Kensuke Ehara; Katsuhiko Ishikawa; Kosei Inoue; Daisuke Akiyama; Masakatsu Nakada; Masafumi Fujii

doi:10.3390/ijerph191811503

Competencies That Japanese Collegiate Sports Coaches Require for Dual-Career Support for Student Athletes

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 13;19(18):11503. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191811503.

Authors

Goichi Hagiwara^{1

2}, Kayoko Kurita³, Shinichi Warisawa², Satori Hachisuka⁴, Jim Ueda⁵, Kensuke Ehara⁶, Katsuhiko Ishikawa⁷, Kosei Inoue⁸, Daisuke Akiyama¹, Masakatsu Nakada⁹, Masafumi Fujii¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sport Science and Health, Kyushu Sangyo University, 2-3-1 Matsukadai, Higashiku, Fukuoka City 813-8503, Fukuoka, Japan.
² Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa City 277-8582, Chiba, Japan.
³ Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan.
⁴ Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa City 277-8582, Chiba, Japan.
⁵ Faculty of Sociology, Otemon Gakuin University, 2-1-15 Nishiai, Ibaraki City 567-8502, Osaka, Japan.
⁶ Faculty of Business, Hannan University, 5-4-33 Amamihigashi, Matsubara 580-8502, Osaka, Japan.
⁷ Office of Management and Planning, Osaka University, 1-1 Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871, Osaka, Japan.
⁸ Department of Judo and Kendo, Tokai University, 4-1-1 Kitakaname, Hiratsuka City 259-1292, Kanagawa, Japan.
⁹ Department of Physical Education, School of Liberal Arts and General Education, National Defense Academy, 1-10-20 Hashirimizu, Yokosuka-City 239-8686, Kanagawa, Japan.
¹⁰ Faculty of Sports and Budo Coaching Studies, National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, 1 Shiromizu-cho, Kanoya 891-2393, Kagoshima, Japan.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify coaches' competencies (COM) regarding dual-career (DC) support for student athletes in Japan. The questionnaire survey was conducted at 31 universities with an online survey URL that was distributed to 300 collegiate athletic coaches. In total, there were 152 respondents (female, 19; male, 133; mean age, 43.15 ± 12.07 years; coaching experience, 12.83 ± 9.72 years). The online survey adopted a Japanese-translated version of the Dual-Career Competency Questionnaire (DCCQ), which has been translated into nine languages and is widely used in European counties. The scale consists of six factors and 33 items, each rated on a five-point scale of importance (IM) and possession (PO). The Japanese version of the DCCQ was validated through a confirmatory factor analysis, and the internal consistency of the items was confirmed by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In addition, we examined differences between the IM and PO for DC support by t-tests and by calculating effect sizes. The validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the DCCQ were confirmed based on the goodness-of-fit index and Cronbach's alpha coefficients, respectively. Our examination of the differences between IM and PO in DC support revealed that coaches perceived the importance of DC support but did not possess the necessary COM to offer DC support. That finding was similar to those of previous European studies. In particular, the Japanese coaches who participated in our online survey recognized the importance of COM in terms of "collaboration with various stakeholders and departments" for DC support but did not feel as though they held sufficient COM in that regard. In other words, the improvement of DC support requires the development of a coaching program that fosters COM to work with various stakeholders. This key insight provides a direction and specific focus for programs to improve coaches' DC support for student athletes.

Keywords: collegiate athletes; educational development; higher education; sports; sports management.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Athletes
Female
Humans
Japan
Male
Middle Aged
Reproducibility of Results
Sports*
Students
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI, Grant Number 18K17825.