Two-year outcomes from the NEAT Girls obesity prevention cluster randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Introduction: Participation in organised youth sports (OYS) has been recommended as an opportunity to increase young peoples’ physical activity (PA) levels. This is particularly pertinent for girls in adolescence, when PA declines sharply. While coaches can potentially influence PA levels of athletes, little research has explored coaches’ perceptions of themselves as PA promoters for their athletes. Methods: Participantswere30OYScoaches frombasketball, soccer, or netball teams of girls aged 9–17 years in the Greater Sydney metropolitanarea,Australia. Coacheswere19malesand11 females aged 18–69 years (mean=42.2±13.2 years) and had an average of 13.3±11.8 years of coaching experience. Participants took part in a semi-structured interview that lasted approximately 30min. Participants responded to questions regarding their perceived roles as coaches, their perceptions of themselves as role models for PA promotion, and their perceived ability to impact their athletes’ PA levels. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Content analysis was conducted using an interpretational approach. Results: Participants described influential roles (i.e. teacher, mentor, and role model) when asked how they perceived their role as a coach. They also felt it was part of their role as a coach to promote a fun, friendly, and supportive team environment and provide sport-specific development (physical and tactical skills). Participants who perceived themselves as role models for PA promotion cited their current participation inorganised sport and their participation in the training sessions of the team(s) they coach as reasons why they felt they were role models. Conversely, participants who did not feel they were role models for PA promotion cited retirement from sport, health/injury reasons, and old age as reasons. Many participants indicated that they could not push girls as hard as boys in terms of PA levels, as they feared girls would drop out of OYS if they were to incorporate too much PA into their training sessions. Participants reported that their potential, as coaches, to impact their athletes’ long-term PA was limited, with many explaining that the athletes’ parents were more influential in that respect. Discussion: Coaches have the potential to promote PA for girls in OYS, however, findings from this study indicate that they may underestimate or may not fully realise the impact they can have on the girls they coach. Future research should focus on educating coaches to capitalise on the opportunity they have to promote girls’ PA in OYS.