The Hierarchy of Sustainable Sports Coaching Competencies in Korea

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the significant overarching sports coaching competencies and their underlying components in contemporary Korean society and into the future. In addition, the hierarchical order of these competencies and components was investigated to assess their relative importance. This knowledge can improve pre-service and in-service sports coach training programs and their sustainability. A literature review in Korean and English related to sports coaching was performed initially to understand which competencies and components have already been researched and recognized. The subsequent study surveyed 20 experts using the Delphi process and 28 experts using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), considering seven sports competencies and 23 components based on the literature. All the competencies and components were considered appropriate sustainable measures of a sports coach’s competence based on the Delphi content validity ratio (CVR) > 0.500. The AHP results ranked “pedagogical” competence the highest, with a weight of 0.329 in the competence hierarchy, while “operational and managerial” competence ranked at the bottom with a weight of 0.057. In relation to the rank order of the components under each competence, “pedagogical communication” (0.136) and “sport-specific skill performance” (0.086) ranked first and second, respectively. In contrast, “facilities and equipment management” (0.008) ranked at the bottom and “public relations and marketing” (0.008) ranked right above it. The values of the consistency index and the consistency ratio were <1.000, indicating that the competencies and components hierarchies were reliable. The results confirm that in Korea’s pre- and in-service sports coach training programs, comprehensive and in-depth pedagogical knowledge, as well as sports knowledge in areas like sports biomechanics, sports physiology, and sports nutrition, need to be reinforced for ongoing success.