Human resources management of professional sports coaches in South Africa: an exploratory study

Abstract

The success that sport organizations can achieve is largely depends on the ability and competence of their human resources. Amongst the paid professional employees in sport is the professional coach who has received relatively little academic enquiry since commercial and professional sport emerged in the 21st century. A need has thus emerged for an investigation of the management of professional sports coaches in South Africa. The study investigates the various human resources practices in sport organizations and focuses specifically on the human resources management of professional sports coaches in South Africa. This paper presents the findings of in-depth interviews conducted with human resources managers (n = 10) and professional sports coaches (n = 10) at sport organizations affiliated to the South African Sports Commission. The in-depth interviews were intended to support the quantitative data with regard this explorative study. The output of the main study is intended to provide clear guidelines to human resources managers at sport organizations for the effective and efficient management of professional sports coaches. Key words: Professional sport coach, human, resource management, sport organizations. (Af. J. Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance: 2003 Special Edition: 50-58)