Sources of Stress among Soccer Coaches in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine sources of stress among football coaches in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Participants were 150 football coaches who completed the twenty-six item Stressors in Sports Coaching Questionnaire (Kubayi, Toriola, and Didymus, 2018). Players were generally seen as providing the greatest source of stress through ‘players underperforming in training’ and ‘lack of discipline and commitment from players’. The most important task related stressors came from the ‘lack of recognition of good coaching’ and ‘performing multiple roles’. ‘High expectation to win’ and ‘my performance is judged on players’ results’ were the major sources of performance stress and ‘job insecurity’ was the leading environmental stressor. It is recommended that sport clubs and managers in Gauteng need to increase the resources available to their coaches to cope with the stresses that have been identified. Particular attention should be paid to assist coaches in improving their resilience and coping skills when under pressure from the many external demands that accompany their coaching role.